Having volunteered at SPCA before, and witnessing many cases of dogs abandoned, both my husband and I have always been clear that adopting a dog will be the preferred option once we were ready to have a fur kid in our lives. 3 years ago, we chanced upon and adopted our current schnauzer mixed; Loti when he was 7. He was our first dog and we were his 3rd owner. Despite being abused before, he still gave us his 100% trust and love, which made us feel truly blessed.
We knew about Hope Dog Rescue through Fiona and HokkienButton and when we saw the posting on Hayley – it was love at first sight for me! Despite her scaly, flaky skin (oh and it seems one can smell her from far due to the skin infection!), seeing her lifeless eyes, I felt she deserved so much more! I wondered how the owner could simply neglect her and let her itch her days away. Loti had some brief skin issues before and was awake in the middle of most nights. I cannot imagine how poor Hayley spent her years being in this condition.
This was the lifeless look that broke my heart.
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| The day we rescued Hayley |
So after discussing with my husband over a kopi session, and the thought did cross our mind to name her Kopi due to her colour, I decided to asked Fiona about Hayley and we set up a time to visit her. On our first visit, she was a super sweet girl, so eager to please and seemed to get along with Loti. It broke my heart that such a sweet soul was being ignored and had to spend her days waiting with no affection in return. Fiona gave us time to think about it after the visit, so we slept on it for a night and we knew pretty much she was the one cos we woke up the next morning thinking about her.
Home trial time! We were all ready and set up to care for her skin, apply and feed medication and transiting her with Loti.
Hayley had many firsts with us! First time taking the elevator, first time going for a super long walk (1 hour)! We massaged her at night thinking she might have muscle ache!
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| A happier Hayley <3 |
First week with us:
Hayley has separation anxiety – she whines and howl when nobody is at home. With advise from Fiona, we practiced by leaving her alone with Loti for short period of time. It was stressful for us as despite nice neighbours we have, we were worried her howling might be an issue.
She barked at every sound outside, kept waking up when we moved around, she followed us very closely everywhere at home. She was picky with food and it was not easy to include medication in food - I learnt how to feed pills without stressing her (and myself).
After a month with us, we are glad to see the change in her! She is more secure, less jumpy over sound/movement at home and outside. Her appetite is better and sleeps more soundly. Also, we can leave home and she does not howl nor whine anymore! All she needed was patience and understanding.
We would like to thank Fiona and her team for being super supportive and caring. It’s never easy to foster and let go and a Big Thank you for the great job your team is doing!
Written by: Joyce Wong
