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| Name: |
Wendy
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Age: |
Two and a half years old
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| Gender: |
Female |
Breed: |
Dog
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| Home: |
Massachusetts, USA |
Our two elderly dogs passed away within months of each other in the spring of 2106 and although the house felt so empty, we decided to wait until fall to adopt a pet. But ... those shelter sites have a way of sneaking dogs into your heart. I noticed a dog at our local shelter who had been found in a crate in an apartment building, abandoned. The shelter said she was very skittish and malnourished and they would need some time until they even knew if she was adoptable, but I told them that we had adopted abandoned, skittish dogs in the past and we would be willing to give her a try.
To my surprise they called and said that we could come by that weekend and adopt her. When I arrived at the shelter, she was literally shaking with fear. She had been shaved down to the skin because she had been so matted and I could see that she was truly skin and bones. But when they let her out in the yard she ran like the wind and loved playing with the other dogs. So... we took her home. They called her Lulu at the shelter, but at home we tried a whole slew of names with her - "Come, Betty; Come, Lizzy; Come, Gina, Come...." When we got to "Come, Wendy!" she ran right over and sat down, as if for a treat, so Wendy she became.
We quickly realized that she loved kids and other dogs. She became best friends with our neighbor's daughter who became her Trainer in Chief. And she relished trips to the dog park to play chase with her canine buddies.
We had our challenges keeping her healthy over the summer. She would not drink water, perhaps because she never knew when she would be let out of her crate to pee, so the vet gave her boluses of fluids to keep her hydrated until we could convince her that drinking was okay because she could count on lots of trips outside! And it took a long time to find food that would agree with her so that she could return to a healthy weight.
But as of her six month adoption anniversary, she is a happy, healthy girl whose specialty is wildly exuberant greetings whenever one of her "pack" arrives home. She loves to redecorate the living room with her toys and reorganize the pillows on the bed until she gets them just right ... And she works hard to keep us active by taking us on long walks every day. As they say, she rescued us.
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