Puppy Rescue

A few weeks ago, I happened upon this picture while googling dachshunds.

Slinky was listed under dogs for sale on kijiji as a 4 year-old very timid "dorkie" in desperate need of a foster home.  After having a discussion with my husband, we decided that we would offer to foster Slinky to try to help her become trusting of people and situations.  We were fully aware that if she was a dog that fit into our already large fur family, that we would offer to adopt her. 

When I first went to the meet and greet with Slinky at Dogspaw (the kennel that generously houses, trains and socializes the rescues until they go to foster homes), she was very nervous, timid and yappy.  After a few minutes of sitting on the floor in the training room with her, she eventually came over for a sniff and after a while allowed me to pet her.  She seemed "okay" with it which was a good sign that we would at least have another meeting. 

I came back a few days later with husband, 4 year-old son and super chill dog Heidi in tow.  Heidi hung out in the car patiently awaiting the outcome of the people meeting.  It did not go overly well.  Slinky had zero interest in my two boys even though they had toys and treats.  She barked nervously at them and kept wanting to scoot out the door whenever she heard noises outside.  We decided there were too many kennel noises (pick up time for daycare is a bad time for a dog meet and greet) and decided to go for a walk.  The walk went much better than the meet and greet.  Heidi is calm and easy going and really didn't give Slinky any attention so off we went.  After a successful walk, we decided that we would give fostering a chance and gingerly placed our new foster dog on my lap in the car.  Well, I could feel the tension flow out of her as soon as she was placed on my lap.  It was almost as if she knew it would all be okay now.

We weren't sure if our new houseguest had ever been in a house setting before (as it was apparent that she'd had a litter at some point, we weren't sure if she was a puppy mill mommy in her past life) - all we knew was that she was picked up on the streets and ended up at PAWS For Life Rescue.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that she is indeed housetrained and likes to sleep 12 hours a night.  Not at all like getting a puppy!!  We decided there was no way she was going anywhere else within a few hours of bringing her home.  She warmed up to the humans as soon as she realized they were part of our home and she was very good with all our fur family (although we don't allow her to hang out with our dwarf rabbit due to her breed). 

So, just a few weeks after our meeting with timid, fearful Slinky, she has transformed into an outgoing, playful, cuddly, loving member of our family.  She loves to play fetch and roll around in the grass in the backyard, lays nicely in our son's bed for bedtime stories, is learning basic commands and is a wonderful travel companion in the car.

 

We take little trips to local pet stores such as Petsmart and Pet Valu to meet other dogs and people and Slinky is doing very well.  She is much less fearful of new people and as a result, doesn't bark at them as much either.  We also took her on a weekend camping trip where she met lots of people and dogs and she did extremely well. 

Although all of our animals are adopted (from the Edmonton Humane Society and the bunny was found in someone's backyard), they were all adopted as babies.  It never occurred to me before that adopting an adult dog would be such a wonderful experience.  I always assumed that an adult dog would come with a lifetime of bad habits and was worried about the "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" adage.  As it turns out, our adult dog came with great house training, no chewing and respect for humans and animals.  She can even be left out with our other dogs when we're not home, which I didn't expect to happen for a long time. 

Since we brought Slinky home, she has come out of her shell and has figured out that she is part of our home.  She seems to realize that I was the instigator in her rescue so definitely shows me favouritism but she no longer follows me room to room and allows herself to trust that I will be back when I head out to run errands.

If you or anyone you know is looking for a new member of your family, remember the great rescue organizations and humane society in your area.  Petfinder.com shows adoptable pets from across North America.  Pet stores such as Petsmart and Pet Valu hold adoption events for rescue groups as well and give you a great chance to have a meet and greet with a potential adoptee.  Remember that you can get purebred dogs and mix breeds of every shape and size through these organizations - even puppies!  

Welcome to your forever home Slinky!