Posted July 23, 1997

Benny was a sad case when he came to us. In his short eleven months of life, he had been seriously abused by a woman and her children. Her ex-husband learned what was happening and called us. He was afraid the woman was going to euthanize poor Benny. We took him right away. Benny arrived stuffed into a crate that was two sizes too small for him. He could not move. He was covered in urine and shaking in fear. It was immediately clear that he was terrified of all women.

Our fellow-rescuer from Virginia took him to her home to foster him. He immediately sought out her husband for protection. It took weeks to bring Benny around, to help him to realize that not all women are abusive beasts.

Little by little, the puppy in Benny re-emerged. He began to play, to love life, to frolic. His picture was spotted on our home page by a nice couple from Virginia. They went to visit Benny. Happily, everyone hit it off, so much so that this kind couple adopted Benny and his buddy, Bailey, a recent arrival at the foster home. We had not even listed Bailey yet.

Bailey has seemingly attached himself to the woman of the house, and Benny (who responds better to "Ben," we hear) prefers the man. This is not surprising, given his history. Consequently, both people try to switch off and reinforce loving behavior with the "other" dog.

Ben and Bailey are loving life and their new home. Their adoptive parents report that they are a joy to have around.

This page was written by
Valerie Macys
nancyk@CockerAdoption.org