Special Report: 3 years with the 3 girls
February 5, 2021 marks the third anniversary of the arrival of Sophie, Fena, and Tessa. They were three of five pregnant Iowa bitches that were “leased,” already pregnant, to a man in Brush Prairie, Washington. We were told he was going to sell the puppies, split the proceeds with White Fire, and return them. We don’t know what happened, but he offered three of them to us and we said yes. Our partner Melissa got the girls and brought them to us to foster. We had no idea what we were getting into. In 20 years of rescue work we have never seen three dogs not just feral, but petrified. They acted like they had never seen a human being.
Kathy and I made a quick decision and moved the cars from our garage and made it into a big dog kennel, with beds in one corner and pieces of x-pens and other panels fencing off storage shelves because they chewed on everything they could reach. They were totally untrained, so we cleaned the concrete floor frequently. Each day we took turns sitting with them to get them used to people being around. We fenced a small outdoor area outside the garage, set up so if they escaped there was another fence holding them in. Our vet did a home visit, and Tessa was discovered to have a heart murmur. Blood samples showed Fena was heartworm positive, so she made the first of three visits to the vet clinic for treatment. In May, Sophie stopped eating and was discovered to have eaten some plastic. A midnight surgery removed bits of a string trimmer reel. They put in 33 staples. A few weeks and a few thousand dollars later she had recovered.
In the early fall we began letting the three girls into the house, first by letting them come in through an open door, and finally moved them in the house full time with a path through the garage to their potty area outside. During that time they regressed because it was another change in their lives, but settled down after a few months. On their one-year anniversary we cross-fenced our dog yard and gave them quite a bit more area to roam outdoors. After 13 months they were finally housetrained. In the early Spring, 2019, they were spayed.
We tried to find trainers in the area and couldn’t find one willing to take them. We even contacted the prison system because they train dogs, but couldn’t get help there either. Finally we found a friend and previous adopter who said she would take one of them. A breeder friend stopped by for an evaluation and decided Fena was the best candidate, so in August she went to live in the Seattle area with a wonderful woman named Kathi. We continued sitting with Sophie and Tessa in an x-pen every day, feeding them treats, and they began tolerating it.
Being inside meant they were free to bark all night, but the fix was surprisingly easy. Kathy led them to the bedroom every night and they slept in crates. We were impressed how quickly they liked it there. Then in June we opened up the entire yard to them so all our dogs were together. In the meantime, Fena was with Kathi becoming more of a regular dog every day. About that time Fena rolled over and asked for a tummy scratch. In late Summer Fena began going with Kathi’s dog walker, a man, happily.
On their second anniversary here, a year ago, Sophie and Tessa’s progress became slower. Kathy has been able to touch them, pet them, and give them scratches and a little grooming, but generally speaking I can’t get close. Whatever a man did to them in the past must have been bad enough they still can’t trust. The exception is when they go into their crates at night, when I can feed them some kibble from my hand. In past months I have been able to pet them while they eat kibble from the crate floor. Once or twice I have been able to get close enough to put a leash on Sophie, but not Tessa. A few months ago they stopped coming inside, no matter what the weather, unless they had long lines clipped to their collars so we could catch them. The exception is at night at bedtime, when they know there will be kibble in their crates.
It’s a slow road, and we expect the two will be here the rest of their lives. We know they would both do much better if they didn’t feed on each other’s fears, but try as we might, we can’t find anyone who can take a dog this fearful. It requires either two fences or one that’s built to keep a dog in no matter what, with no way in the house to escape through a door and end up in a place not fenced. If you know someone in the Northwest who has that kind of setup, we’d love to hear from them.
