Every once in awhile a dog comes into rescue that pulls at your heart strings just a little bit more than most. That would be a tiny little Vizsla named Autumn, at 20 inches tall and only 27#. She is tiny, but she makes up for size because Autumn has the heart of a whale. Autumn now named Emma was surrendered by her owner to rescue, she had exhibited aggressive behavior towards the family’s Boxer. She also had submissive wetting problems. She had been checked by her first family’s vet, because she stood with her tail tucked and her back roached. He could not find anything wrong. The family decided that the best thing for Autumn was a new family. They contacted Rita with the rescue group and arranged to surrender her to rescue. That's how Autumn came into my life, I agreed to foster her and see what if anything could be done about her aggressive behavior towards other dogs. In most cases a submissive wetter, is not an aggressive dog, so finding her triggers was my first priority. My personal dogs are very easy going, and will always give a foster dog the space they need, it's like they understand.

I received her on Friday, by Monday she was no longer showing aggression, and the submissive wetting was now understood and a thing of the past. Autumn is VERY smart, on Monday she starts stealing items of mine that have my scent on them to hide in her crate. On Tuesday morning a whole new problem walks in the front door, that would cause Autumn to bring tears to my eyes. My best friend who has never owned a Vizsla, just helped me with the foster dogs I've had, came over for coffee. For Jnell and Autumn it was love at first sight, and my house would be turned upside down. Jnell held Autumn the whole time she was here, then made the statement "I'm not letting this one go!" Jnell left to go home to fill out the online application. Autumn watched from the living room window, howling at the top of her lungs. Jnell came back 3 times that day, just to see her dog. The last time, she brought her 11 yr old son Jarad with her, they had errands to run and asked if Autumn now named Emma could go with them.

The next morning at 8:00 am Jnell came for coffee again, Emma sat with Jnell the entire time. You V lovers know how she sat, you just can't explain it, it's almost like they become part of you. Jnell asked if Emma could go home for a few hours in the evening to meet the rest of the family, I agreed. Every time that Jnell would leave, Emma would watch out of the window and howl.

Now we all know that allowing the dog to go with the new owners for a few hours is a wonderful way to let the dog adjust slowly and it reduces stress for the dog. WRONG in Emma's case, she watched out the window as Jnell left, only this time silently, she went to her crate and refused to come out.

Now this brings us to Thursday, at approximately 8:00am Emma comes out of her crate watches out of the window. No  Jnell, she is at work, but Emma doesn't understand that, she goes to her crate and refuses to come out. She does come out while I'm in the basement doing laundry, to destroy one of my socks I dropped. The next time she came out was to steal the teddy bear that Jnell had given me for Christmas, that still had traces of Jnell's perfume and scent on it. She snuggled with it in her crate, I left it, it gave her comfort and she wasn't hurting it. Jnell gets home from work and calls to see if she could come and get Emma, and of course I happily say YES.

Emma went home not for a visit, SHE went home. She was so happy to see Jnell she bounced around and barked, tail wagging so hard that her whole body shook. I couldn't open the door fast enough for her, she almost knocked Jarad down trying to get to MOM. But before she left, I knelt down to give her a hug and a kiss goodbye, Emma kissed me back looking as if to say Thank you. That was the best paycheck I ever received, that one little kiss from the tiny V with the heart of a whale.      

Emma slept her first night, in her new home in bed with Jarad. She played with her new doggy sister a Golden named Sara, and cuddled on the couch with her very own self picked Mom, Jnell. She bounced around the house, as Jnell put it, like she had lived there all her life.       Polly