~ Daisy in Distress ~

 

Not all dogs are suitable for a day camp setting. One of the hardest things I had to do as a counselor was to tell a family their favorite furry friend would not be accepted. This was a rare situation, and I only had to do it once. Thank goodness.

A day before my probation period ended, I was working with Elena, our teacher. A little mix of unknown origin was brought in for evaluation. Her name was Daisy, and she was exceedingly shy. With a great deal of coaxing I managed to get her away from her mom and take her into the testing area. She barely looked at anybody and was incredibly nervous. Not a good sign.

She cooperated with me during the physical examination, but shook and quaked the entire time. She would not eat from the dish, but she did finally take a treat from me. She would not play with me at all. Her mom was sure she would enjoy camp once she started. I didn’t have that much confidence. She barely squeaked through the temperament tests.

The time came to put her into the enclosure. Fortunately, Snowball was at camp. If any of the dogs could put Daisy somewhat at ease, it was Snowball. I led Daisy in. She was petrified. She wanted nothing at all to do with Snowball and was pretty much glued to the door back into the kitchen. That clinched it. There was no way I was going to recommend that this little dog be put into a position that so frightened her. I took her back to the test area.

I was on the floor close to Daisy, but not right next to her. As slowly as I could, I reached out a hand to her, talking softly the whole time. She finally allowed me to stroke her head. Elena had been with us the whole time and asked my opinion. I’d told her I thought Daisy was not a good candidate. She was just too nervous. I felt she was one of those dogs who would spend the entire day cowering in a corner.

Elena agreed. She then volunteered to go out and talk to Daisy’s mom. I knew I would most likely have to face this situation some time in the future so I opted to do it myself while Elena was still with us. She would step in if I needed her. She would let me know afterwards if I’d handled it okay, and, if necessary, give me helpful suggestions.

Leading Daisy, we headed back out to the lobby to explain the situation to an anxious pet parent. Daisy’s mom was sitting on the floor, and Daisy couldn’t get to her fast enough. She planted herself in mom’s lap and huddled as close to her as she could. You could see the relief in that little dog’s face. I broke the news that Daisy wouldn’t be admitted to camp. Daisy’s mom was crushed. I suggested socialization classes and that they try Daisy again once she’d passed such a class. Her mom felt awful and tried to convince me I should give her a chance right then. I explained I couldn’t do that. She reluctantly left, feeling about as bad as I did. The only one there who was happy to be leaving was Daisy. As soon as they headed out the camp doors she perked right up. She couldn’t wait to leave.

Even though Elena told me I’d handled it well, I still felt awful about it. I couldn’t get poor Daisy off my mind so I called her mom about a month later, just to see how Daisy was doing, and if she’d been enrolled in a class. I was told she’d been sick, but there were plans to take her to a class. The lady said she’d be back after that class.

Three weeks went by and I had a 10:00 start time at camp. Several dogs were in the big playroom and, much to my surprise, Daisy was among them. She was cowering in a corner of the room. I wouldn’t have expected anything else. I asked the other counselor how Daisy had ended up in camp. Nobody seemed to know who, if anyone, had re-evaluated her and approved her. She was scheduled to be there that day until noon. I was anxious to talk to her mom when she came to pick Daisy up, but I never saw her.

Daisy was back the next morning, again cowering in that same corner. I did talk to her mom that day when she came in after the morning session. It was just past noon, and she was expecting to see Daisy happily running around the room, cavorting with the other dogs.

The dogs were already crated for lunch. Before I had a chance to ask about classes, her mom got upset that Daisy was not in the room. I told her we had taken all the dogs back to the kennel area at noon, as we always did. She wasn’t too happy about that but she did ask how Daisy had gotten along. I told her the truth. Daisy was terrified of the other dogs and terrified of the counselors. Daisy was terrified of everything.

I never did find out how or why Daisy had been approved. Based on her shaking and quaking, I didn’t see how she could possibly have managed in a socialization class. Daisy should not have been admitted.

That was the last time Daisy was at camp. That poor little dog would have died of fright if she’d had be there on a regular basis. I was glad she wasn’t brought to camp again. Daisy wasn’t the only dog ever turned down for camp, but she was the only one I had turned down. I was glad I never had to do that again.

 

Better to turn a dog down than to see one so completely traumatized.