An «aggressive» dog abandoned on the tracks turned into a gentle pet after being rescued
This Shar-Pei dog named Tweedy was abandoned by someone near the train tracks in a Los Angeles suburb.
The dog was so antisocial that he wouldn’t let people near him, even when volunteers from the humane society Hope for Paws came to pick him up.
The dog ran away from people, barked and was very scared. She acted as if people had once hurt her badly. At the same time it was impossible to leave her here even for a short time, she could have been hit by a train and died.
Volunteers Lisa Arturo and Joan Viles began cautiously approaching the dog, trying to lure her with goodies. But unfortunately, the dog did not respond to the food and continued to retreat when people tried to approach it.
Finally Joan and Lisa managed to put special loops around the dog’s neck and put the dog in the cage. The dog fiercely resisted, barking, wriggling, and trying to get out of the loops. They tried to cause the dog as little pain and discomfort as possible.
After the dog was recaptured, a small kennel and a bowl were found where the dog was, apparently someone else had tried to take care of Tweedy before and had fed him.
On the way to the vet, Tweedy continued to be nervous and chewed on the leash. The dog only calmed down when she was brought to the clinic and petted a bit.
The vet examined her and found that Tweedy had a fracture of one joint, some teeth damage, an infection in her skin and an infection in her ear. They started treating the dog and the faster the pain went away, the less distrustful and aggressive the dog became towards people.
She soon began to allow Lisa Arturo to pet and groom her completely, but there was still a lot of work to be done with Tweedy’s attitude toward other people.
«I spent 48 hours with her at the shelter just to build a relationship between us. I got her used to taking food from my hand, stroking her, kissing her. And soon she was looking at me like she was saying, ‘I’m so glad you came to rescue me and I’m proud to be able to trust a person again.
Tweedy later ended up at the LA Animal Rescue Society shelter, where she was taken into temporary foster care. By then, she still seemed scared and fearful. People didn’t rush her and after a few days, Tweedy started seeking companionship and affection from humans on her own.
And soon at least one of the reasons why the dog was so nervous became clear. She had problems with her eyes because her eyelids were closing inward. This was causing the dog pain and discomfort.
Once the problem was corrected by surgery, Tweedy became even more cooperative and affectionate.
Realizing that the pain no longer plagued her, the dog began to «come out of her shell.» She quickly developed a good relationship with all the people in the temporary foster home and it showed that she could now look for a permanent owner.
«We are grateful to Lisa Arturo for her work and happy to see these animals given a second chance at a good life with love and kindness waiting for them,» says Sue Roe of LA Animal Rescue.
