Dog on the Blog: Hillary Keeps Her Own Counsel

Hillary is a beautiful girl. She has long, luxuriant fur that runs from shades of tan and brown through charcoals and blacks... with white markings on her chest. Hard to say what her breed is... I am guessing a little Sheltie somewhere in the mix, or maybe some Australian Cattle Dog.

One breed she is NOT is "terrier mix" (remember, that is a code word!!) because we have a LOT of that breed around here and she does not resemble those guys at all.

Hillary came from the home of a woman who rescued dogs, and died unexpectedly. Rescuers came from out of state to help find homes for all of her babies.

The only one they could not place was Hillary. I was told that Hillary lived in the kitchen in the woman's home, and did not receive a lot of social interaction.

That would explain Hillary's fear of people. We brought her to the farm, and she lived with us in our bedroom for a couple months. Our thinking was that eventually she would grow accustomed to us, and we could help her to get past her fear of people.

Unfortunately, she spent all her time under the bed or under the dresser, when we were in the room. She would allow me to pet her on the head, under the bed, and would not try to bite me. But that is as far as we ever got.

Finally, we accepted that Hillary would be happiest with her own yard and her own doggie friend, and she did not want the company of humans. She just wanted to keep to herself, although she likes other dogs.

In her own yard, with her own cottage, Hillary has come out of her shell. She walks around her yard, barks at the roosters strutting by, kibitzes with other dogs nearby. She seems far happier, and much less stressed than she was living in the house with us.

We are looking for just the right friend for Hillary, so that she can share her cottage and her world with another dog. And that will make Hillary happiest of all!

Jay Hellerich, executive director
smiling dog farms
a 501(c)3 corporation
wharton, texas
979-257-3377
www.smilingdogfarms.org
http://smilingdogfarms.blogspot.com


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