Brooklyn’s Day Out

Brooklyn spent 6 years in the Shelter, and I knew I was ready to foster

Brooklyn convinced me to start fostering. I was longing for a dog and window shopping when I saw her there at the bottom of the shelter’s site. I fell in love with her big googly eyes, and after reading that she had spent the last six years at the shelter, I knew she needed to come home with us. When we reached out to the shelter about fostering, we received thanks… and a long list of deterrents. Brooklyn was not as friendly as she looked. She was dog-aggressive, food-aggressive, did not like other animals, and did not like new people, especially men. The staff had all but accepted that Brooklyn would live out the rest of her days at the shelter. She wasn’t meant to be a pet. Maybe we should choose another dog. But I like a long shot.

Brooklyn spent most of our first weekly visit barking at us through a fence. It was slow going at first, especially with the boyfriend. By our third visit, thanks to some patience and some bribery (thank you treat sticks, you saved my fingers), we were both able to pet and walk her. By our fifth visit she was visibly excited to see us and practically jumping in anticipation to sit in my lap. We moved on to a short home visit, and then a Doggy Day Out that she spent comfortably getting pets and napping at what was soon to be her temporary home. You could tell she was grateful to have a place to rest without the chaos of being surrounded by other dogs all day.

I expected to have a training period, but Brooklyn showed us her gratitude by being the easiest dog I’ve ever had. She was calm, house-trained, walked well on a leash, and never chewed anything up. She just wanted to be a shadow while we walked around, and a lap dog anytime we even got near the couch. We were even able to let her stay out in the living room overnight and while we were gone for work. Oh, and she is amazing at bathtime!

I have held a lot of hope in her to reach new expectations, but she surprised me with how great of a house dog she could be – especially after spending her first couple years of life chained up in a backyard. Brooklyn still has her difficulties, but she has shown so much growth in them since being with us. She still gets worked up when she sees the neighborhood cats, but she can walk away from other dogs as long as she has some space. She is wary of men that get too close, but she is excited to meet women and seems interested in kids and older people. She is a great guard dog though, or at least she believes she is – all 35 pounds of her. She adores the man in the house so there is definitely potential for men in her life. After frequent visits with a kind friend of ours, she got comfortable enough to let them take care of her while we went away for a weekend. She gets excited, gets zoomies, and has learned to play with toys again! She is a sucker for peanut butter, greek yogurt, pig snouts, and surprisingly, collard greens.

Brooklyn is still in search of a home, but she is waiting in comfort and learning new skills each day. She is waiting for someone that will give her some patience (and lots of pets) to warm up to them. Once she loves you, she loves you hard and will show it every day. I am so very grateful to Brooklyn for starting us on this journey, and to the shelter staff that have loved on her from her very first day.