So proud of my foster dog's progress! She's from a hoarding case of 70 dogs

[legend28]

Story time with lots of pictures!

On June 30th I brought home "90", a tiny 5 lb terrified ~4 yr old dog from a hoarding case of 70 chihuahuas. That morning she had been spayed (who knows how many litters she's had), vaccinated, microchipped, had her left eye enucleated, and several teeth pulled. Because there were so many dogs the rescue took in, the director had given each dog an ID number and then let us name the dogs. "90" was renamed Valkyrie (90 on periodic table = Thorium, she only has one eye so Thor would have been great, but is a girl so stick with Norse mythology and we landed on the Valkyrie).

She was understandably traumatized. She had never left her house. She had no experience with other people, the outdoors, or anything in the world other than the house she'd been in with 69 other dogs. I set her up at the side of our main living area on a rubber mat (

 

[log49]

@legend28 This is a great write up. It sounds like your patience really paid off and you've set her up to succeed. It must have been an added challenge with other big dogs in the house. Well done!

 

[legend28]

@log49 My Siberian huskies (and Silken Windhound pup) are used to foster dogs of all sizes and they also come to work with me at puppy school. We also had Amaze-Bobb, a senior 2 legged toy poodle, for about 3 years. They're used to the little ones.

 

[log49]

@legend28 I meant tough for the Chihuahua! But that is great that you have dogs that are so well socialized and good with other dogs.

 

[legend28]

@log49 Oh! She actually didn't seem phased by them at all. But I also didn't let them pester her and she had about 2 weeks of living almost entirely in the pen so she'd seen them enough that without the barrier it was really no different.

 

[jannieb]

@legend28 The sunbathing and looking out windows pictures are my favorite. Partially because it's funny to see how tiny she is compared to your other dogs but also because she seems so comfortable.

 

[legend28]

@jannieb Mine too, it makes me incredibly happy to see her relaxed and being a dog. She is teeny, about 5 lbs!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@legend28 I loved this!

 

[transnomer]

@legend28 This made me so happy to read. You can really see the changes in the pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[feeltheshame]

@legend28 Wow I am crying! What a cutie! She was so lucky to get you as her foster mama.

 

[blindspot6]

@legend28 This is such a heartwarming post!! Thank you for sharing but more importantly, thank you for caring. You can really see how happy she is now.

 

[anon77777]

@legend28 Thank you for all the sweet pictures! What a sweet girl! The world needs more people like you.

 

[outline]

@legend28 I am incredibly proud of you and little miss Valkyrie! What a wonderful post to begin Friday with. Thank you for posting.

 

[bear78]

@legend28 I can't upvote this enough! I love seeing fosters turn their lives around with some good loving. My own rescue was like this, terrified of just about everything. I couldn't get him to do anything or approach other people, especially men. Dogs, though, dogs he ADORED.

So naturally we went to the dog park as often as we could. And now, with another dog in the house and a proper backyard, he's so perfect.

 

[puttingothersfirst]

@legend28 This is a lovely post, thank you.

 

[coctien]

@legend28 this is such a beautiful story you and valkyrie are angels!! also as a big fan of chemistry and norse mythology the explanation for the name made me feel very seen

 

[molinist]

@legend28 You've done amazing with little miss Valkyrie. I look forward to seeing you all this afternoon for my last day.

 

[john812mom]

@legend28 This is amazing!! Thank you for taking the time to fostering her and teaching her how fun life can be. It’s always hard when a dog comes from an abused home (especially when they were constantly giving birth) but the payoff is amazing. I can tell she’s a very very very good girl

 

[rhemalog]

@legend28 Great job! I think a lot of people make the mistake of rushing things with new dogs. It's especially important with fearful dogs to let them go at their own pace.

How did you integrate the foster dog with your resident dogs?

 

[adfolkate]

@legend28 SO MUCH YAY!!!

Go you for the patience!