Featured Animal

Gretl
Akbash (short coat)

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UPDATE

In January 2020, we found an injury on Princess Mia's abdomen and took her in to the vet for stitches. We don't know how she got the injury -- she was in a space all to herself, so it couldn't have been caused by another dog. Her shelter was a 12' x 12' horse stall with wood walls, and the stall's small yard has woven wire fencing -- no barbed wire to get caught on. So it's a mystery. The vet put in a drain tube and stressed the importance of keeping the injury clean, so we moved Princess into the house. She stayed in our "dog infirmary" on her own, using a small fenced patio for her potty needs. As she got better, she started going over the patio fence (which is only 3' tall) to explore our fenced yard. After a few weeks of recovery, we took her out to a small pasture, thinking she would be very happy to get back to a pasture and have more freedom. We were wrong. First chance she got, Princess followed us back to the house, and she has lived inside ever since. She is still extremely shy, but she is getting a little braver every day. At first, she hid in a bedroom closet. Then she started coming into the kitchen. Finally she ventured into the family room. Now, Princess spends most days on the floor next to Lynnette's desk, and she spends her evenings next to the sofa. She goes outside to potty, and occasionally walks around, checking things out in the yard, but generally, after a few minutes, she comes right back to the same door she went out, ready to come back in the house. So after a lifetime of living in the pasture and not being handled by humans, Princess has decided to retire and start a second career as a house pet. ❤️

ORIGINAL INTAKE STORY

Princess Mia has been guarding goats her whole life, until her human died. Like so many people, her owner was the kind who thought you just put a puppy in the pasture and let her do her job. No human interaction. No veterinary care. The natural result of this outdated way of thinking is that the dog has a variety of health issues and has no reason to trust humans. It was a real challenge for local rescuers and animal control in the Waco area to wrangle Princess into the truck so she could go to the vet. But thank heavens they were persistent. Thanks also for the amazing Dr. Meier and her team at All Heart Veterinary Center, who sedated Princess in the truck, to reduce the stress of being moved out of the truck and into the clinic. Princess was spayed, vaccinated, microchipped, and heartworm-tested (she is positive but is being treated). She also had puncture wounds on her mouth/cheek from an unknown source, so Dr. Meier cleaned those wounds and stitched up the larger ones. Princess is now settled in one of our barn kennels, where she appreciates the canned food, which I'm sure is easier on her injured mouth, and which is great for hiding her meds. She hasn't yet tried out her brand new bed, but hopefully she'll figure that out soon enough. We're encouraged that she lets us pet her every time we go inside the kennel. Some dogs who have been raised hands-off as she was, will not tolerate human touch. We will take our time with this sweet girl, hoping to earn her trust.