Betsy’s Forever Home

A little black and white dog came to Oregon on a van from a kill shelter in California. She had been found wandering the streets, hungry and alone. The day we adopted her, we had gone into the pet store for some item or another. She was in the back in a pen. She looked disheveled, and was quiet and still.

I decided on the spot that I would adopt her. I could sense that she was afraid, but she was calm. The organization hadn’t even taken the dogs to their facility to clean them up before bringing them to the store. She literally got off the van from California and was brought into the store to adopt. She had a large dingleberry on her backside covering her anus. She had little mats all over her fur. The rescue organization made an appointment for us to return in three weeks to have her spayed, gave us her paperwork, and sent us on our way.

We took her home, bathed her, fed her, and gave her a quiet place to settle away from our other dogs. We decided to call her Betsy. Gradually over the next week, Betsy emerged from her shell. She stopped sitting so unnaturally still. She started to smile and interact with us. She was delightful.

When I took Betsy to the shelter for her spay surgery, she looked so shocked and sad. She got extremely still again. I hugged her and promised I would return the same day to bring her home. Later that day when went to pick her up she had returned to the same still posture, not turning her head in either direction, holding her body like a statue. I carried her to my car, kissing her head. I placed her on the passenger seat and got in the driver’s seat to drive her home. She finally turned her head and looked at me. I reached over and pet her.

“Betsy,” I said. “You’ll never leave us again.”

And she hasn’t. In spite of her inauspicious beginnings she has become one of our happiest, most settled, and socialized dogs. She is one of the best for helping dogs who don’t have social skills to learn them. She is patient and easy going. She has even learned service work and acted as a service dog for a while. Betsy is a lovely dog. We are so lucky to have her as part of our family.