Chapter 4
Finally, small breakthroughs along with bigger issues
Even with her left hind leg that stuck straight out she could jump, climb, and run.
The next step to foster trust was to offer treats like sausage, bacon, or biscuit bites from my hand – even more wonderful than the dog food she had grown to love I would inch closer and she would stand her ground. I would hand her the treat with my thumb and forefinger and touch her chin with my other fingers always being very gentle. She began to trust me more and I began to trust her. I let my grandkids stand beside me as I gave her treats and they were able to hand them to her also. We share a love of animals, and we wanted to pet her so much. This went on for several weeks and we could see she was obviously relaxing. She was healing and although her hip was crippled, she could walk, and we discovered she had a free spirit for sure.
We had a small but happy breakthrough. She began to follow my husband around the yard as he did chores but always kept her distance. When he stopped to work, she would lie down and wait until he came back to the house then of course back to her hole again. She came out from under the house more and would routinely to make the rounds of our neighborhood. She would jump up on the bench and sit while we were outside. Even with her left hind leg that stuck straight out she could jump and run. She had a joyfulness about her with an intelligence that kept her on guard always. We would see her returning home from all directions. Then the breakthrough wasn’t so happy. We live on a busy highway, and it was clear that she had not learned much from getting run over. She would cross the road and sometimes just hang out right by the road.
She has an independent free-spirited nature and loved bringing all sorts of things to our yard, like newspapers, carcasses, and trash in general. It was an ongoing chore to pick up the messes she made. We didn’t know it at the time, but she was only about 6 months old when she came to us. Honestly, I wondered if I would ever be able to pet her. I made calls to the county animal control, to the local pet shelter, and to the Sheriff department asking if they could catch her so she could get care for her injuries and then adopted by a family. None of these agencies could help as we were rural and she hadn’t bitten anyone, so we were on our own.
A favorite pastime for us is to sit on the back patio and watch the birds and squirrels come to the feeders we have placed there. One day as we were sitting there, out of the blue and to our amazement, she rounded the corner and walked right up to my husband. He reached out and pet her and scratched her ears, like they were old friends. I was also able to pet her, such a rewarding experience. We were able to place a collar on her after several tries. There was always a hint of suspicion in her eyes with quick movements on our part or any attempt to hold her would meet with protest in the form of pulling back and running away. We are pretty sure someone was mean to her because she behaved in such a traumatized way. We will never know what all she had been through, but it had taken close to 3 months to build enough trust for her to allow that simple touch.
Chapter Three