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I have been watching all the updates on Nala and i have to say you guys do a brilliant job. She looks so happy now. Well done!!
The black and white blur at the right side of the photo is Nala enjoying her 2nd day at Doggie Day care!!!!!!!!Firstly may I thanks all the people up in Dog Training Ireland but especially Tara, Laura, Michelle and Lauren for looking after my baby.
Having gotten advise from Marie and a few others I decided to start bringing Nala to work with me just to get her used to the outside world and low and behold she coped with the change of scenery ok. Anyone who has been to the shop will know the "chill out " room and she made that her base and looked out at all of us working and even allowed strangers to pet her over the baby gate without running for cover. The OH went back to work suddenly this week and I was left worrying what to do with the girls so I contacted DTI and they were will to take Nala along with Sheba and Cassie and see how it went and it went great. Day one she hung out in reception with Tara with a short trip outside with Laura. Day 2 she went straight into the main area with the other guys and girls and coped brilliantly. I am so delighted. I really feel like we have turned a corner and she though probably will always be timid and quite shy, she now has a real chance to move forward.
Hey Liz, that’s really brilliant news and great progress for little Nala. Looks like all your hard work is starting to pay off. I can’t wait to meet her – it makes you wonder what the poor little thing went through before you took her under your wing. Keep up the good work
Nala has been coming along so quickly in the last few weeks, it amazing. She is going up to Doggie daycare in DTI and is loving every minute of the activities going on up there. She also last week had her first walk in the park off lead!!!!!!!!!!!with Sheba and Cassie and she loved it. She was so funny chasing the birds and running after the girls.
Today, was a huge leap forward. We took her out to the beach in Donabate and she had a ball.
Two full hours running around, sniffing, chasing and swimming in the sea!!!!!!!!!!!!I could not belive it, she is adorable. She is one of the most beautiful dogs that I have ever had the pleasure of minding. Her reactions, now that her big fears seem to have gone away, are inspiring and so rewarding. She is loving life and really enjoying everything like a normal dog would normally do. She still has not got the housetraing thing so we do wake up in the morning to a "little present" but I think that is just her way of saying Good Morning…I really wish that I was in a position to keep her but unfortunetly the timing is all wrong.
Nala will definetly need a home with another dog, a dog that is confident and can show her how to behave. She will need a new Mam and Dad that are willing to accept that they will have to perservere to win her affection and that she will not act like a "normal" dog and run to them straight away and smother them in kisses. She needs a home where there is someone at home most of the time to keep up the house taining and get her to the next level. She needs ahome where everyone ùnderstands that she really wants to be loved, no raised voices and I would think no young children ( under 10 ). Her love when you win it, is so precious that it is so worth the effort and time that it takes.
What a wonderful journey she has made with special friends to help her along the way. It seems like when she got a foot(paw) on the ladder there was no holding her back. Since the day I saw her in the shop this is a mighty leap for her. It is no joke to live your life in fear and I feel she has been set free from this to enjoy the rest of her live which is her entitlement. You are both truly marvellous.
maryWell done Liz on all your hard work in helping Nala overcome her fears.
I am delighted that she is eventually coming out of her shell,thanks to your kindness & patience. Just a bit about Nala:
I never really get the chance to post up about many dogs (there just isn’t enough time in the day!) but I think Nala deserves that extra special bit of time. Out of all the thousands of dogs and pups I have met while volunteering for Dogs in Distress Nala is by far the best rescue story yet. This special little girl is a very different young lady from the time she came into the care of the lovely and extremely patient Liz (hpsheba).
Up until that date I had never quite met a pup like Nala, one who had clearly suffered so much and who had the weight of the world on her shoulders. No one will ever believe just how scared and frightened Nala was. I did not believe it either until I met her. The first time I met Nala I was expecting a completely different pup. I was expecting to find a nervous pup that would eventually come around to me and have a pet or a cuddle once they knew I was safe…that was not the case.
