Watching a rescue dog become who they are meant to be is an amazing honor. Sometimes a transformation is obvious, other times it is subtle. Sometimes you know their history, sometimes you dont. Many times a rescue dogs background is heart breaking.. sometimes its actually not that bad. Whatever the case may be, each rescue dog takes a different amount of time to grow into their true self. It doesnt happen overnight and many times it takes months, even years for a rescue dog to be comfortable enough to shine. Oh... but when they do... its like watching the caterpillar become the butterfly. Chase made obvious strides. He still had physical evidence to conquer and major behavioral problems to overcome. After the major stuff was out of the way, his transformation was subtle. It took him a good two years to be the dog he truly is. Topez has been subtle this whole time. She has now been with us for 1yr and 8mths. And she is only now showing her true self. For a long time I was very worried about her. Her history is unknown, except for being bounced around when she was picked up as a stray. She has had at least one litter of puppies. Watching her behavior closely has taught me she was hit. And she was sad for a very long time.. so sad it broke my heart into pieces. I tear up thinking about it. And I began to think that maybe she would always be sad to some extent. I would go to great lengths to get her tail to wag, to get her ears to perk up, to see a glimmer in her eyes.. I would act like such a clown to get something out of her. So often.. there was nothing. But I am persistent if nothing else.. and I have patience when it comes to hurting animals.. and I just kept reassuring her that she wasnt going anywhere and this was indeed her home, her family, that she was safe and loved no matter what. I cuddled her and snuggled her and kissed her and went out of my way to make her happy. It was subtle. One day she wagged her tail. Then one day I noticed light in her eyes. Another day I noticed a spring in her step. It was subtle- she played with Chase from the get-go, she loved her treats.. she didnt walk around depressed.. it was all very subtle. But she was just missing that confidence, that happy dog look. Then one day.. she played with a toy. Were talking over a year for that to happen.. no matter how much I tried to get her to play with one. She played with Chase if he had one but she never bothered to pick one up herself. And honestly, my last dog never played with toys, it just wasnt her thing.. so I thought maybe it wasnt Topezs thing either. Slowly but surely her personality emerged.. goofy girl. It took a year and a half. And the past couple of weeks.. her shell broke. I mean... just broke. Finally. Topez.. the real Topez became a butterfly. Now she runs around like she owns the place, plays with toys, tail is always wagging, ears perked up.. and the light is in her eyes. I look in her eyes and I see love, not fear or sadness. My baby has healed.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 05:07:16 +0000
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