To all involved with the Miniature Schnauzer Rescue Service of New England: I am so happy and proud of my mini schnauzer, Crosby that I wanted to share this story about him to everyone involved with the rescue of miniature schnauzers and thought you may want to post this on your web site as a success story. About three years ago I was looking for a miniature schnauzer. I have had dogs, cats, horses, all my life, but since I graduated from university I wasn't able to have a dog because of where I lived. I finally got an apartment that allowed dogs and decided after much research that a m.s. was the dog for me. I knew I wanted an intelligent dog so I could do obedience and agility, and wanted a small dog because of my small apartment. I also wanted an older dog that was already housebroken because of my work schedule. I went on the internet and found the Miniature Schnauzer Rescue Service of New England (MSRSofNE). I called Janet Loreck about any available dogs. She asked me to fill out an online application and I did that night. She said that she really couldn't really give me an idea of when they might have a dog available and I said that was fine. To my surprise, not a week later, I got a call from her saying that they had a 7 month old male that had just come in and she thought we would be a good match.  So I set a date and my mother and I traveled to Norwood, MA to a foster home that had the 7 month old puppy. Well, what an experience that was! I had never had experience with terriers, having worked for a Newfoundland breeder for three years, and having mutts growing up. As you can imagine, the difference is gigantic! When we arrived at the foster home, this puppy, which unfortunately had two names, Spanky and Spaz, barked and growled at both my mother and me! At first, I didn't know what to think, but after awhile I figured that he probably didn't have appropriate socialization while in his previous home. He was the cutest thing and all I wanted to do was pet him. He was already very bonded with his foster mother (and after only 24 hours!), so it was hard to get know this puppy, but the foster mother and I just talked about his past and eventually he felt confident enough to come to me and check me out. I spent a few hours with him, some one on one and thought, "Yes, I can take this puppy." I immediately gave him new name (only one!), Crosby. I started obedience a couple months after I took Crosby home. I knew he needed a lot of socialization and I knew obedience classes would be good for him. I also started taking him with me to all kinds of places to meet new people and see new places. It was hard (and still can be) because of his inadequate socialization as a small puppy. He's not always sure about strangers, but he has become much better about it, and always after meeting someone two or three times he loves them to death! I knew I wanted to show Crosby in obedience, and knew it would be the best thing for him, so I started working really hard with him at class and on my own time. He is extremely smart and learns things very quickly, so that makes it easier. At first he had a problem with attention, but with age, that has lengthened. At the end of the spring of 2001, I had finished two obedience classes. He was doing very well and I felt he was ready for competition. In July of 2001 we entered our first obedience show. We didn't qualify, but that was okay. It was very good experience. It took six shows, but we finally qualified for the Companion Dog (CD) title on 22 September 2001 in Stamford, CT. This was the one year anniversary of my adopting Crosby! It was an amazing day, especially because Crosby is a rescue dog! I plan on trying for the CDX title in the future, and I am confident that we can do it. In the mean time I realized Crosby's potential as an agility dog. For the last year, I have been working really hard for agility in class and on my own. After a one year hiatus (Spring 2002 we got on leg towards the Novice Agility (NA) title) we went to our first trials of this year in Bedford, MA. We had an amazing two days! We qualified in four out of four runs with 3 firsts and 1 second, and we qualified for the NA title! We need one more leg for the Novice Agility Jumpers (NAJ) title. I still can't believe it! Crosby is more than I could have imagined in a rescue dog. I consider it the right time and right place that we came together. He is my pride and joy and my best friend! I want to thank everyone that is involved with rescuing dogs! It is so wonderful that I was able to give a homeless puppy a wonderful home! I don't know where he'd be if he was with his previous owners, but I bet he wouldn't be Crosby CD NA! Abigail D. Carreno Crosby CD NA

Crosby

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