I would like to introduce my new "forever" sister, Lucy. As sibs go, she is pretty cool. She doesn't cramp my style by stealing my bed or eating my food. In fact, she doesn't really move around all that much when she's in the house (mom will tell you about that in a minute). She likes to go on squirrel patrol with me and will hangout with me at our lookout spot in the back corner of the yard. She also likes to howl with me when the fire trucks come by. She is definitely a soprano. Okay, okay... mom wants to butt in and tell you more about Lucy.
Mom here... Lucy came to us through the rescue we work with - Lost Paws Rescue of Texas. We fostered Lucy for a while before finding her a home with a nice lady in North Dallas. She came from a breeder in Oklahoma where she was part of the breeding stock. We also fostered her mom, Annie, and managed to help her overcome most of her shyness. Lucy, however, takes fear to a whole 'nother level. She lived most of her life in a crate and is very scared of people and other dogs. I had lots of hope for her first placement. She was a very nice lady who was retired and looking for a companion. Since she was home all day, I was hoping that this intensive attention would help Lucy come out of her shell. Unfortunately, Lucy figured out that she could avoid human interaction altogether by dodging this nice lady in the backyard. After being forced to let Lucy sleep in the backyard for a couple of nights in a row, the nice lady had no choice but to call us to come pick her up.
I've nicknamed Lucy "Toadstool" because she is too scared to do much else besides sit on her bed. At first, I just felt sorry for Lucy. She was yet another dog from a breeder that was unsocialized because she did nothing but live in a cage and have babies. Unlike her mom, Annie, Lucy never came out of her shell. She'd been with the rescue for almost a year and was still scared shitless of EVERYTHING. After her placement failed, we brought her back to live with us. After a couple of weeks, it was clear that she wasn't going to blossom very quickly (or at all). We had to really think about whether or not it was more kind to let her live in a constant state of panic or euthanize her. I am generally against euthanasia for behavior issues unless they are extreme. This, however, was pretty close to my "extreme" boundary. Lucy was so scared most of the time that all of her little muscles were clenched. I joked that she probably has .5% body fat, but it was really no joking matter. I'm still afraid that she might develop heart problems because of the severe stress she was (and is) under.
After much deliberation, we decided that we would give Lucy a little more time. That was in October. After two months, we celebrate every little victory. The first time she changed beds in the living room. The first time she chewed on a hoof. The first time she barked in the backyard. I'm sure you'll be hearing about each and every one of these "firsts". I'm really like a new mother in this respect. I did the happy dance when she went up to a new dog and sniffed his butt. It was a victory because he was much larger than her and she actually had to stand up on her back legs to do it. So, brace yourself for more stories about Toadstool. Zeus might even let her write in his blog once and a while. : )
Here are some pics:
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