May 2024 – Little Ria the Survivor

Just when I thought Ria might stay with me forever, I got an inquiry on Petfinder from someone who sounded great. She has three cats and always has several foster cats around, which would be good since Ria likes cats. We set up a meeting on Wednesday afternoon, since it was a public holiday.

Ria doesn’t trust anyone except me and will bark non-stop at anyone who comes into the house, so we went to the little park on the corner. Ria had a great time running around while we were waiting, but when the adopter (Della) came, she was not too happy. She barked and backed away. Then when she saw Della had treats, she happily snatched those, then went back to a safe distance by a bush.

If I moved closer to Della, Ria would move a little closer, but she still did not want to be touched. After getting to know Della more, I was even more convinced she’d give Ria a good home. She’s from Virgina like I am, always had dogs growing up and wanted to adopt a senior or disabled dog to give them a chance. She said she usually doesn’t even look at younger dogs on Petfinder, but she fell in love with Ria’s smile! She said she’ll visit as many times as it takes for Ria to get comfortable.

So she came back today (Saturday) and things went much better. At first, Ria had the same attitude. Della said she looked like a princess while I was carrying her and asked Ria if she could pet her. Ria shoved her with her paw.

At the park, Ria sniffed Della’s hand, then backed away and barked like, “What? No treats? Go away!” But after several treats, she started to warm up, sitting closer than before. Della pet her back and Ria was okay because she thought it was me touching her. When she realized it wasn’t she backed off again, but then came back.

Finally, she let Della pet her. No one other than me has ever been able to pet her like that. She even gave some kisses! I asked Ria if she wants a new mommy and she didn’t seem so sure about that. It would be hard to let her go. The next plan is to go visit Della’s place and see how that goes. Just a visit; then we’ll plan further!

Ria is over a year old now, and I just had her spayed a few weeks ago. I had put it off for awhile because one of her ears had a notch in it, which could indicate she was spayed by trap-neuter-release (TNR), when she was young. The vet said it was unlikely, but impossible to know for sure. Not wanting to put her through unnecessary surgery, I decided to wait and see. She went into heat, so that confirmed it!

smiling dog — The notch in her ear must have been from a past injury.

She got to come home from the vet the same day and recovered quickly. I was surprised that she’s now 13kg (28 pounds)! This will be her full size, although I’d thought she wouldn’t get much bigger than she was a few months ago.

She’s outgrown her harness, so I had to use one of my other dog’s harnesses to take her to the park. It fits her well. She’s so thrilled to get a chance to run! She prefers grass rather than road, so I have to go at a time when there aren’t many people there.

Ria gets excited about running through the grass at top speed! She stops before running into a puddle.

No more adoption drives for Ria recently because I’ve been trying to get three puppies adopted first (not staying with me!). They were abandoned in a cage at my friend’s house; I put them in a boarding house since no one would foster them and it’s too expensive to do that for long. I don’t want them to end up in a shelter; any dog that goes to a shelter is almost certain to stay there for life. The shelters are all far away, no one can visit, and no one brings dogs out for adoption drives if they’re over 6 months old.

Shiloh, Zahara, and Maddox are waiting for their forever homes.

That was why I decided not to let Ria go to the home for dogs with special needs. They never try to get those dogs adopted, and while their basic needs are met, it’s not like having a home. She’s much better off with me, and if there’s no one else out there for her, she can stay here.

I actually got one inquiry for her on Petfinder, someone who sounded nice and responsible and had brought her dog and cat from China. While I was excited about the chance, I did feel a bit sad at the thought of letting Ria go. She said she’d ask her boyfriend about setting up a visit, then didn’t get back to me and never replied after I followed up. Maybe it’s for the best!

Month: May 2024

Ria Meets Her Potential Adopter!

Ria Is All Grown Up!