PATIENCE & PERSERVERANCE: Izzy’s Story W R I T T E N B Y : J U L I E M U R R A Y, Staff Writer
One thing I have learned from living in a pandemic for over a year is that you have a much better chance of making it through if you keep telling yourself not to give up, that someday you will be reunited with your friends and family, back to living your best life. Bullies 2 The Rescue already knew this - they never gave up on Izzy the Bulldog for three years and knew that one day she would find her perfect family and her best life. To get this story of perseverance and heart, I spoke with Kristina Contreras from Bullies 2 The Rescue. Izzy the Bulldog came to B2TR as a surrender. She told me that Izzy came to them when a couple who owned a motel in Myrtle Beach saw something and reported it- one of their tenants had a terrified, fearful dog who was kept inside the majority of her life. She was riddled with anxiety and was afraid of men, most likely due to the fact that she had been abused by her owner. Several of the motel employees witnessed this abuse and reported it to the motel owners. They confronted Izzy’s owner and gave him two choices - surrender Izzy to them or they would call the authorities. This is when Izzy’s journey with B2TR began! Before her intake, B2TR responsibly secured a foster home with a newly approved foster home that had no other dogs, which was important since they found Izzy to be very dog-selective. Kristina said they were hopeful but sadly the situation did not work out. “Unfortunately when our volunteer picked her up, the foster would not answer or return the call on the day of surrender. Yet again, she [Izzy] was failed by people.” Luckily, Izzy’s transport volunteer was already an approved foster and ended up taking Izzy into her home.
Since the volunteer already had other dogs in her home, strict separation was required between Izzy and her fur-amily, so that she could have her own space to decompress and spend one on one time with her foster mom. Izzy was hesitant, but seemed happy in her new spot. When the time came to meet her foster dad, Kristina told me her whole personality changed. “He came in to see her and she sunk down and backed into a corner growling and even had an accident right there. It was heartbreaking to witness.” Thankfully, her foster dad didn’t give up on her. He gave her space, calmly left her alone and gradually showed her that not all men would cruelly abuse her. Over time, Izzy grew more comfortable with him and then one day, after about 6 months of guarded cohabitation, she decided that he was okay after all. She showed her excitement of learning how to trust by giving him tons of doggie kisses. Kristina said that there were a lot of happy tears in the home that day. Now Izzy could finally relax a little and get back to learning how to just “be” a dog. Izzy showed herself to be sweet, playful and smart. She learned how to fetch and had so many toys to choose from, her favorites being balls of all kinds, Benebones and of course, her flying pig. (I don’t know this for a fact, but I really hope its name was Hammy.) Kristina said that it takes her a while to warm up to new people, which is understandable due to her rough start in life, but once she does, get ready for the best kisses, cuddles and booty wiggles in the world. After a couple years with her foster family, B2TR decided she was ready to try adoption. They started with two home visits, where Izzy did amazingly well. Sadly, because Izzy doesn’t have that typical “bulldog look” and is high energy (which is amazing in and of itself, considering her background!), she was not placed with either family. Kristina told me that they were not discouraged. “We wanted people who saw how beautiful she was inside and out.” They tried again with another family and was returned after five days, through no fault of her own. “All dogs should have decompression.” Kristina explained. “No new people, no long walks, nothing to
