Lillian Grace Update – Life off the Chain
Lillian Grace came to One Love animal rescue in 2015. She was a neglected ‘back yard dog’ who had been chained to a tree. The reason I say “neglected” was because over time, as a young Lillian began to grow, the people who were responsible for being her guardians, never gave her a collar and simply let the chain begin to strangle her and grow into the skin of her neck as she grew in size. After intervention from Chatham County Animal Control and rescue by One Love Lillian began her journey of healing. She went through a very difficult surgery to remove dead tissue and close the wounds around her neck. She also had entropian, a very painful eye issue where the eyelashes turn into the eye causing ulcers, which had to be corrected with eye surgery. Form the photos you can see her physic scars, but there were emotional ones as well. After being chained in the yard for the first 8 months of her life, Lillian didn’t know very much about the world there was psychological healing that had to be done and a lot of learning that she had to catch up on. Lillian had the three “dog B’s” already working against her when it came to her “approachability” – a big dog, black dog, and a bully breed. For starters he had to learn how to appropriately approach other dogs, not lunge at them like she was used to when she was chained up. Can you picture me walking down the sidewalk with her on a leash launching herself like a rocket and barking at every other dog/human that went by? Can you image the faces of other dog owners when they say us coming down the street towards them? The first time I took her to an adoption event I was asked to leave early because she was so overwhelmed, barking and lunging at other dogs. But after much patience and consistent training (we attended dog obedience classes provided by One Love every week) Lillian started to show signs of recovery – calmness, not being as reactive, joy. Being in a loving home with other calm dogs was helpful indeed but the dog training classes we attended were indeed the real siver bullet to her rehabilitation.During her stay with our family, Lillian had to go stay at a baby-sitters home while we went out of town on vacation. Low and behold – her babysitter fell in love with her and we moved forwards with the adoption. Below is an update from her family, almost one year into their time together: “Lillian (changed her name to Sierra) is doing great! She is still so playful and has gotten even healthier and bigger since you’ve last seen her, reporting in at 60 pounds when I took her to the vet last month! She is my walking companion pretty much every day and she has almost mastered the “heel” and behaves much better around other dogs. I’m so proud that she recently graduated from the gentle leader (which is very effective but she hates it) to a regular chest harness. We go to the dog park and she plays well everyone, she’s even extra gentle with the little dogs. Recently took her on a kayak camping trip. She seems to be a really good swimmer but I’m not sure she likes it yet. We’re planning on taking her up to Hilton Head a lot this summer to the beaches there since they allow dogs.
“Thanks so much for the opportunity of adopting her. It wasn’t something I had planned for honestly, but it’s been a great change in my life and I look forward to many more years of fun with her.” I am so grateful that there are people out there who continue to open their hearts, minds, and lives to adopting dogs that need rescue. What does Lillian think? I think the before and after photos say it all!”
