Dear friends at RAPS,
A year ago your society rescued a female German Shepherd who'd been left to starve
in an abandoned grow op in Richmond. At the time I was volunteering at RAPS and, as it turned out, adopted the dog you
named Melody (renamed Abby) on March 22nd.
Some time ago Christie asked if I would write an update on how she is doing,
to post on RAPS' web site. Despite the best of intentions it's taken me a while to complete the piece. At long last, I'm happy to advise it's now written...almost one year to the day she began her new life with us.
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Spring is everywhere these days. Mother nature’s handiwork is evident in the blooms, bumblebees and the scent of freshly cut grass. I didn’t have time to notice these seasonal changes a year ago when Melody (renamed Abby) came into our lives. There were moments we wondered if she would make it through the night.
The ride home from the animal shelter on the day we adopted her in 2009 seemed to take forever. Although she was an adult German Shepherd, at less than 30 pounds Abby was so emaciated she fit easily onto my lap. She shivered uncontrollably, rattling the collar which hung loosely around her tiny neck.
In the early days Abby was fearful of everything... people, sounds, places. She’d hide under tables or curl up in a corner of the room for safety. She preferred the haven of her kennel to the open plan of our home, darting into it whenever a family member would approach her or move around suddenly.
Each evening my husband would carry her kennel from the kitchen to our bedroom upstairs so Abby would not have to spend the night alone. The first night, her heavy breathing wakened me. She was on her side, eyes and mouth closed. Abby’s ribcage heaved, ballooning in and out from her thin frame as she hyperventilated. As I knelt near her, the dog’s anxiety was palpable. A huge lump formed in my throat at the thought of her distress. She needed help. There, in the middle of the night on the bedroom floor, instinct took over. I began softly singing whichever children’s lullabies could be recalled. The ones my mother hummed to me as a kid when I awoke from a bad dream. It worked, and Abby relaxed.
The weeks that followed were challenging. We noticed Abby’s paws looked as pink as the day she was born, suggesting she had never ventured outside the grow op garage she’d been rescued from a short time before. This was reinforced by her confusion about how to walk on a leash. The first forays with her in our neighborhood were heartbreaking. Abby would dart back and forth on the lead as if trying to escape from bondage. On the occasions she walked in a forward direction, she would constantly stop to nuzzle her rear flank seemingly afraid of her own shadow. Nor was she house-trained. Through her first week with us, Abby continued to eliminate the rubber bands she’d eaten to survive just before she was discovered. Toys were also foreign and she had to be taught how to play with them.
Bringing her back from the brink of starvation was a lengthy process. There were times when she became so anxious she wouldn’t eat and whatever weight she had gained was lost. For several months strangers would remark on how thin she was. We wondered if Abby would ever fill out.
But we – and she – prevailed. As time passed, our “little bag of bones” grew to be a healthy, robust dog. Abby’s weight is now double what it was and she stands taller than the side table she hid under all those months ago. Having bonded with us she’s able to run off leash, sprinting like a quarterhorse, her lithe and muscular body soaring over giant logs like a champion show jumper. Highly intelligent, she excels at ‘hide & seek’ games and her timidity has been replaced by confidence and moxie. She is loyal, eager to please and at times a real brat. We marvel at this wonderful transformation, and are grateful to the Richmond Animal Protection Society and others whose support and assistance has enhanced Abby’s healing process this past year.
Abby is a true survivor; a daily reminder that when things seem hopeless a new life is waiting around the corner. She is a living example of the good that comes with leaving the past behind and embracing the present. Abby is a remarkable pet and while good fortune has smiled on her, in many ways it is we, her new family, who are the lucky ones!
Elana G.
