Rocky Road
It's been a week since the new rescue doggy arrived from Romania.
It's been a week of bonding and building trust, and support from the charity we adopted him through.
Everything here is scary for a rescue dog.
The hoover, people's voices, the coffee machine, washing machine, the radio, our other dog, being groomed (probably for the first ever time), family members in our bubble and especially sudden sounds.
Almost everything has gone smoothly - he is house trained, eats properly from a dish, sleeps through the night and gets on fine with Millie.
Week 1
In Romania
We have made a couple of changes.
He did not respond to his name - Viktor.
This was given to him a few weeks ago in Romania when he had been rescued from the Killing Shed (awful, just awful) by the charity and taken to safety in their compound there.
Man Wonderful likes to give nicknames and called the new dog 'Muttley' - and he responded. So.
This is Muttley!
The other change we have made is not having the grandkids here as much as we were - it's just too much for the pooch right now. He is anxious and growls, snarls and barks: he is scared of them.
So it's small steps and early days.
He will get used to our routine and the people in our close circle (or 'bubble' as Boris says!!), it will take time.
Here is another picture of Muttley showing off his crown jewels (well, what's left of them as he was neutered a month ago..).
If you look closely at his back foot you will see that it is quite damaged. He has just one toe and claw left - it looks like that foot was cut as he is missing some of the pad too. He limps on this leg.
You can also see the hole through his right ear.
Sometimes I wish people who are cruel to animals or other humans would receive the same treatment.
No matter how much time it takes, he will relax and feel more at ease.
The love you get back from an animal is limitless.
This little lad was literally taken from death row.
So it is rocky road, but there's more adventures and fun ahead.
Thank you for reading,
Tracey xx
Aww, such a sad start but with your love he will come on in leaps and bounds.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad Muttley's found a safe haven with you. I have a Rommie too, who arrived from a kill shelter completely shut down and spent most of his time in a shaking ball hoping no one would notice him. He's now a lively boy (a bit too lively when it comes to his desire to eat the postman!) but there are things we've had to accept we will never fix. He's still frightened of children and nothing has changed that, and takes a long while to warm to strange humans, especially in the house. But each new friend he makes we count as a victory. It may be a long road with Muttley but as you say it's infinitely worth it when you look in their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. We adopted two kitties on Saturday and were told-- they are really really shy. It's obvious they were abused. They cower and are very nervous. I haven't touched either one yet. Not a problem they were at the shelter for two months and I think they are just decompressing. However, they do like plain chicken and one likes sweet potato. They have all the time in the world to relax. We love them so much already. Your new dog is darling and I love your blog. Sarah
ReplyDeleteLook at the difference in him already - his beautiful shiny coat. Muttley is such a perfect name and far better than Viktor, though he IS the victor having landed himself with you xxx you are amazing x
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