I thought I’d go ahead and introduce you to our 4th furbaby. I’ve left this one to last as he is the oldest of our little zoo and this will be the most difficult one to write about.
Meet Chevy. Chevy is our 6-year-old Siberian Husky German Shepherd cross. We rescued him when he was just 7 weeks old. He was far too young to be separated from his mom but it was urgent that he and his littermates be rescued immediately. I’m not going to go into the details of where he came from. That story isn’t the worst I’ve seen or heard but it isn’t pretty and I’m not going to detail that here. Instead let’s all smile at a pic of him the day we brought him home.
Poor Chevy had a very difficult time adjusting to his new life. He didn’t know how to drink water from a bowl (all he had was frozen water before) and dog food wasn’t something he had ever seen. I spent three days hand feeding him. He didn’t trust humans and those three days were hard on him and worrisome for me. But those three days started what would become a strong bond.
It became clear to us very quickly that Chevy would never be an outgoing, carefree dog. He was going to need all our love and understanding. But my training in animal care and contacts within the industry could only get us and him so far. Sometimes you need to get help from others and in this case that help couldn’t be in human form. We got Keera (see previous post) specifically to help Chevy with his anxieties. This was probably one of the best things we could ever have done for him as her outgoing personality has helped him immensely.
With the assistance of Keera and a lot of love from his humans, Chevy has stopped jumping in panic at every little sound. He has become more confident. He’s curious about things. And he actually eats without having to be bribed.
Chevy will probably always be more anxious than most dogs and that makes him highly unpredictable in some situations. He can’t be put into our truck as his fear causes him to panic and it isn’t safe for him or us. We found him a vet close by so that we can walk him there. His fear of men makes it difficult for us to entertain. When we have company, Chevy stays in our outdoor dog run or his dog pen in our main floor hallway. We can’t put him in a dog crate because he won’t tolerate anything directly over his head (likely one of the reasons behind the truck panic attacks). He chews his nails because he won’t let us trim them (which can take 4 people and a sedative to accomplish). He wears a collar warning others not to pet him. We have to be smart, responsible pet owners and be aware of how he’s feeling and what to do to keep him and others safe.
Chevy has actually come a long way. He loves to play games with us, sings us Husky operas, scolds us when we won’t share our pizza. He enjoys a nice session of sunbathing in his dog run or rolling in the snow after a good storm. I can even brush him with the grooming attachment on my Dyson vacuum!
Chevy is more work than the average dog but we made a commitment to him that day we brought him home. He became a member of our family and now he’s happy, healthy and loved.
Country Heart 