Please enjoy these beautiful pictures of Maxey (from the prior blog post), taken by volunteer Monica Lehman. He seems a bit more relaxed, wouldn’t you say?
Maxey relaxing with his favorite book, "A Home for Dakota".
"I love this fluffy bed! I don't know how to play with toys right now, but I think this one is really cool!"
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~ “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”~ Bernice Johnson Reagon
We see similarities between dogs at DVGRR whether a dog arrives after being used for breeding in a puppy mill or from a neglectful owner that kept her outside all her life. Most often we notice a more relaxed, playful nature about the dogs when they are outside for their potty & play times. Then, when brought inside into the Project Home Life room, some become very nervous or shut down. The purpose of Project Home Life is to assist the dogs by helping them learn to trust people and also to help them figure out that living in a home is not so bad. Many of the dogs show significant progress within a matter of weeks. There are others who may have had more severe traumatic experiences in their past who build a wall around themselves. It may take several months to break through to these types of dogs.
Meet Nina. She is a 7 year old beautiful golden who came to DVGRR several months ago.
Nina!
At first, we thought Nina was one of the dogs who would easily transition into a home because of the excitement and brave spirit she showed in her play group outside. However, after weeks in Project Home Life, we noticed she was going to take a little more patience and time than we originally thought. As you will witness in the video below, Nina is very energetic and playful outside.
But once inside, Nina basically shuts out the world around her. She hides her face in a corner of the wall and will initially tremble. We often bring her friends, Autumn & Alley, into the Project Home Life room with her to give her some sisterly comfort. Still, we can obviously see that Nina adores people when playing outside – so the goal and purpose of Project Home Life is to encourage Nina to be that playful inside, too.
Nina shuts down indoor. Outside, she is the life of the party!
Some dogs can be a challenge for our staff and volunteers, but we never give up on them.
I think all dogs should be indoor dogs. It is sad that they are kept outdoors and when brought in want to hide away. It is so sad. it makes me want to cry. It makes me want to take the people who caused this situation and slap them upside their heads.
I forgot to mention that she is truly a beautiful dog. I am glad you people have her. Hopefully she will come around.
I still want to slap the people who would make a dog act like this.
Meryl, she will come around I have no doubt. Some dogs just take longer than others. She will move at her own pace. We have had other dogs like her, some even more terrified, who are now living happy lives with their owners. It takes a lot of patience on our part and understanding from the adopter, but I know in my heart that Nina will experience freedom someday!
Personally I think justice would be for all of the Puppy Mill Breeders to live out the rest of their lives in the same cages and receive the same treatment they give these all too precious dogs
I continue to keep my eye on Nina on the web site. She is beautiful and deserves a second chance.
Hi: We have “olivia” and experienced a bit of the same ‘indoor’ behaviors, but frankly, with our three other dogs (two Goldens and a Lab), she has learned from them that ‘indoors’ is a really great thing!
She would not even come into the kitchen area to be fed the first 3 or 4 weeks she was here……three other dogs and too much competition I suspect. And she loves her food! I had to feed her by herself after the rest of the group was fed and outside. Now, many weeks later (probably two months or so at this point) she lets everyone else get started eating (while she peers around the living room door) and then quitely walks in and eats her meal. It’s a MAJOR accomplishment for her, and the other three are totally oblivious.
Enjoyed the ‘nina’ video………
That’s great! The same thing happened with our Lance when he first came to live with us. We had to feed him in a separate room because he was scared to eat in front of us. Now, he will eat in the kitchen with everyone else. It’s so great to hear about Olivia! This is another reason that we require an adopter to already have a confident dog for the shy dog to learn from. Sounds like it’s working great in your house!
Yes, Tucker got up to watch Nina’s video,too. It’s hard to believe she is able to have so much fun OUTDOORS and seems to love her person playing with her and of course her “girlfriends”, but is SO TIMID and shuts down so INDOORS!!! When we first got Tucker at age 5 yrs, he spent ALL DAY out in the far end of the fenced in yard and had to be brought in on his leash at night. He would play with his BIG brother,RIO, a Bull Mastiff, but really wanted little people contact for about six months. Rio wanted to be inside alot of the time. But IN TIME Tucker, too, grew to want to be indoors more and more. Our “Tucker-B” NEVER BARKED until shortly after my Rio died 21 months after both dogs were rescued at approx. the same time. Rio was 6 yrs. old when I rescued him; Tucker was 5 yrs. old.when we said we wanted him at the GALA in June, 2005. He’s my little love child. Under Heather’s incredible guidence and the help of the volunteers in Project Home Life, I am CERTAIN that Nina also will BLOSSOM! I do know it takes TIME among many other things–LOVE, PATIENCE, SOFT WORDS, and ENDLESS ADORATION of the canines!!
Merrily
p.s. I totally agree with Jacqueline who wrote that she believes “ALL PUPPY MILL BREEDERS SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE IN THE SAME TINY CAGES AND BE GIVEN THE SAME TREATMENT THEY GIVE TO THESE ALL TOO PRECIOUS DOGS.”
Merrily
I am so amazed how these poor kids can have so much “baggage” just like humans. I say it once and 1,000 times. I love you guys at DVGRR for the great things you do for these great kids. THANK YOU, THANK YOU
Is Nina anymore interactive when her “sisters” are indoors with her? My husband I look at her everyday. She is such a beautiful dog with such a soulful look in her eyes
She has not responded much differently when Autumn or Alley are in the room with her. One of our staff, Sue, last evening had a breakthrough with her in the room. She got Nina to give her eye contact several times and she also sat up.
I too, have been viewing Nina’s picture and story for months, now. She looks so much like our Snickers, who passed away suddenly in Sept. I am so glad to see she is progressing! She’s definitely in the right place with people who have patience, and love. When we rescued Darcie, her behavior was similar, and she wasn’t even a puppy mill dog. She was left outside so much and probably ignored. She is now a registered therapy dog with Bright and Beautiful and we visit schools where the kids read to her. Happy endings do happen!
We’ll we picked up Nina yesterday. We know it will take awhile, but right now my husband, Sassy, Nina and I are all in the living room. Sassy’s on the couch Nina on the floor in the middle of the room. (Not facing a wall and not panting) And the wonderful thing is that she is choosing to be here with us.