Five years ago we brought home our first rescue. so afraid of life she stayed hidden in her dog house for well over a year. She left only when I sat on the ground, planted a foot on each side of the door and pulled her out to go out for walks and skijors. When she was out on the trail she'd crawl up into a treewell as far away from us as she could get and shake. She walked in back of us, as far as she could get, because feet made scarey sounds in the snow and they kicked rocks making even scarier noises. For several years Saint Nicki and I wondered out loud about her. but we knew if we let her go and gave up on her, she was gone for good, and she deserved better than that.Christmas 3 years ago, her adrenal gland gave out. Too much fear. But that was the beginning of her sunrise. I guess she finally decided maybe, just maybe she could trust us. Since then she's never spent the night out in her dog house, hasn't wanted to.
Roll forward to this fall when she let me throw my arms around her for a hug. By now we've had her for 5 years and we were giving and getting our first hugs! Life is good. Until last night...when things got even better as you can see from the picture.
I am pretty sure I'd never gotten involved with rescue, volunteering at the local SPCA, and starting a malamute rescue group without Babe's assistance and her guiding light. Several phrases come to mind when I think about her, "you can only move as fast as the dog does" and "always stay with the dog, they won't let you down". There are plenty of people who've told both Saint Nicki and I what a wonderful job we've done. Maybe so, but I really think Babe was the guide. She was the one who led us onto better things. She's the one who started it all. We were lucky enough to have our eyes open and pay attention enough to follow.
2 comments:
Wow, great inspirational story! Way to go Babe! I can relate about the hugging thing. Only within the past 2 weeks or so, my shy guy (Loki - who I've talked to you about before) let me hug him! I kind of didn't even realize what was happening as I'm always hugging them, and he just happened to be the one sneaking up under my armpit amongst all the other dogs and he got a hug whether he wanted it or not! Haha, but he didn't tense up and freak out. It was a great feeling to have him not scurry away when I realized who I was hugging.
I was just thinking about it tonight - about how far he's come. Even though it's been over 2 years - he still is making progress. He has his shakey moments, but they are now few and far between. It's so great to see them come out of their shell and start to enjoy life.
Ah, what a great feeling!
Happy New Year to the Funhogs and Fundogs! :)
Good job on Loki, that is tremendous. I remember our discussions about Loki. I think shy dogs (and aggressive dogs) are real reluctant to the human touch, totally non-trusting. So when they get to the hug-stage its such a good thing for them and us!
You know, I look at your blog and I see him running around and he looks so much better than he did a year ago. Good job!
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