A Surprise Addition

We had a week of stormy weather here in the beginning of June. Thankfully it wasn't severe, but of course animals who are afraid of storms do not know that. It was during one of these storms that my mom found a little brindle and white dog running the roads, terrified, and brought her home.

We posted about finding her in various places, looked for "lost dog" signs, called the vet and the shelter, checked her for a microchip, and asked at houses near where she was running, but nothing ever came of it. Because of her extremely fearful attitude and the fact that she got readily into Mom's car when she stopped but was afraid to get in it to go the vet, we believe that she may have been dumped.

Eventually we came to the decision that we might as well keep her. What's one more, right? She has also gotten slowly more used to us, and it would be a huge upset for her to be moved into another home and out of ours. When our Collie mix Sophie met her, it was obvious that she wanted to play, but the little girl didn't seem so enthused. I made a joke referencing that old Loony Toon's episode (which was referencing Of Mice and Men): "I will name him George, and hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him..." And thus the little dog became "Georgie."

Georgie is still very fearful, but is not aggressive or a fear biter. She is also a little thin, but she is eating well and should gain some weight soon. She still spends most of her time hiding, but she gets along with our other critters and is sweet when she interacts with us. She is, however, more afraid of Dad than of Mom and I. We have to wonder if perhaps she was abused by a man at some point based on her attitude. Lavender aromatherapy does seem to help her, as does giving her treats (of course!). The vet has cleared her health and believes that she is between two and four years old, but closer to two. We hope that she will continue to improve and meld into our family with time.

Update: Unfortunately, we need to find a new home for Georgie. See this post.