May I share some good news?

[Aspen and Misty]

I have a puppy that I recently adopted that I named Sitka. She is a Husky mix who was supposed to be just a foster but that didn't last long! I've been able to give up foster dogs before without an issue but no matter who applied to adopt her I was unable to find a home "good enough" for her and thats when it hit me, this girl stole my heart. I wasn't looking for a 3rd dog but she chose me so she is a keeper.

She was not around people for the first 4 months of her life so she is terrified of all people. I have won her trust but even my mom (who we live with) has never pet her (we've had her for 2 months now). When she meets someone new or is put into a new situation she goes into panic mode and freaks out. Well today, after 2 months of building her trust I took her for her first walk! It was hard getting her out the door but we stayed focused and by the end of the walk she was walking sweetly at my side pretty calm. I was so happy, she did a great job over coming her fear. It was 11:30 at night so there were no cars and no people but it was the perfect situation for her first walk. We will be doing this for a week or so and then we will attempt an early morning walk. I'm so proud of my girl! She is simply amazing!

Anyway, here are 3 bad pictures of her. I need to get better ones, she is simply stunning!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/chewysnova/SKuVK0zNMjI/AAAAAAAAE5k/3DC_0eQDGyU/Grandma%2C%20Grandpa%2C%20Chubbs%20and%20Skylar%20 034.jpg?imgmax=512

http://lh6.ggpht.com/chewysnova/SKuVNp4wErI/AAAAAAAAE50/TVQABcjqwto/Grandma%2C%20Grandpa%2C%20Chubbs%20and%20Skylar%20 044.jpg?imgmax=512

http://lh6.ggpht.com/chewysnova/SKuVMfndNKI/AAAAAAAAE5s/W3LgmexFaGM/Grandma%2C%20Grandpa%2C%20Chubbs%20and%20Skylar%20 043.jpg?imgmax=512

Ashley

[AllAmericanPUP]

oh she is beautiful!
congrats:love:

[luvofallhorses]

Sitka is absolutely gorgeous. :love: Congratulations! :)

[Scooter's Mom]

Congratulations! I hope Sitka continues to get more people friendly, too.

[Karen]

She is gorgeous. How old is she? I can see how she won your heart!

[chocolatepuppy]

Sitka is so pretty! It seems you stole each others hearts.:love:

[Ginger's Mom]

Wow, she is a beautiful girl. She may never let your Mom touch her (Ginger will still not let my father touch her, but we don't live with him), but you will rejoice in the small steps she does take. I am actually surprised she would go for a walk in the dark. Good girl, Sitka. I think she is lucky to have you help her through her issues.

[Freedom]

Hi Sitka! My what a shiny black coat you have there. That is the "invisible cloak," so you are safe walking with mom in the dark!

Bless you for working with her. It will take time, but you will constantly see improvements.

Tell us more about her background?

[RockyRoad]

Wow, she is absolutely stunning! Good for you for working with her and getting her to trust you. Congratulations! :)

[anna_66]

Oh my! She is simply amazing:D

I'm glad to hear of her progress. I hope with all your extra special care that one day she'll love everyone else as much as I'm sure they'll love her:love:

Looking forward to many more pictures and updates!

[boomersooner]

She is beautiful!!! Sometimes life is a series of baby steps, and she certainly has taken a big one!!! Give her a hug from Boomer and Cassie (and me!)

[Miss Z]

What a beauty she is - I love her eyes. Congratulations!

[4 Dog Mother]

It's easy to see why you couldn't give her up! She is beautiful! I hope things get better for both of you. We have a dog that was chained to a doghouse pretty much the first year of her life so she is afraid of new people. Now being in our home and seeing new people more frequently she is a lot better. Except if we go out to a dog park meeting, she sometimes forgets she doesn't know everyone there and then all of a sudden she will look at the person and say I don't know you and back up and start barking at them. It is great you are willing to spend the time working with her to get through these issues.

[Taz_Zoee]

Aww, Sitka is beautiful. That is great that you are making such progress with her. It just takes time. When my sister rescued Maggie, her greyhound, she was terrified of men. We believe it was because she was a racing dog. It took probably a good year before she felt comfortable enough in our home and she began to trust my dad and brother. By the end of her time here on the big dirt ball she was the most loving dog ever. It just takes patience (which it sounds like you've got plenty of) and consistency.
Congrats, and welcome to PT Sitka! :D

[cassiesmom]

Awww, Sitka, sweetheart! You chose your forever home! I hope you will be happy to take a morning walk very soon. I am rooting for you! Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy all your night time walks with your caring human.

