Minimor
Well-Known Member
Remember Lucy, the dog I adopted from the pound last summer? She was 4 years old when she was surrendered to the pound, and they were going to euthanize her because she wasn't friendly and willing to make up to anyone. The pound keeper didn't trust her. I went & looked at her, but the fellow didn't want me to take her. I went back a week later to look at a pup, and he told me Lucy was still there, and had started to be a little less standoffish toward him. I came home with Lucy that day.
We had her 3 weeks and she never really settled in. I always had the impression that she wasn't happy here; she was very timid and just so vague--she'd wander around the yard as if she didn't have a clue what she was doing. Then one night I yelled at her for blundering into/on top of a cat. She scuttled off, and a short time later she was gone. She came home across the pasture the next morning, but when I called to her she turned tail & ran away. She stayed in the area--different neighbors saw her and she was sighted a mile to the west and a mile to the south. One rainy morning I found her on the road when I was going to work, but I couldn't coax her to me. That night when I came home she was in the same area, but still wouldn't come to me. I went home to get the other truck and our other dog, hoping Lucy would come to the other dog, but when I got back to where she'd been, she was gone. We had food & water out at the one neighbor's, and she'd come every few days to eat there. Another neighbor was also feeding her (I found out afterward). She came to our yard at least once (I saw her tracks in the garden) but didn't stay.
Then one night I was going somewhere with the old truck--the truck I'd brought her home from the pound in--and came across her on the road. I called to her, and she turned around & came to the truck. I couldn't quite coax her up to me but I opened the passenger door & after a lot of coaxing finally got her to climb into the truck. When we drove into the yard Lucy started whining like she was happy to see the place, and she was happy to go back to her old dog house. (You'd have thought she'd have gone to the dog house when she came back to the yard on her own, but she didn't--it was like she'd been wandering around without a clue where "home" was, even when she was right in our yard. She was gone exactly 4 weeks.
She's been back at home a few months now, and she's like a different dog. She's never tried to leave again--she's loose all of the time now & doesn't go anywhere, she's become very devoted to us & does not like strangers at all. Won't have a thing to do with them, and I suspect that if someone were to come here & get rough with either of us she would defend us. She barks if anyone comes into the yard, and looks very ferocious--with her loose in the yard there aren't too many people that will get out of their vehicles if we aren't outside. She isn't nearly as timid as she was--she no longer scuttles away if someone raises their voice, and she doesn't spend all of her time hiding in her dog house. She doesn't trust the ponies--if one of them looks at her wrong she clears out pronto!--I have the impression that she's been around horses before & has perhaps been chased or even hurt by one. I've wondered if a kick in the head is the reason she is so vague--she isn't as bad as she was; she doesn't wander aimlessly like she did at the start, but she still has her vague moments.
Anyway, these pictures of her aren't the greatest--I just took them quickly this afternoon & will have to try for better ones sometime--but in person she's looking much better than she did last summer. She was thin when we got her, and even thinner after her 4 weeks of living on the road, but now she's at a nice weight & is overall a happy dog.
We had her 3 weeks and she never really settled in. I always had the impression that she wasn't happy here; she was very timid and just so vague--she'd wander around the yard as if she didn't have a clue what she was doing. Then one night I yelled at her for blundering into/on top of a cat. She scuttled off, and a short time later she was gone. She came home across the pasture the next morning, but when I called to her she turned tail & ran away. She stayed in the area--different neighbors saw her and she was sighted a mile to the west and a mile to the south. One rainy morning I found her on the road when I was going to work, but I couldn't coax her to me. That night when I came home she was in the same area, but still wouldn't come to me. I went home to get the other truck and our other dog, hoping Lucy would come to the other dog, but when I got back to where she'd been, she was gone. We had food & water out at the one neighbor's, and she'd come every few days to eat there. Another neighbor was also feeding her (I found out afterward). She came to our yard at least once (I saw her tracks in the garden) but didn't stay.
Then one night I was going somewhere with the old truck--the truck I'd brought her home from the pound in--and came across her on the road. I called to her, and she turned around & came to the truck. I couldn't quite coax her up to me but I opened the passenger door & after a lot of coaxing finally got her to climb into the truck. When we drove into the yard Lucy started whining like she was happy to see the place, and she was happy to go back to her old dog house. (You'd have thought she'd have gone to the dog house when she came back to the yard on her own, but she didn't--it was like she'd been wandering around without a clue where "home" was, even when she was right in our yard. She was gone exactly 4 weeks.
She's been back at home a few months now, and she's like a different dog. She's never tried to leave again--she's loose all of the time now & doesn't go anywhere, she's become very devoted to us & does not like strangers at all. Won't have a thing to do with them, and I suspect that if someone were to come here & get rough with either of us she would defend us. She barks if anyone comes into the yard, and looks very ferocious--with her loose in the yard there aren't too many people that will get out of their vehicles if we aren't outside. She isn't nearly as timid as she was--she no longer scuttles away if someone raises their voice, and she doesn't spend all of her time hiding in her dog house. She doesn't trust the ponies--if one of them looks at her wrong she clears out pronto!--I have the impression that she's been around horses before & has perhaps been chased or even hurt by one. I've wondered if a kick in the head is the reason she is so vague--she isn't as bad as she was; she doesn't wander aimlessly like she did at the start, but she still has her vague moments.
Anyway, these pictures of her aren't the greatest--I just took them quickly this afternoon & will have to try for better ones sometime--but in person she's looking much better than she did last summer. She was thin when we got her, and even thinner after her 4 weeks of living on the road, but now she's at a nice weight & is overall a happy dog.
