Riley Faith
A Diamond in the Ruff
Riley’s Rescue
Riley was rescued by Buffalo C.A.R.E.S. Animal Rescue on Thanksgiving Day 2018. During a surprise visit, CPS found her locked in a crate that was too small for her and, worse, filled with large amounts of excrement and waste. The owners willingly surrendered her to animal control, and the paperwork indicated Riley was 1.5 years old at the time of her rescue.
Riley was severely matted and required an emergency groom upon arrival at the shelter. The full-body mat was weighed at a shocking total of 3 lbs. What they found underneath was truly appalling.
Riley experienced extreme neglect. She required dental surgery to remove 5 rotted teeth, weighed only 7 lbs (normal weight is between 11 and 13 lbs), and was terrified of the world (she didn’t know what grass was). It also became clear she could not stay at the shelter; she was too stressed and was showing signs of kennel deterioration. She was placed in a foster home a week later.
Riley spent the month of December in foster care, where she slowly began putting on weight. Her foster family said she was still “very shut down” and was very skittish interacting with humans. In addition, Riley didn’t know how to play with toys or other dogs and instead isolated herself.
Jessica and her family met Riley in early January of 2019 after they discussed getting a second dog for their 10-year-old Shih Tzu, Hunter. During the meet-and-greet, Riley was interested in Hunter, but she was still wary of humans. But Jess and her family saw her heart, and Riley was officially adopted on January 19, 2019.
However, after the standard decompression period, Riley began to display resource guarding and fear-based reactivity behaviors, which is common in rescue dogs who have experienced significant trauma. Jessica immediately responded by hiring a dog trainer.
Little did she know this would change the trajectory of her life in amazing new ways.
Riley’s Resilience
Riley started training at home due to the severity of her fear reactivity towards other dogs. It would take consistent daily training, but Riley successfully graduated to socialization classes and then obedience classes.
Jessica would spend years training with Riley, continuously showing up, being patient, and, above all, loving Riley through every trial and triumph. Soon training focus shifted to building up Riley’s confidence and helping her have fun with obedience.
When Riley was 4 years old, Jessica and Riley got involved in dog sports, and they discovered Riley’s first love, agility.
Classes, seminars, and workshops eventually led to dog trials (competitions), qualifying runs, ribbons, and titles. In the ring, Riley and Jessica were poetry in motion, completely in sync with each other. Together they have earned over 25 titles in agility across multiple organizations, including NADAC, CPE, and AKC!
Riley has since retired from agility at the age of 9, but don’t worry; she’s not sitting still.
Jessica and Riley are taking on a new dog sport, rally obedience! This sport is about the handler and dog moving through a specific sequence of signs together. A judge will give and take away points based on the performance of the team.
Coming Full Circle
The greatest achievement in their training journey was when they obtained their certification as a therapy dog team in July of 2023, when Riley was 6 years old.
They spent the next two years volunteering their time in their community, visiting the local VA hospital, schools, colleges, and more. After gaining experience as a volunteer team, Jessica began researching how to incorporate Riley into her professional career as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).