Those of you who have had me in your lovely homes know that I have an opinon or suggestion about everything. Meeting Nala left me speechless and very very emotional. Nala was so petrified of human contact that she litterially squashed her whole body up against the wall in such a manner that was so alien to normal dog behaviour. Liz used to call her the "anteater" as Nala just put her head to the ground and sunk along the walls fearing to make eye contact with anyone. She rarely moved around the house, preferring to hide behide the couch in the sitting room as if she was invisible. When she did move it was fast and almost out of sight and even then only to other hidden places around the house. Still even today when I visit she is the same with me although she occassionally will pop her head out from behind the couch when curiosity gets the better of her or to have a sniff at my toes from under the kitchen table.
Every day is a huge step in Nalas life. From her head popping up to say hello to her beginning to play with liz’s dogs. If only we could tell her that she is safe now and that she can relax and be a pup again. Liz and Tony (her foster mum and dad) have done the most amazing work with Nala. So much so I honestly do not believe anyone else would have. The time, patience and energy they have put in to gain this little pups trust is just astounding. And she does trust them. No one will ever know just how much Nala has changed over the months she has been with them. How much they have had to alter their lives to manke a difference in hers….and how their poor stairs carpet has suffered when nala gets so scared she wets herself. I don’t think any other carpet in the world has been cleaned so much!!!!
Seeing the video of her has me so overwhelmed. I cannot actually believe she is outside, let alone running around the beach enjoying herself!
She still hides behind the couch when I come to visit….unlike sheba and cassie (liz’s girls) who see me as a gravy bone dispencer!
I don’t know if Nala will ever be like a normal dog, but then again I never thought she would get this far either so what do I know! Nala needs such a special home, she is a real rescue story. She needs a family of her own that will adore her just as much as Liz and Tony have. Someone to share her life with, the ups and the downs and a family that really want a very special little dog.
Nala in her high vis jacket going out to work on the M50 roadworks!!!
Only messing, she believe it or not is enjoying going for night time walks ha ha (please ignore the carpet in this pic
)I would also like to share my loving thoughts on Nala from the doggie day care side of minding her
Nala is a really, really pretty girl, she is just so pretty and petit in the flesh, its hard to describe. The first day I met her she hide under a chair, I spent about an hour just sitting with her as she wouldn’t come to say hello, what brought her out of her shell was another dog coming into eat the treats I’d be giving to her
It was the first sign I saw of the little cheeky monkey that was to emerge over the coming weeks )))) I brought her for a little walk where she really began to shine and really started to take a piece of my heart! The next day I decided to bring her in to meet all the other dogs, within again about an hour she was running with all the other but keeping a very watchful eye on what her foster sisters Sheba and Cassie where doing. I remember trying to hand feed her and I broke a biscuit in half just as I bent down to her and she ran away, the breaking of a biscuit frightened her
But thankfully those days are slowly but surely fading away. Now she jumps from the jeep, comings running in the door, offers licks and kisses to all the staff, gets straight into her bed and waits to come out to play, at nap times and home time again she runs straight to bed, she loves her routine, really listens to the humans minding her and she loves playing with other dogs her age especially and really loves her grub! She has many doggie pals separate to her foster sisters now and she loves playing with the girls her own age. But she has many friends. She is now very confident while playing and really is a right character, we get lots of laughs from this little madam now, she can deal with almost any situation including those big lab boys that all love this pretty little collie girl! In between play time she will run to the staff for her treats and licks and cuddles – its amazing! She has brought tears to our eyes to see the amazing transformation that happened before our eyes!
Nala is an extremly specially girl and just by meeting her transforms you life. When you win her over you see the amazing and super special dog she is, she really, really deserves a kind loving home. You will be rewarded for the rest of your life with a truely amazing girl that has overcome an horrible start in life! If someone has a little bit of time please meet this girl, you won’t regret it, within minutes of meeting her you just know how speical she is. She is one in a million thanks to her foster mammy Liz, and her two foster sisters Cassie & Sheba, she went to the best foster home thats for sure now she just needs her own best forever home!
Well there was no need to worry at all!!!! Not a bother on her, She came back to the house after the op and wanted to play straight away with the others
I had to bandage her like a mummy to keep her off the stiches (lampshade too tramatic for her) but she is still hopping around like a spring lamb!!! The little madam starting barking then for her dinner, she is a strange one to figure out now she has got her confidence!!!!!
mary
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