I wonder what the impact of a dog being in a shelter for any time period really does to a dog. Sadie and her littermates were brought in when they were 10 weeks old. We adopted her four weeks later. I know there are many symptoms of being in a shelter, but what is the deep core impact on their hearts and minds?
I have no great insights or thoughts to this question. I only have 2 different examples of two dogs who were at the same shelter for the same amount of time before we brought them home.
Chevy was 10 years old at the time he went to the shelter, a retired therapy dog, who walked right into our home like he'd been here all along. He was calm, socialized with little to no anxiety. While he still needed an adjustment period, he wasn't as affected as Sadie was when she came home. Sadie being a puppy in a shelter had a definite effect on her. All those puppy things she was suppose to learn, she didn't. Not to mention she was in there during the two fear phases that puppies go through from 8-16 weeks old. And it was obvious that Sadie was terrified being at the shelter. When they brought her out to come home with us, her whole body was trembling.
Two different breeds, two different lives, at different ages in their lives. Two different reactions and recovery periods.
What have you noticed with your rescues? And what do you think the core impact has been on them?
No comments:
Post a Comment