1,000 Paws of Great Falls – Percy

“We adopted our big guy, now named Percy, in May of 2018 while I was working at the adoption center. He arrived as a stray, but was never claimed. It did not take me long to gravitate towards him. I had been wanting to add another dog to our family and it just so happened that Percy and I crossed paths during this time. Once he became available for adoption and he was introduced to our current dog, Abbi, it was decided that he was coming home! It did not take long for his loving, goofy, and fiercely loyal personality to shine through after being fairly reserved and despondent at the center. However, just as quickly as all of his wonderful qualities started to shine through- so did the not so wonderful ones. This is an ugly truth of adopting a shelter dog sometimes. I knew what a phenomenal dog we had just adopted. The potential was there, but he needed someone that was dedicated to working through his less desirable qualities with him, even if the road got tough. And boy did it get tough! 

He struggled with severe anxiety when left alone, was not crate trained, and had a very high instinctual prey drive that would encourage him to chase after small prey (or deer) if a yard had a short fence or if he was not kept on a leash at all times. Inside the home it almost seemed as if he did not know how to act. We dealt with counter surfing to the extreme- food, papers, storage containers, decor, etc. Basically anything in the house was fair game when his anxiety set in, including blinds, furniture, and bedding. His anxiety was so severe when he initially came home that he would follow you room to room and if you stepped outside- for even the shortest amount of time- he would immediately start to panic. For a period of time upon adoption he could not be in our fenced yard without someone outside with him, otherwise he would try to escape.  

You may be wondering what would happen when we inevitably had to leave the house for any period of time. We tried any and everything! He struggled with wire kennels and being as big as he was- he could easily destroy them and hurt himself. Even with proper crate introduction and training- he was too anxious for the setup- even after trying to cover the crate to make it dark. After months of trying everything we could think of and after doing some research we decided he would benefit from an Impact high anxiety crate. But this came at a steep cost. We couldn’t give up on this wonderful dog, although there were times we felt like we were at our wits end. He was a part of our family and was depending on us to work through his anxiety with him. Besides, if we gave up on him it would only cause him more damage and make it that much harder for him in the next home.

We bit the bullet and purchased the high anxiety crate. My jaw dropped when FedEx freight delivered it on a pallet! But what do you know?! In no time, Percy was thriving with crate training and ultimately ended up loving his little den. He needed something large enough and strong enough that when he was first learning to settle, if he scratched or pawed at the crate, then it would not hurt him or cause any damage. In addition to crate training in the home, we also sent him to a two week board and train program. This really boosted his confidence and improved his obedience and understanding with us.

It takes time, dedication, flexibility, education, and patience in order to get to where we are today with a dog like Percy. With an unknown history, coming in as a stray, it is hard to know what you are signing up for sometimes as the adopter. Now it is February 2022 and he is such an obedient, confident, and happy dog that no longer suffers from anxiety, loves his giant crate, and has a cat as a best friend. He loves to be outside, especially when there is snow on the ground or when it is cold. His favorite toy to play with outside is a big horse toy. He will entertain and exercise himself with that for as long as he can keep going! His natural guardian instincts are strong and he loves patrolling our yard and then watching over our neighbors’ chickens.

He weighs in close to 100 pounds now full-grown, but is one of the sweetest and gentlest dogs I have ever been around. Percy has brought an immense amount of joy, love, laughter and FUR into our lives and we couldn’t imagine our home without him. If I were asked if I would go back and adopt him all over again, knowing all of the challenges we would face, I would say yes 100 times over.”

-Rachel W.