We say this all the time, but every mill dog truly has a unique story. Roxie’s story includes how two rescues from the Puppy Mill Rescue Team worked together to give her the best recovery and and forever home.
Roxie was rescued by the Puppy Mill Rescue Team and Susie Q Dog ResQ. Sue quickly realized that Roxie was not thriving in her house because of her husband (though no fault of his own!). She put out a request for a foster home with no males. That is when Kimberly volunteered to foster her through Buffalo CARES, which is another organization on our team.
Kimberly meet Roxie in one informal meet and greet and knew from that moment she had to keep her for herself! Rumor has it, she was the fastest foster fail in history.
We got this terrific update on Roxie!
Roxie came to me via Suzy Q’s Rescue, Roxie couldn’t fully decompress there. She needed a home without men, Roxstar wouldn’t eat when Sue’s hubby was in the house. She was (and still is at times) one of those dogs either froze or bolted. She found her spot buried in the corner of the couch. Still her spot but she doesn’t hide in it as much, and does not hide as much as it’s now her comfort zone spot.
We’ve done training to bring her out of her shell, and will be starting group training again shortly. Now we are working on being consistent with basic commands in stressful situations. She let’s me dress her up (obviously lol) and lets men touch her and will take treats from them.
We go out in public places, she does better every time, she enjoyed an outing at Grandpaws Pet Emporium so much one day she stole a treat! You can see by my 900 million pictures that she has learned to stretch out and relax. Enjoys my other fosters and now even plays with toys.
We still have issues that she may never fully overcome, she’s startled easily and is nervous around my one daughter. But strangers do not freak her out, the cable dude was over the other day and she went right up and sniffed him and requested some love!
After her first few weeks here with little progress I started taking her up on my bed, forced snuggles, she slowly learned to trust and we made gains together. She began to take treats and began to relax when touched. Lots of practice on place, she walks nice on her leash, I do use a prong collar out in public and for training. Roxie now gets the zoomies and loves to roll around in the grass (and mud) she’s not a fan of the wind but doesn’t mind the rain. She loves to sleep with me, but I do make her sleep in her crate a few nights a week to keep up with the training and to help keep her from being overly dependent on me. I love her to death!
If you think her photos are cute, just watch her in action to have your heart melt!