In late July, I got a call from the owner of a dog who had a litter of 6 puppies and they didn't want the pups. I told her I would find homes for the puppies and get their mama fixed at the August clinic.
I stopped to pick up the mama on August 20th to take her to the clinic and get her fixed. The owner told me that she really did not want to keep the dog and asked me to take her. When Sunshine arrived at the Red Lake Rosie's Rescue, she was very dehydrated and her poops were like dry rocks.
Unfortunately, the shelter dogs decided that Sunshine was at the bottom of the totem pole in the pack. Even though she is just 33 pounds, all the other dogs insisted on picking on her in the shelter yard. Since she wouldn't walk on a leash, she was limited to a kennel.
She is a wonderful dog that lacks self-confidence and does not have much trust in people. She is spayed and vaccinated. She is heartworm negative, however, is lymes and anaplasma positive.
I could not find a rescue to take her, but Nancy and Tom offered to take her in their home for a couple of weeks to work on self-confidence building, leash skills and just to give her some tender loving care. Without their help, chances are that Sunshine would never get the help she really needs to move on to a different setting.
Thanks to Tom and Nancy, their attention could mean she'll get her chance to find a forever home. This is her big break!
Karen
FIRST UPDATE FROM TOM & NANCY:
Seems like this little girl responds well to "Sunshine" so that is what we are calling her during her visit at Camp O'Sullivan. She is adorable. She wants so badly to experience being a puppy again, so we do see spurts of that.....a little gallop, being silly, rolling in the grass.
Still she will only come to us for a hand treat, otherwise distances herself by about 10 feet. No whining, no anxieties. She has been in and out of the house (by invite......she is afraid to do this on her own), and has checked out her bedding in various rooms.
She hasn't tackled the stairs yet, but then that might happen within the next few days on her own terms. She loves Rufus and I predict they will play tomorrow. I think Rufus realizes she is delicate and holds back playing, but I think I will see action tomorrow.
Very cute little girl.....a real ray of "Sunshine"....and very adoptable :-)
SECOND UPDATE FROM TOM & NANCY:
Little Sunshine is out playing with a couple soft squeaky toys!!! Too cute.
She is actually collecting toys in a pile and playing with them like a pup. Know what that means?!....I have to
go to the store tomorrow and get a couple more squeakies. If she loves them, and that turns her into a puppy again, what fun!
THIRD UPDATE FROM TOM & NANCY:
Day 2 started with Sunshine coming upstairs to the upper level on her own. A little setback when
later in the day we discovered she needed to potty outside but doesn't know how to go DOWN the stairs.
She is traumatized by the slip lead and once outside, she stayed clear of us for a while. But all was good a few hours later.
She has open access to inside and outdoors, loves her beddies scattered throughout the house, has access to 4 water bowls, we dole out treats during the day, LOVES her feeding bowl with holistic dry chow with Taste of the Wild wet food added, hoards her toys in one area, loves it when you lay down at eye-level with her and scratch and massage her.
Carolyn was here last night to visit and Sunshine received an all-body massage. She lets us pet her now as long as we approach her slowly, and as mentioned, when we lay on the floor with her at eye level, we can hug her and she gets quite squirrelly and silly!
Baby steps. But she is showing a little more confidence each day. Everything is on her terms yet.....we let her come to us. Her tails rarely stops wagging now......so nice to see....this always makes me smile.
FOURTH UPDATE FROM TOM & NANCY:
Sunshine fooled us all....she DOES know how to go up AND down the stairs and is getting pretty good at it. She is now sleeping on the bed with us, although likes to move around from chair to chair or sofa to sofa during the night.
She has more pluses going for her! The only thing holding her back is the lead/leash and being picked up at all. She will do a nose bump to our fist/hand, and will let us stroke her a bit, but still she won't let anyone come even close to picking her up. Perhaps with time.
She and Rufus played tug-o-war today. She is still building confidence with a long way to go.
FIFTH UPDATE FROM TOM & NANCY:
Here is a new photo of Sunshine. She was playing with the large green froggie squeaky toy on the bed and then dragged it to her spot by the piano.
She has had quite a week! On Tuesday, two horses got loose from a neighboring home, both ended up grazing on the other side of the fence right behind out house......so Sunshine got to watch them.
Today I baked a chicken breast and a turkey breast, diced up a few small pieces, and added this to her chow. Oh, man, her tail has not stopped wagging.
Nose-to-fist nose bumps all day long.......she smiles and struts around with her tail up. It is so nice for her to experience new things, and of course, fun for us to see her get so much enjoyment out of it all. She is adorable.
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