My sixth Muddy Paws Rescue foster dog, Serena, arrived in New York City on Saturday morning. She traveled all night from a shelter in Kentucky. I was giddy to pick her up.
As soon as I saw her, I knew she was terrified of everything and everyone. Her tail was tucked under her and her body was incredibly tense. It took us an hour to walk three blocks in midtown – she would walk a few steps and then completely freeze. I ended up carrying her (and she’s 30 pounds!)
I wasn’t sure how the subway would go but we gave it a shot and she did fantastic. She crawled under the seats and fell asleep. Everyone on the train loved her. A couple and their little boy sitting next to us wanted to know all about her. I said her life was about to get so much better and she doesn’t even know it yet. When they said goodbye before getting off the train, the boy turned to me and said, “She’s going to have a much better life now!” I smiled and nodded. “Yes, she is,” I said.
Once we got back to my neighborhood, she was more comfortable walking. It’s clear she likes other dogs and people as she was friendly to everyone we saw. There were some landscapers and workmen in my neighborhood who stopped us on our walks to ask if they could say hi to her. She was happy to sit down next to them and get some pets. Lots of my neighbors were out enjoying the warm weather. They were excited to hear about my new foster. One nicknamed her Serene Serena, and that name suits her well.
Whenever Serena catches a glimpse of herself in a window, mirror, of the reflection on a car, she thinks it’s another dog and she gets very excited. As far as I can tell, she doesn’t have any prey drive but loves to sniff around. She has a real penchant for crawling underneath things (like parked cars, my tables, my desk, my bed, and my electric keyboard), likely to feel safe and protected. She put herself in her crate without any prompting, and fell asleep there all on her own. She also took a nap in my dog, Phineas’s, orthopedic bed. I’m quite sure his scent is still there, as is his spirit.
I don’t know anything about her history except that she ended up in a shelter in Kentucky. She very skinny and it doesn’t seem that she knows what a collar or a leash are. She was very skittish in my apartment at first, unsure if she is allowed to do or have anything unless it’s expressly given to her multiple times with lots of praise. She drank a lot of water and nibbled at some food, but only when I hand fed her. She has no interest in treats though she was happy to carry around toys in her mouth when I gave them to her. When she wags her tail, she wags her whole body. Her ears feel like velvet.
Throughout the afternoon, we took a few more walks outside. I couldn’t get her to do her business on any of the walks. (I wonder if that’s a safety issue as well.) She did eventually have an accident in my apartment (on the laminate flooring in the kitchen and not on the carpet, which I very much appreciate!) It was evident that she was terrified she was in a lot of trouble, tensing her body and sinking low to the floor with her head down. Of course, I just cleaned it up with no reaction, and she seemed both surprised and confused.
I’m watching her snooze now, finally letting herself relax. Though I have both a large crate and a medium crate, she’s squeezed herself into the medium one. She’s snoring and moving her feet. I hope whatever dream she’s having, she’s secure in the fact that she’s never going to spend a night in a shelter ever again. It’s only the good life from here on out. It’s incredible to me how brave she’s being, despite being so scared. She lets me give her pets, hugs, and snuggles. She’s clearly been through so much in her short life. I’m honored I can help her start this new chapter – safe and loved.
On my way to get Serena and after I picked her up, I saw so many dachshunds. My little guy, Phin, saying hi and telling me that he’s with us. Serena still has floppy dewclaws on her back legs with a nail growing from them. Phinny had dewclaws like this on his back legs, too. I would call them his special toes. I’ve never seen them on any other dog before. I guess Serena really was meant to be my foster.
Christa Avampato 