Second Chance

A few days ago we received our new foster dog from Sheltie Rescue, and this is going to be one of the hardest ones to let go. Joey Chance, the sheltie, was found hiding in a drainage ditch on Monday and was nothing but skin and bones.

The reason we picked Chance as a surname was two fold. First, obviously, as a rescue dog to be adopted to a new family, he has been given a second chance. But I also believe - based on his condition - that he was probably on his last day on earth when he was found - his last chance to live.

He spent the first day at the vets, were they combed the burrs out of his hair and
gave him a therapeutic bath. He was treated for cuts and sores, given medicine and food, and a safe (if not quiet) place to rest. We picked him up the next day and a sadder sight I haven't had in a long time. He was completely frozen still, starting at nothing - especially not a person - in the vet tech's arms.

We brought him home and separated him from our two dogs (Zoe and Nigel), but Nigel threw such a fit about having a dog that he couldn't sniff that we decided to accelerate the meeting a bit. Here it was Chance's turn to surprise us. I took our dogs into the backyard on leashes and let my wife, Melissa, carry Chance out back - he would not walk on his own, only lay where you put him.

But the moment she was on the deck, he sprang from her arms and trotted around the backyard. He visited with Zoe and Nigel, checked out the area and basically made himself comfortable. Melissa and I stared at him, stunned. But happy...

Unfortunately, when we brought him back inside (that is me in the photo, about to bring him back inside), he immediately reverted back to his still-as-a-stone state and laid where we put him. This became the routine for the next two days, where we fed him three times a day, carried him out for a brief stint in the backyard, carried him back inside and let him rest until the next feeding time.

The good news is that by the end of the weekend he was doing so much better - love, food and rest are miracle drugs. He now walks himself from his hidy-hole to the backyard and I've spotted him wandering the house a couple of times. Hard to say since if he sees Melissa or I, he is gone in a shot. I crowed loudly Sunday when I was given my first finger sniff before he shot away again.

So it is Monday now and I'll be heading home for lunch for a while I think. Each day he gets a little better and a little braver. We still have at least a couple of weeks before he is ready for his neutering and a bit after that before I think we could start listing him for adoption, but he'll get there! But I think letting him go is going to be the hardest thing I've done in rescue so far.

Comments

[Gretchen E.]

Great story about Chance!! Shelties (well at least the three that I have had) seem to be really shy around new people even when they have never actually needed to be afraid, so I hope Nigel and Zoe help him to come out of his shell quickly!!!