TLC

Many of you may recognize Jerry from a previous post introducing our furry family members. Jerry is actually a dog I have been fostering from the shelter since sometime in late January. He was brought in by animal control. We don't know the actual circumstances but we know Jerry had been left chained to a pole outside. Jerry arrived in the shelter last October. He was terrified. Once in his kennel he would not come out. Neither volunteers nor staff could take him outside. So, they roped me into fostering him.

After 45 minutes of struggling with him to get him out of the kennel and into my car, off we went!! I had in the process scraped my hands on the asphalt of the parking lot holding on to him, strained every muscle in my back and arms trying to carry him (He weighs close to 50 pounds!), and had broken a sweat in cold weather. But he rode nice in the car and then we started all over again when we arrived at my house.

I won’t bore you with too many details but this is what we have endured. He would not go out and once out would not come in. He was terrified of a leash (from being choked on the chain before) and we would have to back him into a corner to hook him and then walk him outside. Once outside we had to leave the leash attached to him so we could catch him to bring him back in. Once in he would not come off the dog bed to eat or drink and we finally had to take the bowls to him. Troy could not get near him as Jerry would never growl or bite, but would back peddle so fast Troy was horrified he would give the dog a heart attack.

Weeks went by and Jerry got better. Months have now gone by and the improvements in Jerry are immense. Troy can now pet Jerry and sometimes play tug of war with him. Jerry has discovered he can bark. We weren’t sure if he could or not and the first time he barked it was so hoarse we were afraid he had a permanent injury. Well, he barks now!! Still sounds a little funny but he fits right in!! He will go in and out with no problem and will even go by himself. We have inched the food bowl back into the kitchen and the water bowl is no longer by his dog bed, but he prefers to drink outside. He will sit with a simple hand motion and he snores!!! He still has a few issues and will jump at unexpected sounds and still will shy away from Troy at times, but he is so much better!!

I need to say a thank you to Troy, my wonderful husband who has let me keep Jerry and knows I intend to adopt him. With four animals already, he has been a great sport!!

I am posting a before and after picture of Jerry. You will see his hair has gotten thicker and his whiskers have grown back in. I know I promised at the top of my blog that our newest member of the family would not be 4-legged or furry, but I am pretty sure he will be!!

So with a little TLC you can achieve anything!!


Before
After