There are 3 things that I wish people knew about my abused rescue. We got Sage, our beautiful four-legged best friend, at an animal rescue in Taos, New Mexico. She was four months old and had been there for about a month or two before we arrived. We had been looking for a puppy, but in Colorado, puppies go really fast. We had planned a trip to the Grand Canyon with a stop in Santa Fe. I decided there was no harm in looking at shelters along our way.
That’s when I found Sage, an abused rescue, then called Gigi. She had the biggest ears and was the cutest puppy I had ever seen. I made a deal with Kodiak that if she was still there when we went on our trip, we would stop to see if she was a good fit. A month later we head to New Mexico. Immediately I knew she was the one.
We had to jump through some hoops since we lived so far away and were on a road trip, but she was so worth it. On the drive to Santa Fe from Taos, we decided to rename her. We went through a list of names until we made a joke about the multitude of sagebrush in the area and how it would be a fitting name. She barked for the first time at that moment and it was solidified. Her new name was Sage.
Sage’s Story as an abused rescue before her forever home
Here’s what we know for sure. In Taos, New Mexico, Sage was abandoned in the desert. This is where an elderly couple found her. They brought her to their house where they dressed her up in dog outfits and let their grandchildren play with her. However, Sage was too high energy for the couple. They ended up surrendering her to the shelter. She stayed there for a month or two before we showed up and adopted her. She was supposed to be shipped to a Colorado animal shelter in the next couple of weeks.
Based on the tendencies that Sage has this is what we speculate happened to Sage. She had multiple broken ribs on both sides. She had 3 on one side and 5 on the other. We assume that this was a fist and a boot of a large Hispanic man. He was drunk, loud, and wore a cowboy hat.
We assume these things because she is hesitant of large men. Loud noise and voice scare her. She has been more hesitant around Hispanic men than others. She is defensive over women. And she HATES people who smell like alcohol. Even people she knows, make her wary. She gets defensive around people, even children, with cowboy hats. She dislikes not being able to see people’s faces in general. This has made COVID particularly interesting since she doesn’t even like Kodiak or I with a mask on. Her background isn’t much different than other abused rescue dogs.
3 things that I wish people knew
Introduction is Key
First, I wish I didn’t have to explain that Sage needs to be introduced to everyone. Common dog courtesy is to ask the owner if you can pet their dog, then wait for the owner to give the dog’s name and then approach while saying the dog’s name. While this might be time-consuming it is the best way for Sage to become familiar with you and not snap at you. Sage is immediately on guard as soon as a person approaches too quickly. And petting without asking is always a bad idea.
You never know if the dog is friendly, or even a working dog. Sage is always defensive of me when I am alone so when men approach to pet her, it takes me twice as long to introduce them. Sage has luckily always been more forgiving with children, who are notorious for approaching dogs quickly, abruptly, and petting them quite aggressively. This process of an introduction should not only be adopted by yourself, but also taught to your children. When the introduction process is skipped Sage takes longer to warm up and may never end up trusting that person. Some people we see regularly have been put on Sage’s “do not trust” list for life and we have never been able to fix the damage.
Abused recue dogs have triggers
Just like humans, dogs have triggers too. Sage’s are; loud people, intoxicated people, hats (specifically cowboy hats), people who she doesn’t know well getting too close to me, men specifically wary of Hispanic men and is defensive of Hispanic women (we assume that the man who beat and abandon Sage also beat his wife by the way she acts), and she needs to see people’s faces.
The thing that happened to Sage was traumatic. When she is exposed to these triggers, she doesn’t behave like she “should”. Even people she knows and trusts are tainted by these. If you are intoxicated, loud, and get particularly close to me, then she takes time to readjust and to trust you once again. I have my dog under control so please DO NOT expect that she will act the same as another dog without these triggers. If you are not willing to take the time to have my dog adjust to your new state, then please leave me and my dog alone. She is an abused rescue and has been through enough in her short life and she needs space and understanding.
You can’t treat my abused rescue exactly like your never abused dog
I wrote this article after spending an evening with a friend. We had a lovely time at her house before her parent’s dropped by after drinking at a bar. Sage had only met them twice before and had only warmed up to them the previous time they had met. Their attitude, increased volume, and the smell of alcohol made Sage immediately on edge. Sage spent time barking and circling with hackles around the two of them. I knew her well enough, and my friend’s parents well enough, to be sure that Sage was safe to bark at a distance before becoming refamiliarized with them. They are dog people and happy, not aggressive, intoxicated people so I felt comfortable with the situation.
That was until my friend reached down and swatted Sage on the butt for barking at “people she knew”. She’s an ABUSED rescue! I was in disbelief! Sage promptly ran and hid under the side table next to the couch where I was sitting and it took several minutes of coaxing before Sage would move from the spot. I was so disappointed that violence had once again been associated with alcohol. We were impressed with her progress. I had finally felt comfortable with having intoxicated friends and family around Sage. Now we will have to work once again on the situation. Hopefully, the setbacks are minimized.
We can all do better (even me)
It is not that my friend is unfamiliar with Sage’s story or with her triggers, but her instincts took over. The damage was done before she even thought about her actions. I was unable to express my disappointment and concerns with her in the moment and so I did what I could. I encouraged Sage to crawl from her hiding spot to “say hi” to her parents. Then, I pet her the entire time they were interacting.
Afterward, I gave Sage more praise than I have in the past. Not only to encourage Sage’s behavior of interacting with them pretty well, considering the incident, but to slyly remind my friend that Sage is an abused dog and is very different from her own dog. She owns a golden retriever who they have had his entire life so he is very happy-go-lucky, a people pleaser, and never had someone beat him. My passive-aggressive hints were probably not the most constructive thing that I could have done.
With an abused rescue dog you are always walking a line between discipline and understanding. Sage is a well-behaved dog, she just has tendencies that I have to excuse her for. Dogs don’t have a therapist that they can go to to get over “puppyhood” trauma. Sage’s forever family has to be that for her and she’s going to have things that make her different than other dogs. Sometimes mistakes get made. I was stressed out, confused, and mad. I didn’t handle the situation the best I could have and I didn’t confront her directly as I should have. But, I did write this article so that perhaps others might be more careful when interacting with an abused dog. Hopefully, in the future, I will be better by being clearer with the people around me and with my dog.
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