[cyber-sibes]

Congratulations! Sitka is a beauty! :love: Time & love work magic, she's in the right place, without a doubt! Looking forward to watching her grow.

[K9karen]

My fave combination..black hair and blue eyes! Sitka is beautiful! Thank You, Thank You for taking the precious darling into your loving home and having the compassion and patience to give her a happy life. Sitka couldn't be in a better home!!! :love::love::love:

[Aspen and Misty]

Thanks everyone! I simply love this little girl. I will never forget the day when I came home and went upstairs to get her out of her kennel and as soon as she saw me she started to wag her tail. It still brings tears to my eyes to think I am lucky enough to have her in my life and that this sweet little dog chose me to trust. I can't even begin to explain the feeling.

Karen - Sitka just turned 6 months old.

Today she went downstairs and walked outside while my brother was in the room!!! This is a huge step, my brother just came home last Friday and she is already walking in the same room as him. I'm so proud of her!


Freedom - More Back Ground Info: Sitka was pulled from Elbert County Animal Control by some friends and I. The "Shelter" sprays down the dog's kennels with bleach and rinses them with water while the dogs are still in the kennel. My theory on her is that she had no human contact for the first part of her life and then when she finally met people they abused her by spraying her with bleach and water. We watched them do it and they got bleach ON the dogs, in the water bowls, food bowls etc. and they took no measure to safely take care of these dogs or get the bleach off them or out of the bowls. When we saw Sitka she was cowering in the back of her kennel. She had green discharge from her eyes and you couldn't touch her. I told my friend I couldn't leave her behind and that she had to come. We had to go in her cage, pick her up and carry her to the car. She never offered to bite but you could tell she was scared out of her mind. We took her right to the vet where we couldn't remove her from the kennel. We had to take the top off and she froze in fear. I got her home and we were unable to get within 10 feet of her. For the first week we would coax her out of the kennel and outside by putting cheese on the ground and walking away. When it was time to come in we would open the door from outside and she would bolt into her kennel. I fed her every meal by hand and slowly gained her trust. We found out that she attached to dogs easily and my dogs actually have done more emotionally for her then I ever could. She feels safe and confidante with them and looks to them for reassurance. At the time I had a small "pack" of 8 dogs including a bunch of fosters and my own 2 dogs Nova and Konnor. Sitka flourished in our little "pack" and I truly believe having so many dogs around her helped her come out of her shell so much faster. So that’s her story, I still can't believe I have 3 dogs but I simply can't imagine my life without her. I may be nuts, and sometimes I'm sure I am but she is worth every moment of effort and time.

Ashley

[Husky_mom]

I can´t believe I missed this.. she´s way stunning for words!!!....

*drools*... love the black blue combo.... I bet she´ll grow up from gorgeous to even more....

glad you took her home and that now we ´ll get to see her often YAY!!

welcome Sitka!!

[jennielynn1970]

I am so glad that you got Sitka out of that "shelter". What a name for a place treating the animals in there like that. That's not a shelter, that's torture.

I can't wait to see more pics and hear how she progresses even more! She's a gorgeous girl, and looks so sweet!

It looks like you both won out on this rescue! She got a great home, and you got a great pup!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I remember reading your post about that horrible shelter.:( I'm so glad that you rescued her and now she has the best forever loving home ever.:D Congrats!!! She's gorgeous.:D

[Rachel]

Oh Ashley, it appears that she was extremely traumatized when you happened upon her. I'm so very happy that she found your warm heart and generous soul to rescue her. It is a miracle that she found it deep within her being to recognize that she could trust you and your family. It is accounts such as this one which can help heal our own hearts which are so often wounded with the ones of abuse.

[Suki Wingy]

What beautiful blue eyes she has!

[Aspen and Misty]

Thanks everyone. Sitka went to the vet on Friday and all I can say is poor girl! She was so scared the whole time while we were there. The whole staff was great and spent extra time to go slow and let her get used to them. She stayed cowered in the corner the whole time but by the end she was a little bit more at ease. Also, the vet thinks she is more like 6 to 8 months old. She has all her adult teeth but the only thing that doesn't make sense to any of us is that she is only 23 pounds and only comes up to my knee. So I think whatever she is mixed with must be something small.

I'm going to try to get some new pics of her for you guys, she is so much more grown up then the pictures I posted.


Ashley