CHOLLA - SWAT - ARIZONA

See Thursday's SURPRISE winner at the end of this post.

In 2004, Airedale Rescue volunteers across the country were called by a rescue volunteer with a small dog rescue group. The volunteer had learned of an Airedale that was about to be euthanized and felt the Airedale deserved a second chance. She could not find a local Airedale Rescue volunteer to help and was reaching out to see if there was anyone willing to take on this AireGirl.

It was reported that the 2 year old female Airedale, "Mango", had been surrendered to a vet because she bit a child severely enough to break skin and was also not good with small dogs.

Then - Cholla at 2 yrs old

The vet had pushed Mango in every way she could think of and found no human aggression in her whatsoever. The vet then placed Mango with a family that had another large dog and cats. The cats and the dogs were kept separate. Apparently everything went well for several months, although there was one report that Mango had growled at a grandchild. The owners boarded Mango with the vet while they were on vacation. While at the vet's office, Mango had lunged at some cats as she was passing by. When the owners were told about this on returning from vacation, they decided not to take her back.

The vet was in the habit of taking in strays and placing them and also performed free and discounted surgeries for rescues. Because of Mango's size, she was taking up an entire kennel run on her own and was becoming a financial burden to the vet. She told the small dog rescue volunteer the story and asked her to see if she could help before she had to put the Airedale to sleep.

After much discussion among many Airedale Rescue coordinators across the country, including the Chair of the ATCA Rescue & Adoption Committee, it was decided that we would fly Mango to Tucson for evaluation by the Airedale rescue volunteer there.

The volunteer found Mango to be a very high energy, dominant girl with a high prey drive. She was very affectionate and gave absolutely no indication that she would ever bite anyone. Mango ran and played with the volunteer's Airedales with no problem. She was taken to dog parks and playgrounds (wearing a muzzle) and gave no sign that she would bite anyone, although she did show a little too much interest in small dogs running by.

The volunteer was able to track down Mango's original owner to learn the details behind her surrender. Mango had been with the same family from the time she was 8 weeks old. She had been through two obedience classes. The family included children and there had never been any problems. The family didn't have a fenced yard, so the owner would exercise Mango by rollerblading. One day the owner was walking Mango near a playground. As they went by a swing set, a little girl came swinging down towards them and Mango had jumped and bitten the little girl in the shoulder, breaking the skin. Mango was quarantined because the owner didn't have proof she was current on rabies.  Mango was returned to the family after the quarantine period was up and life returned to normal for the next month. Mango had the habit of getting out of the house and going down the street to play with a bunch of other dogs, all much smaller than she. One day one of the small dogs was badly injured. No one saw what happened, but everyone blamed Mango and insisted that the owner get rid of her.  That is when she was turned over to the vet.

Mango (renamed Cholla) was placed in an Airedale-experienced, all-adult home with an Airedale and another large dog. The new owner agreed that she would not allow Cholla to have access to small dogs or children unless she was in complete control of the situation. The owner had always trained her Airedales and did the same with Cholla, attending many obedience classes.  The new owner kept an eagle eye on Cholla at all times, but she never gave a sign of aggression towards small dogs or children.

Fast forward nine years. Here is a photo of Cholla celebrating her 11th birthday.   

Now - Cholla at 11 yrs old

To this day, Cholla has never shown any kind of aggression towards a child or a dog. She currently lives with a female Airedale, a female Wire Fox Terrier who considers herself to be the leader of the pack, and is helping to foster a very active male Airedale puppy.

What a tragedy it would have been if Mango/Cholla had been euthanized. This is why we must keep the National Airedale Rescue network strong and able to serve as the safety net for Airedales with no other option.

There was a weekly SURPRISE winner on Thursday.  It was Elizabeth Hurtt.  Elizabeth won one free quilt ticket for being the first online donation for the 2013 Airedales Around Town Quilt.  Congratulations, Elizabeth!  Thank you for supporting Airedale Rescue.  All the Rescue Airedales thank  you!  And so do all the Airedale Rescue volunteers.