Angelica is learning to trust

I am sending you an update on Angelica who went to Animal Ark this winter and is in Ellen's foster care. She is lovely. Karen

ANGELICA NOWFROM THE ANIMAL ARK BLOG:

You never can tell about people or dogs. Sometimes the most shy, serious-looking ones turn out to be party animals when you get to know them. That's certainly the case with pretty Angelica, a feral mixed-breed dog who came to Ark from Red Lake. She was found in an abandoned van with 8 puppies, 4 of whom survived and were adopted. Angelica has not been as adoptable as her babies because she doesn't seem to have had a lot of good experiences with humans.

I fostered her a few months ago. I had to pick her up to put her in my car. She was good with all of my dogs, but wouldn't come in from the backyard when called. (I don't have a dog door, so coming in meant she had to walk past me, which scared her.) A couple of times it took me over an hour to lure her into the house, so I only let her out on a tie-out for a couple of weeks. I had to corner her to touch her, which I tried not to do more than I needed.

But dogs are pack animals, and they learn a lot from watching each other. In 2-3 weeks, she made huge progress. She was wrestling and playing with my pitbull-mix boy Johnny Cash as much as she could get him to. I work at home, from my computer, so my dogs often stop by to put their heads on my leg and try to cadge some attention. Angelica started to do it, too. She invited me into her world a little by play-bowing to ask me to wrestle/chase her. I normally don't allow foster dogs to sleep on the bed, but I wasn't going to discourage any attempt this shy girl made to come near me, so she began hopping in the bed as soon as she saw me get ready for bed. She remained terrified of other people, though.

When she hit a plateau, I brought Angelica back to the shelter. (There are always dogs needing fostering, so I wanted to give someone else a chance.) Several volunteers worked with her, sitting in her kennel not looking at her and trying to get her to approach them. But, frankly, she was regressing. She was wary of anyone going by her kennel and would bark at them.

I took her home again last Thursday. Again, I had to pick her up to put her in my car, and she acted like she had never seen me before. My front steps terrified her. Had we lost all of our progress? Thank goodness, no. After a few hours, the light went on in her mind: "Oh, wait! This is the nice place!" Soon, she and Johnny were wrestling, and she was asking me for attention. This time, she has even taken treats from two other people. She has also befriended June, a little pitbull pal of ours, and the two of them wrestle and run endlessly. Angelica just can't stop wagging and dancing, and I swear she looks like she's smiling - the corners of her mouth go up and there's a devilish twinkle in her pretty yellow eyes.

So it looks to me like sweet Angelica is one of those dogs who just won't show well in a shelter, a living example of why it's important for there to be both shelters and foster homes for homeless animals. Someone meeting her at the shelter might misinterpret her fear as unfriendliness. I know better, though. I know that, inside that scaredy girl is a major-league party girl. She's funny, she's smart, she's gorgeous, and she's looking for a home with one or more patient adults and one or more active, confident dogs to show her what to do. If you might have that home, Angelica and I would love for you to fill out an application and then call Ark. With an approved application, Ark can set up a time for you to meet this darling girl who has so much to offer. I'll try to borrow a camera and get more pictures up here, and I'll answer any questions below. Thanks for reading about this delightful girl!

ANGELICA WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT RLRR
If you know anyone with some patience they'd like to trade for a ton of love, send them our way!
Ellen