My Life as a Fearful Dog M
y name is Gracie and I’m one of the Eastern Shore girls. Not much is known about my early life on the Eastern Shore. What I remember is that I was surrounded by a lot of other dogs, including my friends Chloe and Poppy. Some of us were chained up, some were tied to trees, and some of us could run free. I think maybe I was one of those that ran free because my friends at SEVA GRREAT were told that it took Animal Control around six months to be able to catch us. I am really good at running and hiding. I never had any interaction with people so they are very scary to me.
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by Gracie
Once they finally caught me, I was put in a kennel at Animal Control and I was very frightened. These people from SEVA GRREAT came and picked me up and though they seemed nice, it didn’t make me feel any better. My new foster mom came to pick me up and I kept trying to hide behind bushes, under the stairs and anywhere else I thought was a good hiding spot. I got to my new house and I just didn’t know what to do. For a couple of weeks, I was so frantic and lonely that I howled all night, just wanting to be back where I was familiar with my surroundings. I ran around the house
SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA GOLDEN RETRIEVER RESCUE, EDUCATION & TRAINING, INC.
at night, trying to find a way out. I jumped up on all the windows trying to escape. I even jumped up on chairs and tried to climb the walls. It was terrifying. My foster mom started to give me some kind of little pill in some cheese (I really LOVE cheese!). I started to calm down just a little bit but I still wouldn’t let anyone touch me. And, I certainly wasn’t going to allow that leash or harness to be put on me. My foster parents gave me toys! I never had toys before and they were cool, especially the ones that are soft and
