The shelter trauma was hard on her. She was described by the shelter as rigid, non-responsive, whale eyed, which I learned meant the white of the eye showed, and worst of all that she might bite. Paperwork from the pound showed she had surgery to spay her and remove some bad teeth. She was then placed with foster homes.
I wonder how I would have been given that history, let alone a dog of her tiny size. Some veterinarians have said too many animals have been put down because of reactions like Delilah’s when all they needed was more care and attention to overcome their traumas.
She was put up for adoption but it didn’t work out. The new owners said she snapped at the husband when he tried to remove her halter. The county then decided to give Delilah her last chance, to put her with the rescue.
The operator said in the two weeks she had had Delilah there had been no biting though she could get mouthy. “You must let her come to you,” she said. “You need to rebuild her trust.”
There she was before me, standing taller than I expected, the poodle legs, the rescue woman said. A skinny girl with coarse black hair. The cute terrier-like face, she hopped around the small room that she shared with a nursing Chihuahua and her nearby crate with little brood of pups.
I sat quietly, my palm out with a few treats. Delilah sniffed. Then she took the morsels from me.
By the end of our session, when Delilah got a bath and her nails trimmed, she was jumping up and down on the nearby bench to come to me. Close enough to cuddle.
I decided, yes, I needed to take the chance on her, just like she on me. So far so good. Its been just over two weeks. We take it slow and easy. She needs to know I am someone she can trust, someone who can be the alpha personality and take care of both of us. After the helter-skelter shelter existence she’s endured, she needs predictability, rules and structure. I make her sit or down before she gets any food. I don’t let her mouth me at all, a gentle no and I move away.
She is my constant companion. When I write, she follows me into my office and sits on a little pillow near my feet. When I am in the living room, she is on the couch next to me.
Surprises. She is house trained, a good girl who waits for me to put on her leash to go outside and do her business. She is smart when raindrops fall she makes a U-turn to take us back home. She already knows the way.
Even more of a surprise, when I looked at pictures of other so-called designer breeds or mixes of pedigreed dogs, I think people misidentified her breed. She looks more to me with her coarse dark hair and cute face like an affen-poo. That is a cross between the so-called monkey dog, the affenpinscher from Germany, mixed in with a poodle. Not a yorkie-poo.
Like I said, more mystery. I will never know for sure. It doesn’t matter.
We take baby steps in getting to know each other. The other day for the first time she let me pick her up without screeching. I take her on long walks, choose times when not a lot of folk around, work to get her to stop barking at everything and everyone. She makes progress when I stand before her and tell her to watch me, don’t bark and then when she doesn’t give her a treat.
The joy, at seeing her open up and unfold this way. The sorrow at knowing how hard her last four months have been.
We seek to understand each other, despite our different languages, hers dog, mine human. My rewards include sitting with the little girl snuggled up in a black ball next to my hip on the sofa and then watching her stretch up with her whole body to lick my face. Her hopping joy when she awakes and leaves her crate in the morning at seeing I am still here.
It would have been such a shame had she and all that love and companionship not been given this new chance.
©2019 Sonya Zalubowski for SeniorWomen.com
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SECTION 1.
Section 31753 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:31753.
A rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, potbellied pig, bird, lizard, snake, turtle, or tortoise that is legally allowed as personal property and that is impounded in a public or private shelter shall be held for the same period of time, under the same requirements of care, and with the same opportunities for redemption and adoption by new owners or nonprofit, as defined in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, animal rescue or adoption organizations as provided for cats and dogs. The public or private shelter may enter into cooperative agreements with animal rescue or adoption organizations regarding rabbits that are equivalent to those cooperative agreements authorized in Section 31108 regarding dogs and Section 31752 regarding cats. Section 17006 shall also apply to these animals. In addition to any required spay or neuter deposit, the public or private shelter, at its discretion, may assess a fee, not to exceed the standard adoption fee, for animals adopted by new owners or released to nonprofit animal rescue or adoption organizations pursuant to this section.SEC. 2.
Section 122354.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:SEC. 3.
Section 122357 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:122357.
A pet store operator who violates any provision of this chapter that is not specified in subdivision (a) of Section 122356 and is not proscribed by Section 122354.5 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
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