Elusive Canine~Case 410 “Willow” (prev. “Ring”)

Good Samaritan Anna reached out to us for assistance in capturing an extremely elusive dog that has been living in a newly developed community and construction site for 1.5 years.   She originally had on an orange harness that came off after about three months of her first being seen.  Sherman Animal Control had been trying to capture her for months but she never would go into their box trap. 

Anna and several neighbors (Sarah, Zana, and Amy) had been feeding her and trying to capture her for a year and a half but were unsuccessful.  Anna named her “Ring”.  

We have several cases in front of her so we asked Anna to start our daily feeding protocol until our team is able to get our boots on the ground.  It will likely be 6-8 weeks before we are able to deploy on her case. 

MMESAR Team Members Cindy and Debbie put boots on the ground in Sherman to scope out the sites where Willow is being seen most frequently.  We surveyed the area, we found her den and hang outs, we spoke to neighbors, and we setup a live camera at the feeding station at Anna’s home so that we could monitor her in preparation for capture.  We put Brevecto (for fleas/ticks) and a dewormer in her food the first night so that she could start to feel better right away.  

When Cindy and Debbie made their way around to the construction site, to their surprise Willow was there hiding in a storm water drain.  Willow is food motivated and she would get close but not close enough for a hand capture.  We plan to capture her in our corral trap as soon as our team finishes up our other case. 

Good Samaritan Anna is continuing to feed Willow daily on her front porch following our feeding protocol.  This will keep Willow coming back to the same location daily and help to condition her for Capture.

Our team arrived on site and setup a video monitored feeding station in the location where we plan to deploy our corral trap.  Willow visited our feeding station early Saturday morning so we will now prepare for capture.

She brought a Great Pyrenees with her this time who lives nearby across from the construction site. Unfortunately, they allow him to free roam around the neighborhood.  

Our team arrived on site and deployed. Our corral trap in a 5‘ x 10‘ configuration.  We baited it, armed it and our team will be waiting in our vehicle about 30 yards away.  When she arrives we will receive a motion sensor alert and we will then watch our live video feed inside the corral.  Once we confirm, she is eating at the bowl then we will remote trigger the trap door.  

After letting her decompress inside the corral for a short period of time, we loaded her into our transport kennel, and she is ready for transport to Sherman Animal Services.

We transported Willow to Sherman Animal Services.  She is not microchipped.  After her stray hold period is up, if she is not claimed by an owner, then Sherman will transfer ownership to MMESAR and we will take her to our training team at Happy Gentle Dog Place where she will live, train, and rehabilitate on their ranch!  

Now that Willow has had a couple of days to decompress at the shelter, the staff performed a secondary full body microchip scan which again revealed no microchip identification.  Hopefully her family is still looking for her at the shelter.  

Dr. Kelly examined Willow, did bloodwork, tested for heartworm disease and tick born diseases, and gave her all of her vaccines.  Everything came back great except this sweet girl is positive for heartworms.  We began treatment today!  We implanted one of our microchips and we gave her a second dewormer.  We also started her on preventative medications.  She will be spayed at a later date.  

~ Heartworm Treatment Started Today:

30 Days of Doxycycline followed by a 30 waiting period of no Doxycycline, Monthly Heartworm Prevention, THEN she will be going back to Dr. Kelly for her 1st Immiticide Injection in early December. 

Immediately after seeing Dr. Kelly we transported Willow to our amazing canine rehabilitation team at The Happy Gentle Dog Place ranch where Willow will live, medically recover, and socially rehabilitate for the next few months.  Being semi-feral brings a lot of fear of humans and Willow is not yet a pet.  Willow needs to be coached in how to be a confident, cognitive, and loving dog.  

Soon you will see her transform into a HAPPY, gentle dog.  We can’t wait to share her progress with you!  Please check back here regularly for updates.  

❗️If your dog is having behavioral issues and/or has aggressive tendencies, consider seeking the help of our amazing Canine Rehabilitation Team at The Happy Gentle Dog Place!  They truly transform lives and results are guaranteed!  https://www.happygentledogs.com

Willow visited Dr. Kelly today at Summit Veterinary Hospital for her first of three immiticide injections in order to kill the spaghetti like worms in her heart.  She did great today!  Her next 2 injections will be in early January.  Willow will now be on activity restrictions to prevent the dying worms from causing a fatal embolism. This means lots of kennel time and leash only potty breaks along with her 3-5 minutes of training per day.  

We received an amazing update from our rehabilitation team at The Happy Gentle Dog Place.  

“Willow is doing very well, her confidence is growing every day!  She is now remaining cognitive in new situations and during her daily routine.  Willow has become more comfortable with people in and out and dogs running up to her kennel, she no longer tucks away in the back. She wants to come up to you and get pets, if you stop she will ask for more. She is over all making very good progress and we are so very proud of her.”

Today was a very special day at Happy Gentle Dog Place!  Anna, who fed Willow for over a year trying to gain her trust, got to pet Willow for the very first time today.  There were joyful tears in everyone’s eyes.  

Willow is doing great and becoming more comfortable and trusting each day through her rehabilitation.  Now that her heartworm treatment is complete we will be scheduling her for spay surgery.  

This morning Willow is on her way to Summit Veterinary Hospital for her third and final heartworm treatment injection.  She received her second injection yesterday so today‘s injection will be a lot tougher but she is so brave.  

We will update you later today!  

Thank you so much to our amazing friends at the Happy Gentle Dog Place for not only rehabilitating Willow but for taking such great care of her through her heartworm treatment. 🩷

To give you an idea of how amazing her training is going, she allowed Madi to put sunglasses on her for a quick picture!  She is continuing to make astounding progress in confidence, trust, and being less fearful!  We coukd never express enough gratitude to the incredible team at Happy Gentle Dog Place for changing her life!  

Willow is living her best life.  Look how happy she is playing with her trainer Madi’s dog “Seven”. ♥️