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Street dogs find home after three years
By Denise Dick
WARREN
Bear and Izzy finally found their “fairy tail” ending.
It was a long road, and lots of people helped the furry couple along their way to happily-ever-after.
“I just bonded with them,” said Margo McDougal of Warren, who became the dogs’ forever foster mom in late July. “I’ve always wanted them.”
It just took a while for everything to fall into place and allow her to bring them home.
Youngstown Street Dogs rescued Bear and Izzy in August 2013 from Youngstown’s East Side. Jeannie Baron-Yenerall, owner of Baron Pet Care Services in Hubbard, agreed to foster the dogs through Legacy Dog Rescue. Legacy is a pet-rescue organization covering Mahoning and Trumbull counties. All of LDR’s adoptable dogs live in foster homes and can be viewed on Petfinder through www.ldrofohio.org.
McDougal said it was love at first sight, but both dogs needed a lot of help.
Bear, a husky mix, and Izzy, a shepherd-cattle dog mix, both tested positive for heartworm, a potentially fatal condition. Neither was well socialized.
“They looked terrible,” McDougal said. “If he had stayed on the streets, I don’t think Bear would have lived much longer.”
Both have been treated and their social skills improved, but Bear and Izzy are a bonded pair. He is her protector, and she relies on him. Legacy wanted them to be adopted together.
That proved challenging. The right adopter wouldn’t have any other dogs and no small children.
Baron-Yenerall, Legacy and The Learning Dog Training and Enrichment Center in Hubbard sponsored the dogs’ wedding in August 2015, trying to generate interest from potential adopters.
Nearly a year passed before Bear and Izzy got a forever home.
McDougal was working at Baron Pet Care Services when Bear and Izzy came to live there. At that time though, she lived in a Hubbard apartment that didn’t allow dogs.
The company offers boarding and doggy day care, and McDougal spent a lot of time with the dogs. She walked them and cared for them, earning their trust. Even when she left Baron for another job, she continued to visit Bear and Izzy on weekends.
She looked for a place that would allow her to adopt them, telling everyone what she was looking for. In July, she finally found a home she could rent and afford that would allow dogs.
On July 29, she brought Bear and Izzy home.
“I don’t have children, and I won’t,” McDougal said. “These are my kids.”
Legacy will continue to pay for some of the dogs’ expenses.
“Since they’ve been a part of Legacy’s family for so long, we’ve come to the agreement that Legacy will continue their medical care, and Margo will cover everything else – a win for the kids,” said Jennifer Overmier of Legacy.
Scars – both physical and emotional – remain with the dogs. Izzy, 6, takes anxiety medication while Bear, 10, takes medicine for his joints.
But they’re settling in to the pampered lives of house dogs. They’ve even improved in interactions with new people.
Izzy, who used to shy away from strangers, trotted along with Bear right up to a stranger for head pats and ear scratches.
When the attention stopped, Izzy poked the newcomer’s knee with her nose, asking for more.
Both dogs stretch out on the cool tile floor in their new home. Bear sighs and lays down his head.
Television was a new phenomenon for them, and Izzy used to flee the living room when it came on. That behavior subsided for the most part, although certain images on the wide screen still scare her.
She’s not a fan of politics, for example.
“When Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton comes on, she runs out of the room,” McDougal said, laughing.
Their rescuers believe Izzy was born on the streets while Bear at one time was a pet.
McDougal positions dog beds around her new home with toys scattered on the floor.
Bear finds a dog biscuit on the floor, picks it up, tosses it into the air and then pounces and eats it.
For the first time this week, Izzy crawled up on the living-room sofa.
“I got up and when I came back, I’d lost my seat,” McDougal chuckled.
Her eyes fill with tears when she talks about the paired pups and the lives they used to live.
“I think they know this is their home now and they won’t have to leave,” McDougal said.