Reina's backstory is a sad one that includes a tragedy narrowly averted. She was used for breeding but her last litter was delivered by c-section and she was spayed. No longer useful to the owner, she was dumped on someone else. That particular form of low life had dogs who attacked Reina and as a result the new owner was taking her outside and preparing to shoot her to end his problem. Providence intervened in the form of a neighbor who took Reina in for the night and then contacted Green Dogs. She came here the next day, thanks to the neighbor and a helpful transporter.
Reina was scared and didn't know who to trust so she trusted no one. She wasn't quite as bad as Journey, but it took two of us to get her cornered in the shed and get a leash on her to bring her inside for the first few nights. She was buddied up with our other new Dane, Raj, and I think that helped her a lot. He trusted us, she trusted him, and eventually she came to trust us. She preferred us sitting down, not standing, and would still flinch if I raised my arm or happened to be swinging a leash. This was clearly a dog who had not been treated well.
She took a while to come around, but with Raj's help, she did, and she began coming up to us on her own accord seeking attention in the form of petting on her big head. The biggest change came after her first time in the pasture. I had taken all the Danes, plus a couple shepherds out there to run in the sun. Everyone had a lot of pent up energy from the 40 days and 40 nights of rain we've had throughout mud season. Reina hung back at first, staying in the dog yard instead of going through the gate to the pasture with everyone else.
Going through that gate was a something of a breakthrough. She looked around, sniffed around, and finally began to run around. As you can see in the pictures, she was a completely different dog once she began to run. It was like a puppy seeing snow for the first time, a 16 year old kid who just got his driver's license, or a previously closeted gay guy who walks into a gay bar for the first time, looks around with awe and thinks: "how long has this been going on?" Joy. Freedom. Release. Exhalation and exhilaration all at once.
And oh my Dog, can she ever run. She ran with Raj, she ran with Della, she ran with Everest, and she ran by herself. I took that blaze orange harness off her yesterday evening. I think she now trusts me enough that I can attach a leash to her collar when needed. The number of people Reina trusts now is two, Clay and me. An adopter will need to go through a trust building phase with her just like we did, but I think it will be quicker and easier for her to trust a human from now on. I've promised her that there will only be good people in her future.
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