Here's Minnie's story--In April she was captured (not sure how, where, or why) and deposited at a St. Louis animal control facility--one of the few facilities that still use the gas chamber. This is the same facility that Randy Grim, founder of Stray Rescue of St. Louis, rescued Quentin from. If you don't remember, Quentin survived the gas chamber. Here's a photo of Quentin on the cover of one of Randy's books.
Anyway, back to Minnie...when Rachel, at Serendipity German Shepherd Rescue got the phone call about Minnie, it was thought that Minnie was a GSD puppy. As it turned out, she was a fully grown GSD mix that was severely underweight at only 14 lbs. After being brought into the rescue and vetted, it was discovered she had pneumonia as well. After a couple of weeks of TLC and some really good food, she had recovered from her pneumonia and gained a healthy amount of weight, which is when she came to stay with us. She topped the scales at 28 lbs...not quite the size of a GSD :). She has the most adorable little 3/4 tail that curls onto her back, but she definitely has the GSD beautiful, expressive brown eyes.
It's hard to say just what Minnie's past was like. It's evident by her emotional scars that she was not treated well by the humans in her life, if there were any at all. She desperately wants to trust us, but just doesn't know how. Initially she wouldn't even take food out of my hand. With time that got better, but she hasn't completely surrendered her trust to us. When she's outside, she's constantly looking for an escape route. When she's inside, her safest place is behind the couch. She's there right now as I type this story of her.
I hope her new home brings her joy, love and acceptance...but most of all I hope it brings her the ability to trust a human. That is the one thing that I just couldn't give her; but I think we did alright by her. She is definitely the sweetest dog we've ever fostered, or even had the pleasure of having in our lives.
If you've ever considered fostering, I so encourage you to try it. It is THE single most rewarding experience I've ever had. Giving back to these homeless animals who would die alone in a cold shelter is the least that I can do. However, my one piece of advice would be this--DO NOT adopt your first foster. You'll be tempted to adopt, and even convinced that no one will be able to give her the home that you can. I've tried to stay true to the idea that my home is just a temporary refuge for the animal coming in. So far, none of the animals we've fostered have become permanent residents, though I've been tempted, very tempted, by Athena, which I'll share with you another time.
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