Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, with StellaIn this photo is Gale Frey with Mutts-n-Stuff holding our beautiful Stella who came from the very large Missouri dog fighting raid last summer.The photo was taken at the location where the dogs were held after being rescued. By the look on Stella's face, you can see she probably had gone through some tough times throughout her entire life. Poor girl. You can also see how much Gale loves this girl. Beautiful.
Stella is a happy, confident camper in our house with our dogs, us, etc. Stella also loves to meet people she doesn't know and wants to get snuggles from everyone. She's a very happy girl over all. However, one horrible thing about neglect is just that - neglect. Coming from these situations we see dogs that may get little to no exposure to new surroundings, TV sets, furniture in a home, car alarms, clickers, tea pots, microwaves, cars, cars even just sitting parked on the street. Stella even got worried when she squeaked a squeaky toy accidentally. She walked away from it very slowly as though she hurt it. Initially when I would walk her on the street she would literally panic. It was like landing on another planet for her.
But there's been so much progress. She walked out of the house on her leash today with her tail wagging, knowing she was going on a walk. She continued to wag her tail. There were only a few spots of "oh, what's that?" for her. This tells me that recovery is possible for her and that's what we're looking for, recovery. Just walking every day and positive exposure does wonders. These dogs are quite amazing. Of course, every dog progresses at his or her own rate.
Dog fighters do NOT want anyone to find their dogs. The dogs are very often hidden from normal environments, like being able to live inside of a home, seeing cars on the street, playing with toys etc. This is most likely why it can be hard for them to adjust initially to a new environment. To me, this is just another part of the horrible abuse that goes on in these situations.
We feel it's important to give these dogs a chance, so back to Gale in the photo. She helped us get our beautiful Stella and has helped many dogs in tough situations. Thank you, Gale!
Gale is also building Phoenix House which is a house for dogs that come from abuse cases like Stella's. At Phoenix House, the dogs will have a place to get exposure to normal life in a positive, controlled fashion. This way, many, many more dogs can be helped.
For more info on Phoenix House and how you can help or donate go to http://www.muttsnstuff.com.
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