Four years ago, the Rintouls had no intention of getting a dog.
Natalie and Gord have two children, and their daughter, Gabrielle, was 13 years old at the time. Middle school was challenging for the teen, so on Gabrielle’s birthday, when her friend invited her to visit what she called a dog hospital, Natalie agreed. Gabrielle liked animals.
They found themselves at an adoption center that day instead of a hospital, and Natalie and Gabrielle met Snow. “She looked so funny,” Natalie shared. “She looked like a malnourished lamb. She didn’t even look like a dog. She came out of the crate and just sat on Gabrielle’s lap the whole time. Then we left, and she had to pick her up and put her back in the crate. We left with those brown eyes looking at us.”
But Gord had already said they weren’t getting a dog. Both Natalie and Gord travel for work, and they’d already discussed not having the time for a dog. And their son was scared of dogs.
Snow was young, recently arrived from South Carolina. “There was something different about her,” Natalie said. “I kept thinking about her.”
Natalie called the organization for details on adoption, then called the foster family. They told Natalie that Snow was a sweet dog. Around the same time, Natalie’s father had passed away, and Natalie recalled the stories shared of the dogs her family had grown up with. Natalie realized she wanted that experience for her family. “We wound up driving out and picking her up,” Natalie said. “She joined our family by accident.”
And while her son was afraid at first, Snow soon changed his mind about dogs. “He wasn’t very excited about it, but we brought her into our home and she changed everything,” Natalie explained. “He’s not an animal lover, but he’s fine with animals now. That was quite therapeutic for him.”
Even Gord found that having Snow at home at the end of a long workday made a difference. “It impacted us to come home after a long day and see her tail wagging,” Natalie said. “It was therapeutic for all of us. She’s smart and easygoing.”
But they still didn’t know what to do with a dog. A friend of theirs with two Bernese Mountain dogs needed help from a trainer, since her dogs kept jumping into her pool without knowing how to swim. Afraid she or her dogs would drown, she contacted Philly Unleashed, and then recommended the trainers when Natalie was looking for help. Plus, they had a trip booked a month after bringing Snow home, and Nicole had just started Farmcamp. “She’s been so incredible with us,” Natalie shared. “She had just gotten her place and she was starting to take dogs. It felt like a long way to drive, an hour and a half, but it’s such a magical place. We take a half-day off of work just to get her there. She loves it and you feel good about it. She loves it. She knows where she’s going. As soon as we turn down the driveway, she stands up, she’s wagging. You just feel good about it.”
Natalie also loves following the videos and photos on Instagram. “The trainers are incredible,” Natalie said. “She comes home knowing all these new things. She’s a bit of a trick dog. She picks stuff up quickly. They’re always coming up with new challenges for her. They helped us have a dog. We were really green. They feel like part of our family. It is 100 percent worth the drive. Even if we go away for a day or two, we’ll do that commute because we feel so good about her staying there and how happy she is.”
Natalie’s sister calls Snow the Meryl Streep of dogs. “She can be quiet and shy or barking,” Natalie shared. “She can look like a beagle or lab or pit bull. She can be misunderstood. People can come over with their dog and they’re wagging and sometimes they’ll pick up their dog and walk over to the other side.”
But Snow gets to find her full potential at Farmcamp. “She goes there and everybody gives her an open mind and they give her a great shot and let her mingle with the dogs,” Natalie said. “She’s got a great heart. She’s got a human look to her. I can talk to her like she’s understanding. She does seem to have a huge range of emotions. She’s been a special animal. We knew nothing and we had no idea how to interact with her until Philly Unleashed. She wouldn’t be the dog she is without them. She’s smart, and she’d probably know how to shake a paw otherwise, but we had no idea how to do any of the behavior things and tricks and impulse control, like wait and stay and those sorts of things that are really important. It’s been an unbelievable organization.”
Snow’s training abilities continue to grow and include stay, touch, spin, hide and seek, go to place, stick ‘em up, and most recently, counting. “Darrell was just working with her on counting,” Natalie said. “I’d mentioned it to him, and he said, ‘Any dog can count. I can work with her on that.’ The next day, I saw her video, and she was vocalizing when he gave the cue. He hadn’t put his fingers up yet, but he had her vocalizing and she isn’t a vocal dog. I don’t know how he did that. She’ll pick up stuff like that.”
At home, Snow is a big snuggler, and if she wants a treat, she’ll run through all of her tricks until she gets her reward. She also follows the sun around the house and her people. “She’s a bit like a shadow,” Natalie shared. “If she’s having a really good sleep, but if you get up, she’s following.”
And she’s so friendly that even their dog walker’s dog has warmed up to her. “She’s got three dogs, but one has an anxiety disorder and she brings that dog with her,” Natalie explained. “Snow is one of the only dogs she can take that dog on a walk with because her dog is really shy.”
After they’d brought her home, Gord had insisted Snow would be a kitchen dog. It wasn’t too long before he’d brought her into the family room to be with them. And now, she has the run of the house. “She rules the roost,” Natalie said. “Even on the weekends, she’ll sleep in. She’s so easygoing. For us, we couldn’t have asked for a better animal.”
Snow has one flaw–she doesn’t like the car. “You have to give her something to calm her down,” Natalie said. “She isn’t a car dog. She’s hyperventilating and looking out of the window. Once she gets over that, she’s good.”
But they still wouldn’t trade her for the world. “It just adds this whole different dimension to the family,” Natalie said. “It’s just like having a child. You look at things differently. It has been an interesting experience having an animal and interacting with them and seeing what they do. It’s hard to describe. It’s like seeing the world through the eyes of a child. It sounds kind of corny, but you look at things differently. She wants you to throw the bone or she’ll walk around behind you with the rope toy. It’s just so nice having somebody else to take care of and talk to. She’s just a great little companion. Her eyes are so bright and she likes a sunny spot. When it’s been a terrible day at work, and traffic is a nightmare, and then you open the door and that little dog is wagging so hard and happy to see you, you have to totally change gears and be like, ‘Okay, now I’ve got to throw a ball.’ It’s been a great experience for us and especially for Gord, because he was the one who said for sure, ‘I don’t want a dog, I don’t want to walk the dog, we don’t need a dog, we don’t have time for this.’”
