Hello, I’m Dr. Maja! Read my introduction to me and my two cross-bred dogs, lava and spatula.
Rescuing a dog from the street is signed up for more or less unexpected. The personality and behavior that the dog shows in the first days or weeks of meeting them may not be their real self, as they require time to come out of their shell. And that was with Hera. Looking back on her almost two years of journey since I first met her, it’s clear that she has come a long way and has taught me some of the trust she has done along the way. And in the end it was worth it.
From Greece to Croatia
When I first met Hera, she was a very sad but sweet dog. Skinny and malnourishing, confused, frightening, uncertain about everything around her, exposed to new people, environment and experiences. She is very resistant to handling, allowing for easy blood ingestion as well as clinical testing and ear cleaning. She was undergoing her first treatment by Leishmania and was waiting for her rabies vaccine, passport and travel documents to be ready, so she stayed in a kennel in Greece. There, she began interacting with other dogs in a supervised environment, and it took several weeks. She soon went on a long journey to her new home, little knew she would become a family with two other dogs and now three cats.
First challenge
During the first few weeks of the Hera, who lives with me and my dog, me and my lava, we were all on the cautious side. I didn’t know her and couldn’t predict her reaction to some everyday scenarios or some unusual scenarios. Immediately I realized she was afraid and focused very much on the loud noise produced by various machines and cars, which barked her. Up until that point, she wasn’t in the house and didn’t know what cables, rugs, clothes, and pillows were, so I often tried chewing on random items until I learned about toys. Once, I just caught her when she started biting the electric cable outside. But she is a quick learner.
Initially, I checked her ears and sometimes tried to give her pills through my mouth. And in the summer of 2023 she had a nasty gastroenteritis, so I had to put her additional pills directly in my mouth for a few days. She was great for the first few days, but then one day she didn’t swallow her tablet. And after I tried a few times she had enough and tried to bite me. I don’t know who was even more shocked. She regretted it instantly and didn’t even break the skin, but it gave us some anxiety in our relationship.
New challenges
I know that there are some things that Hera hasn’t enjoyed since then, and I respect that. One of them was cleaning her legs as they came in or when something was stuck between the pads. She gives me a warning and I know I won’t move on unless I’m on a muzzle. But we’ve come in some way since then and most days I can actually quickly wipe her feet off. But this anxiety and its unpredictability can sometimes cause a groan at the least, but she even let me check my mouth without any problems, but I am more reluctant It’s become. Every time I know, I need to do something with her. For example, taking her for a blood test, it causes stress in advance. I’m trying to be more structured and relaxed about it, knowing she can pick up my worries.
Future plans
So far, I’ve always walked Hera on the lead. Several times in the past two years she accidentally left the lead, and at first she had a huge impulse to roam around. She used to go for hours and didn’t get close to me, but fortunately, we are very rooted and have no traffic. Eventually, she returned home herself. Last year, when it happened, she had no intention of wandering around. But I decide to chase if she’s off the lead, if she’s off the lead, because she has a good nose, loves to pick up scents and often shows great interest in wildlife and birds It might be. I slowly and confidently feel enough to drive her away with a long lead with a high value treat to give her more movement and freedom. She growls off occasional, and despite her apparently slow movement of her boundaries, she has become a very calm and kind dog. Above all, she’s beginning to realize she can trust me. Now I need to make that leap of faith to begin trusting her.
This article is part of the series by Dr. Maja, Lava and Hela.
