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These two girls are Reese and Ella. Both are 18 month old Chihuahuas. These two girls have a very special history.
A few weeks back, while we were having that horrible heat wave, a homeless family was trying to find a way to keep their do
g cool. no shelter would take them in with a dog. There are no day shelters for homeless pets either. They went to a local pet and asked for advise. That vet was our vet and they contacted us to see if we could help.
The family revealed they had lost everything about 4 months earlier and had been trying desperately to hang onto their sweet dog. They were now very worried as the reality of trying to live homeless with a pet was hitting them and they could see that they were suffering and so was she as they struggled without knowing where food was coming from or being able to get in from the elements. The sat and thought for about 3 hours in the Vets lobby and finally asked if I would make sure to find Ella a good home. They wanted her to be happy and healthy and that was more important than her stay with them. The vet coordinated the owner surrender as I was in Sun City receiving another dog, and they left her at the vet office until I could get her the next day.
Morning came and I walked into the Veterinarian's office to be told
"we would like you to take a different dog." Ella had apparently turned into the equivalent of a tazmanian devil once her family left and no one had been able to touch her, get her out of her kennel space, or get her out to go on a bathroom walk. They wanted me to take Reese. A dog found with a medical injury and no owners that had been with them for a fairly long while. Reese was calm, sweet, playful, and confident.
As I looked at Ella, she was very afraid, stressed, bug eyed, and panting. Why wouldn't she be! Her world had just fallen apart! I tried to talk to her gently, slowly making friends but, she wasn't ready. The office manager asked again, "wouldn't you rather have Reese?" I thought and said, "hand Reese to me." As I pulled Reese onto my lap she popped up an covered my face with kisses and started to play. Within minutes, ELLA saw she could trust Reese. She got up, walked to the kennel door, sniffed, went back, circled, and relaxed for the first time in 12 hours.
After a short while of me playing with Reese, Ella crept back to the kennel door to watch us. Then I asked Reese if she wanted to go potty and Ella popped up to go too! I told her I would open the door and take her but, she better behave! SHE DID! She let me put the leash on and away we went. As we walked outside the manager said how amazed and impressed she was given what they had seen of her fear before. I shared with her a little secret we know and use in rescue, some very fearful dogs will not trust a human as fast as they will another dog. Giving that dog a "fear buddy" a dog to help them pattern after and learn how to socialize with helps them to adjust and will allow them to reach out to you. That said, I also told her "we will take both Ella and Reese".
