My parents and my husband traveled to Iowa this weekend to adopt a rescue from IAMRA (Illinois Alaskan Malamute Rescue Association). She was surrendered by an Amish breeder and has had a hard life so far.
She is SO very shy when she’s inside the house. Here, you can see my husband coaxing her out from under the dining room table. She warmed up to him when they met, and she came out to see him without treat bribes. (And you can totally see me taking the photo in the mirror!)
We visited today, and she spent most of the time hiding under the table.
She did come out right away for my little brother, but he moved too quickly and spooked her under the table again.
She has my parents’ crate as ‘her’ space, along with the pad she had at the rescuer’s house.
Right now the dogs are separated – Joe in the addition and Mary in the living room. We have gates between those two rooms and between the living room and the kitchen. Both dogs have leashes on right now to make it easy to separate them if need be.
We took her outside, and she immediately warmed up to us and relaxed. She’s very sweet, and a good sign: when you spook her, after a few minutes she’s willing to be coaxed out again and try again. She’s being incredibly brave in this strange new place with strange new people.
She loves being outside though and walked ALL over my parents’ yard:
The cutest photo I have of her, but it’s a bit blurry:
She has a LOT more brown to her fur than any of our other dogs has had:
She has some injuries you can see on her legs, but we haven’t been able to get a really good look at them. Her fur is surprisingly soft but slightly russet tinted – could be a deficiency in the food she had been getting because it doesn’t look ‘normal’ for her if that makes sense. I know lack of taurine? can cause coloration like that.
And one more picture for the cute:
Welcome to Wisconsin, Mary! We’re glad to meet you.
What rescues do you have in your area? Do you have a rescue animal? Do you have suggestions for integrating her? Inquiring minds want to know! *smile*
Thank you for making her feel welcome.