Contributed by Tanya Rongkavilit
My husband and I had always talked about having a dog. It was always a ‘we’ll have one, one day’ kind of thing. In end-2012, I quit my job and went on vacation, and when we got back to Singapore, I was jobless for the first time. What to do!
I thought of all the things I had wanted to do but couldn’t because I had a full-time job, and one of them was having a dog. I searched on Facebook for fostering opportunities. To me, fostering was the perfect option for us to try out the whole dog thing and see if we could actually really do it. Fortunately, I have a friend that feeds, rescues and shelters stray dogs at her own expense. I asked for her help to find me a dog to foster and she offered a dog called Muddy, one of her shelter dogs. He was ten months old and she had found him severely wounded in the mud near a factory in the west.
He was found in the mud, no strength to stand up or sit up.
He was in really bad condition, had multiple bite wounds that were maggot infested, had lost all his fur due to malnutrition and was super thin. The biggest wound was on the back of his neck that was about a size of a golf ball.
His biggest wound from the 20+ bite marks all over his body…
Our guess is that he had wandered away from his territory to look for a female in heat, and the males in that area attacked him. Muddy was one of three in his litter, and the only one who survived more than a few months. He had stayed under his mama’s protection up until the attack.
He was brought to the vet by a my friend and underwent several surgeries. The funds to treat him were all from donations, which we are so so thankful for.
So we went to see Muddy at the vet. BOOM – my husband took him home and I was still in shock of what we just took on. I was actually freaking out! We agreed that we would give the fostering a three-month trial and take it from there.
In really bad shape… Poor boy!
Day One: my husband went to work and I was left at home alone with this creature I didn’t know. I was scared that he would pee and poo in the house, bite stuff (or bite me!) and just make a mess. He didn’t seem to like me very much – he stayed away and always kept his distance. He didn’t allow me to pet him and would dash away with any movement I made (like going to the bathroom!). He wasn’t cooperating with anything I wanted to do. Even treats didn’t work. So by the end of the day, I felt trapped, scared, and helpless. I wanted to give up.
Day Two: pretty much the same or even worse. I think it was because I was losing patience and wanted to see some progress. We had a bit of a battle as I tried to put Frontline on him. This ended up with a few scratches and small bites on my arm, and at that point I was literally crying.
Day Three: no progress. That’s when I told my husband that I don’t want this dog anymore and if we could just return him? But he told me to hang in there for another two weeks. He told me to live my normal life, go out, do yoga, meet my friends and not to worry too much! But most of all to give the dog some time. He reassured me that if after two weeks I still felt this bad about it, we could return Muddy. With teary eyes, I agreed.
Two weeks turned into four months, and we finally refused a potential adopter to see him and Muddy was ours.
The beginning was really hard, but I did learn a few things on this journey with Muddy.
1) I realize that I was expecting too much from a dog that was terrified, who had no idea what was happening to him, where he was at, who these people were and what we wanted from him. I expected for myself a fun happy experience, but because he’s not a ‘normal’ puppy that we bought from a pet shop, I forgot that he had a past, and I needed to factor that into how I treated him and what I expected from him.
Muddy when he was a puppy at a factory in the west. He was a few months old here. Look how cute and furry he was!!
Nope, definitely not a pet shop kind of puppy.
2) He needed time to trust, to ease into this new life he was shoved into and learn to love us as his humans. We had to give him space and care for him in a way that wasn’t intimidating.
– We touched him when he came around us and gave him treats, and tried to not approach him first but waited for him to come to us.
– We gave him time and left him alone during feeding so that he felt comfortable enough to let his guard down and enjoy his meal.
– He had his own space that we did not invade (well, it was the size of his towel, but better than nothing!).
Muddy’s own space.
3) We gave him boundaries so that he would know what he could and could not do, and made sure he knew we could lead him and that he could trust me enough to follow us. Examples of boundaries we gave:
– The bedroom and the office area were off limits to him and he was not allowed to enter.
– On walks, he had to go at our speed and stop when we stopped.
– The sofa was also off limits.
– No growling or snapping at humans or dogs.
It took a lot of time and effort to teach him these rules, but with time, he realized that his life was safe and under control and he grew in confidence that we would lead.
When Muddy learnt to trust us as his leaders, he was invited up on the couch.
4) We took small steps, one day at a time, and I had to let go of any expectations I had. I still continued on my life. I think it’s important to balance out your life with a new dog because we tend to focus so much on them that we forget. The day shouldn’t revolve around them. Or else by the end of the day, you just feel overwhelmed and stressed, and then the dog also feels that tension. If you relax, he will learn to relax too.
Today, Muddy is a different dog! We can now say that he is officially a pet. The reason I say this is because when he first came to us his instinct was to survive, stay safe and fend off any threats all on his own. Today, he trusts, depends and relies completely on us. He’s not on the lookout anymore and instead is the laziest dog ever – he relaxes and sleeps in the busiest of places, he allows strangers to interact with him and it has gotten to a point where he can be off leash on walks (sometimes). He still has some way to go on trusting strangers, but we think this is intrinsic in his character and since he poses no threats to anyone, even if they approach, we will leave him as he is.
So my best advice on adopting or fostering a dog is to take it one step at a time, especially with rescue dogs, have no expectations, be firm with rules and be a consistent leader. Then just let that all work its magic over time. Maybe lots of time. And hopefully, they will all turn out to be a Muddy!
Today he is a happy dog and we give him all the love we have to give!
For those of you who are torn between rescuing a dog and purchasing a puppy, I would say to think hard about what you are looking for and how much you are willing to work. Both decisions will have their pros and cons in completely different ways. We have no regrets whatsoever in adopting Muddy, and it is maybe even the best decision we’ve ever made as a family. Make sure you are willing to put in the work long term…it may take two months, six months, three years or even the dog’s entire life, but I promise that it will be a rewarding journey that you will never regret taking. Your life will not be the same, but the thing is, you don’t want it to be the same anymore anyway.
Muddy hopes you enjoyed his story and wishes you all a happy holiday 🙂
The Furry Tales 