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| Name: |
Nicki
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Age: |
Four years old
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| Gender: |
Female |
Breed: |
Miniature Australian Shepherd
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| Home: |
New York, USA |
Nicki
is a rescue pup, adapting to a life without fear. It's not all roses
for her - the shadows are long and lingering.
When Nicki first came to us, she was extremely submissive and fearful. She
had been with a neglectful and abusive person prior to rescue. Although she'd
been treated very well by her foster mom, she had to be moved to another
foster home just a few days before transport, then she traveled for more than
24 hours to get to us. The end of that journey landed her in another foster
home with a lot of other dogs who had also made the journey. The day we went
to pick her up was the day she got off the transport that had brought her
north from Kentucky. That's a lot for a dog to go through.
We walked with her foster mom and a few other dogs, and Nicki. Just a brief
turn up and down a nearby dead end street so Nicki could spend a little time
with us before being whisked away yet again. When we had completed our walk
and stood in front of the foster home again, Nicki put her front legs up on
my leg and wrapped her paws around as if to cling to me. Almost the way a
toddler does when they want to be picked up. She went to my hubby and did the same thing.
Then she came back to me. And I did what mommas do; I picked her up.
During the process of signing the paperwork she wanted to sit on my lap.
She's small, but she's big enough that writing with her on my lap doesn't
work. So she sat leaning against my leg. On the way home, we put her into her
kennel in the back, with the door facing forward so she could see us. About
halfway home, we stopped to move her to my lap, where she eventually relaxed
and fell asleep.
During the weeks that followed, we got to really finally meet our Nicki. It
was wonderful. It was heartbreaking. She had so many issues and was so
submissive and scared. She rarely looked at us, and looked away if we looked
in her direction. She stayed near me, but avoided my hubby. Even walks
appeared to be foreign to her. She had been tied in a yard. Hey - the dog's
already outside. It doesn't need to be walked, right?
After a few months, we were able to give Nicki some really good pats and
rubs. Not on the top of the head as people seem to do, but along her body and
near her face to get her used to "good touch". She began to lift her face on
her own. She began to look into my eyes. She began to open her heart.
Nicki stopped peeing whenever she saw my hubby. She accepted love and
attention from him without cowering or rolling over in submission. She sleeps
on our bed on and off during the night. She prefers being there with just me,
though. Now, when "daddy" comes home, Nicki actually runs to the door to
greet him - even if I don't.
Whenever she visits her friends at PetSmart (they always remember us!) and
Boom Towne, they remark to me about how much her confidence has improved. She
has become much more used to being noticed because it's almost unfailingly positive.
We have had many challenges with training, and rescued dogs can have some
serious issues and big problems. But she has made such progress, and recently
Nicki went to visit the kids and staff at our local middle/high school. She
behaved herself very well. We love her very much, and are so happy to see her
blossoming into the beautiful, loved and confident dog she was always meant to be!
You can see more of her story on her blog "The Adventures of Nicki the Rescue Dog".
See more images of Nicki!
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