Higgins had been abandoned and was acting aggressively when he was discovered, but with lots of love and care, he was able to become a school’s pandemic treatment dog. In Memphis, Higgins was unloaded beside another dog who was killed when his vehicle was hit by one. He waited for more than seven days until someone had the opportunity to pick him up and take him to a veterinarian’s office. The staff there was a little worried because he had exhibited some antagonism, so they asked Jeff Tawater, a local canine mentor, for assistance.
Mentors like Tawater, who provide positive reinforcement and power free canine training, aren’t frequently called in to handle incidents of hostility, he acknowledges. He claims that the general belief is that canines who are aggressive need a firm hand. The truth is that what animals like these require are kindness and kind regard. When Tawater arrived, fortunately with a McDonald’s sack nearby, Higgins was sitting with his head down and staring at the ground.
Tawater believed Higgins needed a trustworthy companion. He sat down and began gently disciplining Higgins through the bars until, after 30 minutes and six burgers, Higgins let Tawater to rope him. Higgins went to the Tawater home after being instructed to complete his veterinarian examination. Tawater adds, “Whatever had occurred to him before those ten days on that Memphis side of the road left him scarred. It turns out that there was absolutely nothing coercive regarding Higgins. After spending a month adjusting with the Tawaters, Higgins set out for a safe place in Revere, Massachusetts, where he would hopefully soon find a very sturdy home.
He failed to quickly find a really sturdy residence. Higgins spent a long time in that Revere asylum until Stacey Place came across his Petfinder advertisement: Adopt Higgins, the best 80-lb lap dog looking for a home where he can play with all of his toys and stroll around the yard like a cool cucumber! Once you stroke his misaligned ear, you’ll fall in love. Place was searching the website for a new greyhound because her own had passed away in February 2020.
But she felt compelled to meet Higgins after reading about him on Petfinder. He soon paid a visit to Place’s house. Higgins was adored by everyone at the Revere homeless shelter, and he really enjoyed the trampoline and ball pit there. When he zoomed around her fenced-in yard during the home visit and flopped down for belly rubs, Place thought he appeared way too cheerful. She was aware that she had to leave him in Revere.