I lost my previous girl from liver cancer earlier this year and needed someone to fill the gap left. One day I was just casually looking at rescue sites when this GSD x girl jumped out at me. Next thing I knew I was making an appointment for a meet and greet which my best friend came along with me to.
It went swimmingly; she was such a sweet girl even though she had been treated badly from birth and dumped with all her siblings. The rescue found them at 10 weeks old on deaths door and nursed her back to health. She was 18 weeks old when she was ready for adoption and when I adopted her.
I changed her shelter name to Kaylah. Because of her first weeks on this planet, she was frightened of everything. I knew she was coming home with me and had been sent to me by my previous girl Kayzen.
I took it slowly with her and she slowly adapted to life in a home. She fell in love with my cat Louie from the moment they met. After 2 and a half days she came out from her hiding spot and explored the house but was still reactive and frightened by everything. We started puppy school and she got along swimmingly with all the other pups.
After a month and a half of having her, I had work being done on the roof of the house and it scared her to death the odd noises. After 2 days of this one night while I was sleeping on a Friday night, she followed Louie through a hole in the fence and got lost. I posted her everywhere and searched for her every day and night with my best friends help. Even my housemate who she was scared of went looking ,but for 4 days there was no news. My heart was breaking, it was like losing Kayzen all over again.
Then someone a couple of doors down from me commented on one of my lost posts that she had seen her on the Monday night late and told me which direction she headed. I changed my search area to there without luck. After 11 days I was really wondering what kind of condition she'd be in after so long on the streets.
Then I got a phone call to say she was in their neighbour's yard the next street over from mine. I went there but she was gone. The next night a few blokes in the neighbourhood put together a search party and we went out where she had been seen for 2 nights. No luck so we went home. Then an hour later, my best friend who Kaylah loves said I'll come over and we'll look again.
We went out to the house where she liked going in and did an upturn in the street just down the road and there she was. Well she saw us and was so scared she ran for her life back to the house she'd been seen at twice. Boy, I thought ,she's fast. I went in there and she managed to run away again and back to the park where she'd been seen on the Monday.
I didn't want to scare her any further so I said to my friend let's go home. When we got home my housemate came out and said she's in the neighbour's yard. We couldn't believe it. After about half an hour she saw Louie and followed him back through the hole in the fence. I put out some food and water for her and she gobbled it up.
The food and water were far enough enough from the hole in the fence for my housemate to block the hole. It took another hour and a half for her to calm down enough to recognise us all and come inside. She was then as excited to see us as we were her.
I had her vet checked and she was in excellent condition even had put on 1kg in weight during her 12 days of going missing. I then noticed after a few days of her being home how much braver she had become from her adventure. The work on my roof was still going on and she didn't bat an eyelid. Even at puppy school that we went back to finish, we noticed what a different dog she was. She still gets a little frightened at some things but nothing like she used to.
She is turning into a great dog. She turns one in a couple of weeks time and I truly believe she rescued me as much as I did her. She has settled into life at home and no longer looks to get out. It does help that I've had the fence replaced.
Darwin, Australia
