Kelly/Beth 07-254 [1]

Sponsored by: Darin and Sue Lerbs 

Beth is a 14-month-old girl from a Missouri puppy mill.  Despite her young age, Beth is one of the more timid dogs from the mill.  She has picked out her safe spot in our kitchen -- unfortunately for Beth it is right in front of the cabinet with the trash can, so she is not without the occasional disruption.  The first few days being with people who love and care about her has been a bit rough for Beth.  Everything is new and scary and she seems to spend a lot of time hoping that no one notices her.  Every couple of hours we spend some quiet time petting her and talking softly to her, we bring our dogs into the kitchen and feed them treats and place a few treats in front of Beth as well.  She never eats them while we are in the room, but they are always gone by the next time we come to visit. She watches the household activities from the safety of the kitchen -- I can't imagine what she is thinking with all of these new sights and sounds, but she is clearly taking careful notes on all her new experiences. The yard is also a scary place for Beth and we are slowly getting her used to being outside, after all, she will soon need to learn to potty out there instead of on the kitchen floor.

Tonight we gave Beth what was probably the 2nd bath of her life (the first being Saturday night when she arrived in Minnesota).  While the bath was terrifying, she seemed to almost enjoy the towel rubdown afterward.  She laid on the bathroom floor and I rubbed her with towels and brushed her for about a half an hour.  At one point she voluntarily put her head on my foot and closed her eyes.  I am sure she wasn't sleeping, but she seemed to relax for a few brief moments.  Now that Beth is a RAGOM dog we will continue to work on filling her days with relaxed and happy moments -- replacing her sad and lonely past with love, affection, attention and praise from humans.