DUCHESS
Duchess was brought to us in the condition you see in the picture above. She had been living in squalor and was basically feral. She suffered from an extreme case of mange with infection as well as external and internal parasites including heartworms. She had had countless litters of puppies and was emotionally shutdown. We weren't sure if we would be able to turn her around.
At first Duchess stayed curled up in a ball and had no interest in interacting with us, however, she did make good eye contact and showed no aggression whatsoever so there was hope. We kept her in the break room with us in hopes that being in close contact with all of us would help her come out of her shell. It did not.
We decided to try her with a sweet, calm, gentle dog named Piper to see if being with one of her own would relax her and help her learn the ropes. It indeed did the trick. Within a few hours of being with Piper she was approaching us, licking our hands and wagging her tail, it happened just that quickly.
Our volunteers have worked closely with her and she now walks nicely on a leash and jumps around like a puppy when she sees someone approaching. We still have no idea what breed she might be and it's going to take months for her hair to grow back, hopefully giving us an idea as to her genetic makeup. In the meantime, Duchess continues to heal both physically and emotionally and we are thrilled!
