A Shelter Full of Hope and Promise

Breaking News…Happy is in a home!!

These past few weeks have seen some major changes for Happy and WAG staff. After she was featured in the newspaper, a wonderful young woman named Kera came to WAG wanting to know more about this special girl. She was interested in her specifically as a “project”, which was the perfect news that we were all waiting to hear.

Over many weeks, Kera came to WAG to visit Happy. For the first few visits, Kera would sit in the yard with Happy and hand feed her delicious chicken that she brought specially for her. Pretty soon, the staff were putting a harness on Happy, and going for walks while Kera held her leash. Staff tried to sneak away during the walks, but Happy was too smart for their tricks! As soon as Lindsay or Cat was out of sight, Happy would hunker down on the ground, refuse to move, and wait for them to come back and “rescue” her. After multiple walks, it was pretty clear that Happy was too smart, and we needed another approach. Kera would sit with Happy and feed her delicious chicken while she practiced clipping and unclipping her harness, something that Happy is very sensitive to.

After multiple sessions of this, it was decided to take the next step, and have Happy spend the day at Kera’s house. When Happy arrived, she was very excited to be on a farm with so much poo to pee on! She met the horses, and wasn’t sure if she should play or be scared, deciding to do both in a ridiculous leaping/barking/play bowing/circling move that made everyone laugh. She also met the momma goat and her two kids, and sniffed them suspiciously. After a walk outside and a tour of the house, Happy was left alone with Kera for the afternoon. She walked around the house with confidence, and only retreated to the safety of her crate when two friends stopped by for a visit. When Cat came to pick her up, she still would not go for a walk with Kera, but otherwise the day had been an amazing success.

It was then decided to take the next big leap and send Happy for a sleep over. Kera arrived to pick her up from the shelter and loaded her big bed into the back seat. Happy confidently jumped in to the car and off they went. WAG staff waited on the edge of their seats to find out how it was going. Did she jump out of the car on her own? Was poor Kera stuck in her driveway with a very scared and stubborn Happy? Had the worst happened, and she had somehow gotten loose? The next day we had our first Happy update, which quickly put our minds at ease. She had done amazingly. Not only had she confidently jumped out of the car, but had spent a relaxed night on her bed under the table, and a fun morning helping Kera feed the rest of the animals, which included a more formal introduction to the family of goats. WAG staff were elated to hear the news. Happy was going above and beyond anyone’s expectations and was so brave.

We are thrilled to report that since that first night, it has only gotten better. Kera is now able to put her harness on and off, and most importantly, they now cuddle! Happy is also becoming so brave when meeting new people and even allows some of them to touch her! Once Happy is comfortable with a dog walker to let her out for a pee while Kera is at work, we are hoping to finalize this special girls adoption and send her off to last home she will ever have. Special thanks to Kera for all her patience and understanding of this amazing girl, and giving Happy the chance she so desperately needed.

Happy was at WAG for over a year! If you would like to make a donation to help cover the costs of her care, please visit our donations page on our website.

Thank you for your support!