Piglet

First I just want to thank you very much for the support and kindness everyone has shown. Gentle Piglet seemed to have touched a lot of people as she did me, and my eternal gratitude and thank you goes to everyone who cross-posted, donated, and emailed their words of support, it meant so much. It has been a very slow process with Piglet since I first brought her to my home from the South L.A. shelter. To recap: I first saw Piglet at the South Los Angeles Shelter Annex when Andrea pointed her out to me about 6 weeks ago. We visited with her briefly, she was absolutely terrified, and it was unknown how much rehabilitation she would need. Andrea told me that kind ACT James had picked her up a few days earlier so I knew she was not a biter even in her terror, and that allowed me to go a lot faster with her than I would normally with a scared unknown dog [thank you, James, in large part Piglet owes her life to you]. Her ears had terrible fly strikes which had eaten away the flesh, her little paws had holes where urine had eaten away the outer flesh [what happens when a dog is confined to a space where they cannot escape their own urine]. Piglet's eyes were red-rimmed and her nose was also raw where her delicate pink flesh had been exposed to the elements. We didn't feel that there would be any hope for her, and we were worried that she could suffer terribly if in the wrong hands.....so I left the shelter and we proceeded to network a few other dogs that we met that day. But she was calling to me in my sleep so after a couple of restless nights I couldn't stand it any more. The thought of her dying so terrified after enduring nothing but suffering......She must have been truly alone for so long. To make a long story short, after I cajoled my boyfriend into agreeing, I spoke to Haze at Take Me Home. Haze and the wonderful Take Me Home team agreed to back me if I would foster and work with Piglet. I rushed to let the shelter know as we had not even put our names on Piglet and she could have already been euthanized. Whew, she was still alive. When I picked her up from spay she was frozen in fear, but ever gentle, she did not try to bite as the vet tech put a rope around her neck and pulled her out of the cage to give to me. I put her into the front seat of my car and off we went with a million thoughts racing in my mind. If Piglet was truly feral she very possibly could never be placed in a regular home, and getting "stuck" with another unplaceble dog was a reality I did not want to contemplate at that point. Once we got home I carried her from my car to her room [thank god she does not bite, but nonetheless getting my face that close to a dog that scared is still daunting]. Lots of stairs leading to my house and the rear room, carrying precious cargo. For many years I have mastered the art of not letting go of an animal no matter what, no matter if they were biting, clawing, screaming, or if I had fallen on my face, "never let go" is the mantra.....and we made it, I placed her in her little bed with her blanket and little pink toy pig. I would let her decompress for a few days with little interaction. She was so terrified that, even though she did eat when I would leave her alone, she did not poop. I was so worried after 24 hours with no bowel movement.....but then, there it was-- success!! Not one, but three little piles of poo! I have never been so happy to clean up poop. Piglet remained frozen everytime I visited with her. I did take her out to the yard once on a lead but her reaction scared me enough so that I decided to wait another week or two of having her get used to her surroundings before I tried it again. [She had started to try to pull out of her collar and scramble away]. Even though my yard is securely enclosed, you never know with a truly terrified dog what they can do. So it was a couple weeks later that I began to let her out in the yard, first on a leash, and then a long training lead. I still did not know how she would react to other dogs so I introduced her slowly as I always do through the fence. She seemed so interested so I first tried her on my gentle senior dog Claire. Oh how happy she seemed for the first time. Piglet sniffed Claire all over, smelling her as a lovelorn girl does when a beau gives her flowers. Piglet would press her face into Claire and she would follow her anywhere she went. Then we slowly introduced Dunston, big silly Dunston. Piglet also loved him, and due to the fact that Claire is so old and gets tired easily, Dunston has been pressed into being used as "trainer/therapy" dog the most. Piglet does not like to eat in my presence but if Dunston is there I will play the "one for you, one for you" game, giving first Dunston a treat and then Piglet. At first Piglet was very hesitant to take something from my hand, but when she saw Dunston trusted it, she would take a treat too. I sing song in a high non threatening voice "one for you and one for you" [something I'm sure my neighbors could do without] and once in a while I can even get Piglet to take a treat without Dunston being there [but it has to be a really really yummy treat.] And I stand in a corner of my yard and call to Dunston. Dunston would come running and then his shadow Piglet would come running after. I would move to another corner, and so on and so on, each time trying to show Piglet that Dunston runs TO people and not AWAY from us. I was nervous about how Piglet would react when she had to go to the vet. I brought Claire along as a "therapy dog" to give Piglet more confidence. Haze and I received some sad news when Piglet had her first check up: our little gentle girl has a significant heart murmur. We were surprised that she made it alive through the spay surgery at the shelter's vet center. We will wait a few weeks for her to calm down before taking her to a cardiologist; for the next day after her visit she had blood in her stool, as well as diarhea. The stress of the visit really did take a toll on her. In the years of taking home dogs I would find on the streets of South L.A. I would always "wing it"--this time I decided to do some research, it only to keep my patience and hope up with her because I knew I would need plenty of both. I attached an article I came across about feral dogs, Piglet is nothing like the dog they describe, she is so much more socialized, but it's a great article and some of you might find it useful down the road. So, the journey, with Piglet continues, one baby step at a time. She is so much happier however and we don't regret giving her a second chance.... Youtube Video:Watch the video