What’s Different About a Rescued Dog?

Some were literally left behind, to fend for themselves, tied to a chain in the back yard and left to starve to death, like Jackson Browne and Stella.

By the time these dogs end up at the pound, for whatever reason, their previous owners have long forgotten about them. Withholding food, medical care, and grooming, not to mention affection, these dogs are not what we would consider “attractive.”

But when I see their shelter photos, I see something else. I see what they should be, or what they could be. 

While at the pound, dogs are in a cold environment, the sounds of other dogs is deafening, and the fear that the pound can create in even the most calm dog is overwhelming. They don’t know how they got there, where they are there, how long they will be there, or what happened to their home. One thing that all of the dogs know is the smell of death. When a shelter gasses, the dogs know, and sometimes they can hear it. They know because for the most part, we are talking about the herding breed. Not all breeds possess the same level of intelligence, but dogs that fall under the herding breed category for the most part are highly intelligent, and very intuitive.

So why do they make such great pets?

In the case of Frances, Valentine, and China, they had lost their will to survive.

In the case of China, Nutella, Bea Bea, and Stella, they had lost their trust in humans completely.

Bea Bea came to Jesse borderline feral, as did Holly’s puppy Cricket. Both took a long time to socialize. 

Most of the dogs come to us medically fragile, like Dudley, #806 Charlie, Joey, Jackson Browne, Stella, the Rome Georgia dogs, Maureen’s Hope, Collie Gisele, Frances, Jetta, Velveteen, Joey, and the list goes on and on.

The dogs that have been shot, have been Dudley and Jetta, and many with broken legs, like Flash and Sparrow. 

My point here is, if a dog has been left on its own, ignored or abused, thrown into the pound, and then rescued, fostered and adopted, they know.

They know where they have been, and they know where they are now. Do they remember? Maybe. I know that to this day China still hesitates when adults approach her, surely she remembers being beaten. Will she ever forget? I doubt it. Does China have a greater capacity to love me and my children as compared to other dogs? The answer is YES! We are the center of China’s universe!

So are our dogs better then let’s say a dog that is purchased? Maybe emotionally they are. Maybe they appreciate us more.

As I posted on Facebook this morning, when Doc Wayne saw Jackson Browne for the very first time, she said to me, “this is going to make a great dog one day.”

When I asked her why, she said, “because he’ll know the love and care his adopters will give him.” I was new in rescue then, but now I know what she was trying to say.

We fosters share our stories with each other almost on a daily basis, and we try to explain to our followers and supporters, but I don’t think it’s possible to truly understand without seeing it with your own eyes. Watching a dog that completely stops eating because of depression, then seeing that one special person or family come to adopt. The once lifeless dog leaps into their arms, jumps into their car, and never looks back. It’s happened to me, Holly, Jesse, Cyndy, Lynne, Mark, Jesse, Tom, Nancy… it’s happened to all of us, and more than just once. It just happened last week with Madigan, when Mark called me suppressing the tears as he watched Madigan adopt her boy, and it happened to Lynne as she watched Courage adopt his new family. We saw it when little Nolan adopt Gemini, and we sure saw it when China adopted Sarah!

Stella