|
WINNING
DOG STORY
 As
visiting therapist in the remote hinterland of New Zealand,
I had for a number of years, travelled with my black
Labrador as companion. When she died suddenly aged eight
years I was devastated and my trips to my patients were
lonely.
One extremely wet day about 3 months
later, I was visiting a patient in one of the poorer
areas of my district when I noticed a sign saying Dog
Refuge. Although we had decided to emigrate to Australia,
I went in – ‘just for a look!!
My first impression was of thick
mud and derelict buildings. I hesitated as I stopped
the car. When all said and done, it was raining, we
were going to Australia and we really did not need another
mouth to feed or another airfare. As I hesitated I was
besieged by an alsatian, 2 staffies and a bull terrier
all climbing on my clean white uniform with very muddy
feet and one had jumped into the back of my car and
covered all my equipment with brown paw marks.
While trying to disgorge myself of
this ecstatic welcome, a figure appeared from the rear
of the property. Clad in heavy rain gear, a large rain
hat and carrying a walking stick, I was unable to tell
whether it was a man or a woman. On introducing ourselves
I met Mrs Dennis the keeper of the refuge and my heart
went out to the task she had. She took me out to the
large caged area at the back of the property and it
was here that I realised that every cent she had went
into the well being of the many dogs in her care. Her
own home was neglected while the dogs had a wonderful
running area, lovely clean cages and their affection
for her spoke a million words.
Once in the run my uniform could
not be recognised as I had a dozen dogs jumping up and
the ground was a thick slurry. I was only looking and
felt quite happy when I realised all the dogs she had
were far too boisterous for us as we wanted a house
dog and a gentle dog as we were moving to an over 50
village with fairly strict rules. How mistaken I was.
We walked into the overnight area and there in a concrete
floored cage, was a small Blue Heeler huddled in a corner.
On inquiring why this dog was on its own, I was told
that she had been found by police about 2 months previously
when she was about 3 months old, tied up under a derelict
bus behind an abandoned house with no food or water
and was nearly dead. She had been brought to the refuge
where she had to be kept isolated from other dogs and
exercised alone as she was so nervous the other dogs
harassed her.
When the cage door was opened she
shrank further into the corner and I got down on my
hands and knees to try and coax her out. It was five
minutes before she began to crawl forward on her stomach
and I was able to stroke her. Well what could I do?
Within ten minutes she was in the car and we were off
to the vet to ensure she was fit enough for a clearance
to fly to Australia.
That checked, we set off home, filthy dirty and very
wary of the reception we would get. It only took a few
minutes for this wreck of a dog to win over my husband
but long days of dedicated love and attention were to
follow.
Named Zeita, the long road to acceptance
of people and life began. For the first 3 weeks she
would not even walk around the house and had to be carried
from room to room from her hiding place under the bed.
She came to work with me every day and hid under my
desk when not in the car.
The day for leaving for Australia
was looming and we could still only take her out for
walks when there were no other people around, men dressed
in black particularly spooked her and loud noises like
cars backfiring. We spent hours on training and discipline
balanced with lots of tender loving care and by the
time the big day arrived for the flight, she had improved
to the stage she only needed a light sedative for the
journey. She was collected from our motel by the pet
transport company to fly on the same flight as us and
the aircrew kept us informed of her progress, even letting
us know that the heating had been turned on for her.
Arriving in Australia she went straight
through customs and we headed north to the Sunshine
Coast. We had not seen our new home until the day we
arrived in Australia but it was just perfect for the
three of us. A large fenced garden, flat areas to walk
around the village and acres of cane fields abutting
the house where she could run leash free.
The new environment seemed to work
wonders and now two years later you wouldn’t recognise
the same dog, even though she is still spooked by men
in black and loud noises. Her loving personality and
striking looks have endeared her to many folk in our
village and when she walks on public beaches or parks
she attracts much attention and people are always stopping
to speak to her.
I often wonder what would have happened
to her if I had not called into the dog refuge on that
atrocious day. Even though Mrs Dennis was very reluctant
to have her put down, there would have come a day when
there would have been no choice and a beautiful dog
would not have had the chance to give two people such
pleasure. |
