Paisley

We adopted Paisley at the end of September, about a month after I had started volunteering for Arizona Animal Welfare League (AAWL). I started at their offsite location at the Chandler Mall where most of their puppies and small dogs were transferred. I thought puppies were a blast (not so much the Chihuahuas, which I found to be really really...boring) until I realized how much I missed big dogs! So I started volunteering at their main center in Phoenix, too ;)
When I met Paisley, she was underweight, depressed, and fearful. She wasn't really fearful of people, though, but of the shelter. It was an overwhelming place for an "owner surrender" who had spent all five years with the same family. Whenever I took her out of her kennel, she would move to the nearest wall and walk against it, keeping her eyes down and away from the barking dogs. When we brought her home for a sleepover to see if we'd all be a good fit for one another, we took her everywhere with us...and were constantly asked if we'd had her for very long. After explaining the whole "sleepover" situation, the concerned citizens would reply, "Oh, okay...because she's really skinny." So then we had to explain that she had lost 12 pounds in the three months she was at the shelter.

We adopted her knowing she had a tender spirit, that she was gentle with our kids and that she was housebroken. I knew I didn't have time to potty-train a dog, and I knew that the job of training a less-than-docile dog was meant for someone else...so for us to find Paisley, who grew up with small children and knew how to behave around mine, was a blessing.
After three months with us, she's just now starting to show her affectionate and cuddly side; she doesn't bolt out the front door or the car door anymore, thinking that being out on the street might be safer than being with us; and she comes to us when we call her. She knows that we're family, and that our home is her home.