We have another Pupdate of a dog that came from the same hoarding situation as last week’s featured dog, Sasha. Our Founder, Marianne would like to share a little more story about that visit:
“When we went to this hoarder’s house the first time it was very clear that the dogs were not taken care of and had not been for quite some time. He knew we were coming so the only thing he did that I noticed was he set up very clean and full water buckets all around his house right before we arrived; the rest of the house was covered in feces and smelled so bad. He agreed to let us take 18 dogs, but wanted to keep a few small ones himself. It was heartbreaking for us to leave those pups there, but we were happy to get the ones out that we did.
The first day we were there, many dogs came up to say hi to us despite being starved and malnourished. There were a few who did not have any energy to get up and Estrella was one of them. She did manage to get up at one point to drink water but she looked like she was barely alive. Estrella struggled to stand to drink that water but she was fighting with everything in her body to stay alive a little longer so she could be saved. We were supposed to come back the next day to get the 18 dogs he would allow us to take, but we convinced him to let us take Estrella, Sasha and Jack; the worst 3 of the bunch.
Estrella was not able to walk out on her own and my daughter carried her out (see video). We did not think she was gonna make it through the night but she did! After a month rehabilitating back to health, my daughter and I personally flew her back as she was special to us and we wanted to see her journey be completed.”
She ended up moving around to different fosters and possible forever families as whatever she experienced with the hoarder made her deeply distrust any men. The perfect family did come through eventually, as she ended up being adopted by two ladies who absolutely adore and love her.”
Estrella is Maple now and here is her pupdate:
“We’ve had our sweet Maple (Estrella) for 1.5 years now and it has been such a joy to watch her blossom. It took her a good year to decompress – she needed a lot of time and space (and a great trainer!) to find her safe spot in the world which is totally understandable knowing the abuse she came from. That first year she spent a lot of time in her crate with the door open, but over time she started to perk up more and more and in the last 6 months she has undergone so many changes! She hasn’t stepped in her crate once – opting to set up shop in her very own chair from IKEA. She trots into our bedroom in the morning and “tap dances” until we wake up – and lets us know her thoughts if we aren’t quick enough! Maple loves her toys and takes them everywhere she goes. She’s a huge fan of all snacks, her backyard and loves to be hugged. She has made some progress with the distrust of men; when a male family member was visiting us recently, Maple had no issue with him and it was so neat to see. She didn’t bark or growl once, and she went up for a few pets!
To say that we absolutely adore her would be a massive understatement – our life would not be complete without her. We are forever grateful for the hard work of the Street Dog Hero team for saving our girl and giving us the best gift of all time. We’re so looking forward to more adventures with our Maple (and her sister, Pearl). She is forever safe with her two moms.” – Maple’s mom
