approx. Oct 1999 (approx)
Unknown if any official name
I don't really have a lot of pictures of Lady. She does not like the camera; or anything else for that matter. I got her from my mother who was living with my younger sister and her family. With Lady's temperament it was the wrong place. Lady really needed a senior citizen woman and NO men and NO children. Chaos was NOT her friend. She hid all the time, the other dogs there picked on her and wouldn't let her eat and she just needed rescued.
When I got her home, she wouldn't come out of her cage. She stayed there the whole 13 hour trip home, the rest of that evening, the whole night and I still had to force her out the next morning! When I took her outside, she was terrified of everything! The cars (which were VERY far away), the birds, any motion, etc. She wouldn't look at me at all. So, over the course of the next so many months I took her out, said "PUPPY" (with a very definite BLOW) in her face to make her look at me, I stroked her, talked to her, brushed her a bit and mixed in some kisses. In fact, when I'd kiss her on the neck it became a race to see if I could pull away BEFORE she could kiss me back! It is a game that has stayed with us even up to today.
In the beginning when guests came over, she stayed in her cage the whole time. Over time she'd come out but would stay away from them. Eventually I believe her motto became "the best offense is a good defense" as she'd go up to them and sit by their leg and try to be brave. Sometimes it worked and sometimes she'd run back to her bed. She's gotten much better about staying and doing VERY little hiding. She can NOT however tolerate men/boys. She's definitely a ladies dog!
My initial plan was to bring her home, socialize her and find her a good home with a senior citizen woman. It has become a situation of not wanting to stress her anymore; as she's had enough in her life; so it looks like she's here to stay. She has become my protector. If my husband tries to hug on me, wherever I am, she runs in to the rescue. She never bites... but she hides under my feet (when at the table working) or behind me (if standing) and growls softly. Sometimes she moves forward, but her fear of men usually convinces her that's NOT the thing to do. Though I know that fear biters exist, from seeing what I've seen from her, I take it more as her 'grumbling' about how she'd rather wish they didn't 'hurt' me! I never encourage it; in fact rather scold her each time. But, I think since I became her savour, she owes a debt of gratitude to me and her way of repaying is to protect me.
She still lives a sad existence. She never plays, lays in her kennel a lot, comes out when she needs to potty or wants to see what's going on, but basically she just exists. I've tried to get her to play, but only managed to get her to do it for about 2 minutes or so before she was done.
She has the sweetest face and most gentle nature (on the whole) and only wants to be loved and stroked. So, we live life on her terms. Pay attention to her when she presents herself and leave her alone when she prefers it. But, her life is not chaotic, or threatening so I guess she figures it's ok to be here. So, until God decides otherwise she'll be part of this family.
