But I’m so glad they didn’t, it meant that Maisy got to ease into our family and it’s now like she’s always been here.
I can only comment on Maisy at home, I only briefly saw her at her lovely foster home and never saw her in kennels. I can only give Maisy’s experience of life here, no matter how significant or key those other parts are, but I think knowing her here, knowing her for nearly a year and a half, being with her constantly for 150 plus of the 168 hours in a week, being able to be her mum, qualifies me to tell this part of her story at least.
We took for from her foster home for an extended period to see how well she would fit with us and more importantly Sam. She was clear from the off she was either scared, anxious or extremely shy with us and largely wanted us to ignore her. She didn’t want Sam to ignore her though, she wanted to follow him, see what he was doing, even if her range was limited (outside of a walk, it was the garden and kitchen diner for so long). We knew she wasn’t going to drop her guard easily, and we had some serious conversations about how well we thought we could help her, but as an attachment started to form on all sides, we knew she was worth taking a chance on.
The thing with taking a chance on a dog, you aren’t entirely sure how long this might take or what you might end up with. You don’t necessarily have the ready made family pet you thought you might – but really bear with them. Maisy’s journey is hopefully nowhere near over, we’ve done 100 steps backwards for every 101 forward, we’ve cried ( me and Maisy, not Joe or Sam!), leaned on friends for moral support when she peed in the kitchen for the 5th time in one evening despite being walked twice and let out into the garden less than 90seconds beforehand, or that memorable occasion she worked out the bedroom and peed right in the middle of our bed… you just have to take a deep breath, pour a large glass of wine and remember it’s not their fault they don’t understand, that they aren’t doing this to be annoying or upset you, they are trying as hard as they can to process this alien world and what you strange people might want from them.
There are so many things I wish people could have seen in Maisy, she still doesn’t give away all her personality to strange people but if you are really lucky you might get a head nudge and lick. With us though…
This quiet girl that preferred to stay out of the way observing silently from a corner where she felt safe…. is currently lying on the sofa across the room from me crying loudly because Joe is not fussing her in the exact way she wants to be fussed. It took her months to ease her way through the house, making sure she felt safe before venturing further, but now nowhere is off limits and every morning starts with Maisy throwing toys around the bedroom with Sam and barking ready to go out.
The nervous girl that wasn’t sure she wanted to be touched and cuddled, and wasn’t that keen on you being in her safe space for long… is now a faithful black shadow, following me around the house with an extremely waggy tail and bounce in her step, hammering up the stairs at bedtime to zoomie on the landing before jumping into her bed and roaching for the best sleep. The girl that jumps onto the bed for a cuddle every morning, adores a sofa snuggle with Joe every evening and runs to greet us with jumps and licks whenever we return home. Who is the second most devoted work buddy I’ve ever had and just like Sam, understands after breakfast it’s time for work and trots along to my office with me and Sam to settle in for the day.
The girl who wasn’t too sure about the outside world, now goes absolutely mental every time you suggest it’s time for HAT (woofers word for harness), barks and cries to hurry us up, bombs up onto the mud patch formerly known as lawn to wait with Sam for us to start a game of Find It before we go out… if we aren’t quick enough she runs back down and herds us up as quickly as possible. The girl who will walk 10mins or 2 hours and enjoy every second of it, nose down sniffing and exploring. Who goes to visit her friends and their humans and happily settles down in their houses for a play.
The girl who was reluctant to take a treat from my hands.. who now climbs onto the bed every Saturday morning to share crumpets with me and Sam, who appears whenever the fridge opens just in case cheese or chicken might appear, who will now nudge people she knows has a treat to make sure she gets her share.
Maybe if people had known what a delightful girl she was, she wouldn’t have been waiting for us to find her. I’m so glad she’s ours, but for all the other dogs just waiting, I can promise they are worth it. Every minute spent helping her show herself has been repaid a thousand times over and we have the funniest, cheekiest little big adventurer who just makes us laugh. All these dogs need is the chance to be themselves – I can guarantee the end result is just wonderful.
Watch this space…
