Monday, March 1, 2021
We got Truus 5 months ago, what a party! And so special to see immediately that a dog suits you. She "joined us" with almost no problems. We expected a difficult start because Truus had been in a killing station for over a year, and that is a place where no living creature on earth should be. The first week was uncomfortable for her because she had to get to know our routines. Truus did not want to walk, she preferred not to feel the lead. She had been pulled over the ground to her 'liberators' on her lead (she was so scared and did not dare to walk but the executioner managed to pull her along ...) and the slightest tension on the lead brings her back to that horrible experience. We know that and we take it into account. Truus is a careful dog and she needs us as an anchor to feel confident in herself. Luckily we have Sergio, our other ACE dog. He is a cheerful type and that gave Truus a good move.
But Truus is not a wimp, she knows what she has now and plans to keep it! Dogs do not come into the house without Truus's approval. Sometimes she yells at Sergio when one of us hugs her and he gets too close. Sergio then just goes to the other to get a pat. She is very sensitive to corrections and a little "no" or "uh" is enough to correct her.
Truus now goes for a nice walk in the woods around Rhenen every day and runs free. She stays close to us. She really wants to be with us, even at night, so we lie on the bed with both dogs. Sometimes it takes us some time to get to sleep, but we find it so cozy ourselves. She enriches our lives enormously; I could write a book about it, just like Sergio and other dogs from the past. We cannot live without animals, life would be so bare.
Truus has learned so much in 5 months! In the beginning she liked the chickens very much, too nice. Now she walks among the chickens and looks for grains. The chickens are in a fenced part of our garden, the rest is for the dogs. We never leave the dogs alone with them, but it is so nice to experience that Truus, with her 11 years on the counter, is still learning so quickly. A lot is possible with patience and trust. We have a whopper and hope to give her many more happy years. In any case, Truus makes us very happy and she just does that by being Truus!
We send a few pictures of her, what a special head she has. She seems to have crawled out of a fairytale book, just pay attention to her eyes.
Many greetings from Ellen and Michel
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