Happy "Gotcha Day", Meadow!

A year ago tomorrow is when we adopted Meadow (her "gotcha" day). When we first saw her in the shelter, we saw big brown eyes and a dog cowering in the front of the cage as if to say "I'm so scared but willing to give people a second chance if you give me a second chance". The SPCA has just pulled her, as the animal shelter was putting her to sleep that week. She was a stray and was a very terrified/traumatized dog. Khris spent almost a hour outside with this very scared older puppy before she finally approached him. After that, she was his and he was hers. 

Meadow and Khris - first picture, right after she let him pet her

She had every "shelter" disease one could imagine - kennel cough, parasites, and an infected spay site. She was terrified of everything, especially women. It was a long time before I could glance her way without her fear-peeing. She, due to her attachment to Khris, developed severe separation anxiety. We tried training, medication, crating versus not crating, etc, meanwhile she destroyed many of our things and injured herself many times. But we never even thought of giving up on her. Eventually, we solved the anxiety (at the advice of our vet and the SPCA) by adopting a dog her age, for her very own (Bandit). 

Bandit was outgoing, calm, and confident - everything she needed in a best dog friend! The SPCA was awesome in helping us choose him for her! 

A year later, we have a happy, athletic (our girl plays hard!), and healthy dog. She still takes awhile to warm up to new people, but once she does, she is your BFF for life (she never forgets a face). While she looks like a soulful hound, we discovered in a DNA test that her energy level and love of herding *everyone* was that she also was part "herding breed". She has been on hikes, to dog parks, on camping trips, to the beach, exploring cities, and everywhere we can take her! She loves being with us. Her favorite place in the world is anywhere Khris is!

Meadow's first beach trip, with her Khris!

We love our Meadow-lark and could not imagine not having her in our lives. Shelter dogs, due to sometimes difficult pasts, may not always be the easiest in the beginning, but it's my opinion that they always become the most "worth it". Her intense loyalty of her family and her daily joy at her life make her a fantastic part of our family. Happy "gotcha" day, Meadow!

Finally home, where she belongs!