Bailey came to us at sixth months. While he had abandonment issues, his confidence grew as he came to trust and believe he had found his forever home. We know quite a bit about Bailey’s history, some of which I will be writing more about in the future. One of the best choices his owners made was to realize that they made a mistake. A sheltie puppy was far more work and responsibility than they were prepared to take on. The best choice however, was not to surrender him to a local pound, but to contact a sheltie breed rescue where he benefited from foster care. The foster Mom that he was placed with understood sheltie behavior and worked with him prior to his placement with us. We had the rare blessing of adopting a housebroken puppy.
We know less about Katy’s life before she came to rescue. She was two and came to us infested with fleas. Her past seems to have been similar to Bailey’s history. She did not suffer from physical abuse as much as neglect. Based on her lack of socialization, her fear of humans, and her lack of experience with the world, her comfort with her crate, and other habits I suspect her owners had little time for her. She seems to have spent most of her time in her crate.
Katy has slowly adapted to her new life and freedoms. It has been so exciting watching her slowly claim her rights to her new freedoms. I never realized how much joy we would gain from each small step towards her acceptance of her new home and freedom.
Bailey has always had sensitive paws, so we have had his nails done professionally for years. We decided to treat ourselves by getting having the groomers trim the nails, bathe, groom, and trim the dogs recently. Bathing Bailey has always been a challenge. Bathing two of them becomes even more of a challenge as they try to protect the one “under attack.” I expected two pouting dogs on their return to the house. While Bailey met my expectations, Katy came home a new dog. She had discovered her inner princess.
Bailey reacted the same way to bathing at the groomers as he had at home. He barked miserably as Katy was hauled off for grooming. However, Katy discovered her inner princess. She seemed to enjoy the pampering. She came home with confidence we had never seen in her before. While Bailey let loose his displeasure, Katy pranced around the house showing off her grooming. She has never tolerated any accessories on her. In fact, she tore one of Bailey’s favorite bandanas off his neck on Halloween. When she came home with a green flower attached to her, I expected it to be gone in an instant. Instead, our princess protected it and showed it off all day. She seemed disappointed when it finally fell out of her hair. Our princess has emerged and we could not be happier.
