Very happy, but a bit sad at the same time.

[jsharr ★]

Remington was a shelter dog.  We adopted him a few years back and he spent lots of time with our oldest son Wade.  He has an old soul, never really frolicked or played much, spent a lot of time by himself.   He would only come within arms reach to be petted, maybe rest his head on your lap while standing in front of you.

Fast forward 5 years and Remi is a different dog.  He and Romeo have started playing a lot, rough and tumble dog stuff.  He comes up and sticks his head under your hand to get scritches.  He has started coming up on the couch with me to get scritches and will curl up beside me and place his head in my lap and just hang out, content.

While all these changes make me very happy for Remi, it makes me wonder what happened before he came to live with us?  Why was he so withdrawn and resist playing and petting and all?

 

[jsharr ★]

Here is Remi the day we adopted him, April 15, 2017.  We took Romeo with us to see how they got along on nuetral ground.

 

Here is Romeo on his adoption day May 15, 2016

He never had any trouble being a lap dog

 

 

[jsharr ★]

Here is Remi this morning.  I was sitting on the couch and he climbed up and sat down beside me wanting to be petted.  He eventually laid down, put his head in my lap and let out a long, contented sigh.  I hated to get up and get ready for work, as I just wanted to chill with him.

[2Far ★]

14 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Remington was a shelter dog.  We adopted him a few years back and he spent lots of time with our oldest son Wade.  He has an old soul, never really frolicked or played much, spent a lot of time by himself.   He would only come within arms reach to be petted, maybe rest his head on your lap while standing in front of you.

Fast forward 5 years and Remi is a different dog.  He and Romeo have started playing a lot, rough and tumble dog stuff.  He comes up and sticks his head under your hand to get scritches.  He has started coming up on the couch with me to get scritches and will curl up beside me and place his head in my lap and just hang out, content.

While all these changes make me very happy for Remi, it makes me wonder what happened before he came to live with us?  Why was he so withdrawn and resist playing and petting and all?

 

Some dogs never get the chance to learn what being a pet involves. Watch the documentary "Bolt" for some guidance.

[jsharr ★]

3 minutes ago, 2Far said:

Some dogs never get the chance to learn what being a pet involves. Watch the documentary "Bolt" for some guidance.

Remi does not like cats.  I am pretty sure Romeo would eat a hamster.  

[Kirby]

One of the joys of a rescue pet is giving an animal a chance to experience security and comfort they may never have had.  I recall when I adopted a cat from an animal shelter (all my other cats have been strays that found us).  The cat would sleep in an almost sitting up position with her eyes barely shut.  She was afraid to fall asleep and seemed like she wanted to be ready to respond to whatever attacks may come while she slept.

It made me so happy to later see her curl up in a comfy bed, deep asleep  without a worry in the world. 

It does make me a bit sad to think what the animals may have encountered before, but I'm more glad that we have a chance to make a difference.

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Kirby said:

One of the joys of a rescue pet is giving an animal a chance to experience security and comfort they may never have had.  I recall when I adopted a cat from an animal shelter (all my other cats have been strays that found us).  The cat would sleep in an almost sitting up position with her eyes barely shut.  She was afraid to fall asleep and seemed like she wanted to be ready to respond to whatever attacks may come while she slept.

It made me so happy to later see her curl up in a comfy bed, deep asleep  without a worry in the world. 

It does make me a bit sad to think what the animals may have encountered before, but I'm more glad that we have a chance to make a difference.

I am not much of an AAT person, as I am allergic to some and get itchy burning eyes, but I am glad your AATS found you and feel safe, like our OOGS found us.

[Razors Edge ★]

25 minutes ago, jsharr said:

While all these changes make me very happy for Remi, it makes me wonder what happened before he came to live with us?  Why was he so withdrawn and resist playing and petting and all?

You probably don't want to know, but it is also likely that even relatively small things have a big impact on puppies and kittens - just like they can on little kids.  So, we can hope that while it was traumatic, it maybe wasn't horrible - if that makes sense. 

Simply give Remi an extra pet once in a while, and be happy you are good enough to give pups a great home!

[Kirby]

Below is a picture of my first cat - a stray that was hanging around the apartment complex in Los Angeles.  She was very friendly, but I had allergies and worked a lot and didn't think I wanted a cat.  Then the manager said she was going to call animal control unless someone took the cat in, so I opened the door and the cat walked in.  I think it was the first time she'd ever been "inside" and I loved how she grabbed onto the cheap apartment carpet like she wanted to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.  I was adamant that due to my allergies the cat would stay in the living room and not be allowed in my bedroom - that lasted about a day. 

[ChrisL]

That’s great to hear.  

We have similar feelings with Jack.  He would have nothing to do with us for several days after we rescued him and it took him weeks to really trust us. He is still really fearful of strangers.  

Over time he became more comfortable with us but he still really prefers to be with his people but not on his people.

He still cowers in fear if you come up over his head so we think someone used to smack him on the head.  To this day we reach to pet him under his chin as to not scare him. 

[jsharr ★]

9 minutes ago, Kirby said:

Below is a picture of my first cat - a stray that was hanging around the apartment complex in Los Angeles.  She was very friendly, but I had allergies and worked a lot and didn't think I wanted a cat.  Then the manager said she was going to call animal control unless someone took the cat in, so I opened the door and the cat walked in.  I think it was the first time she'd ever been "inside" and I loved how she grabbed onto the cheap apartment carpet like she wanted to make sure she wasn't going anywhere.  I was adamant that due to my allergies the cat would stay in the living room and not be allowed in my bedroom - that lasted about a day. 

So how do you deal with the allergies?  Meds, voodoo, a shaman doing a cleansing ritual with burning sage?

[Kirby]

6 minutes ago, jsharr said:

So how do you deal with the allergies?  Meds, voodoo, a shaman doing a cleansing ritual with burning sage?

Combination of medicines and trying to be careful that I have throw blankets on places the cat sleeps a lot to make it easier to wash.  Also , I've avoided long haired cats and cats with very thick coats that tend to be worse for my allergies.  Luckily I do better with your common tabby than a fancy pure breed cat.

[jsharr ★]

35 minutes ago, Kirby said:

Combination of medicines and trying to be careful that I have throw blankets on places the cat sleeps a lot to make it easier to wash.  Also , I've avoided long haired cats and cats with very thick coats that tend to be worse for my allergies.  Luckily I do better with your common tabby than a fancy pure breed cat.

I know a good shaman if you need one!