Introducing Maddie

This is Maddie.  She's a one year old purebred Australian Shepherd.  A very nice lady contacted the rescue community for help recently.  She had met Maddie at a breeder's facility and was able to get her released with the intention to find her a new home.  When a month went by and they still weren't able to find her a home, they asked for help.  

So here's the bad news about Maddie.  The breeder where she came from is an 85-year-old woman trying to take care of over 100 dogs by herself since her husband died.  The dogs are not getting the care they need.  Maddie has spent her entire life living outdoors with little to no socialization.  She's scared of everyone.  She has a problem with her back leg or hip that causes one leg to turn outward.  She was from a litter where both parents were merles (genetic color pattern).  They should never have been allowed to breed, because statistically 25% of the litter would be double merles.  Often double merles have hearing deficiencies and they may also have a variety of eye defects. Maddie is a double merle and appears to be partially deaf.  

But there's good news too.  The best news is Maddie was rescued from her living situation by the family who contacted rescue for help.  Maddie is still young and with some work I know she will  learn to enjoy being around people.  She still has partial hearing and in addition to being beautiful she is great with other dogs and fine with cats - all things that will help her to find just the right home.  She'll be spayed and vaccinated and get any needed medical care for her bad leg.  She'll be living indoors for the first time in her life, and learn all about being spoiled and sleeping on soft beds and eating chicken and special treats.  We'll work on house-training and positive reinforcement for every new experience.  And someday soon she'll find an adoptive home where she'll be spoiled rotten for the rest of her life.  In spite of her sad beginnings, Maddie is one of the lucky ones, because she made it into Rescue.

So far Maddie has not made a sound since I brought her home two days ago.  She found refuge on the fireplace hearth, and has chosen to sleep there since she arrived.  She doesn't leave the hearth unless I pick her up and carry her outside.  Then she walks around the yard, relieves herself and waits for me to come get her and carry her back in.   The first few times I had trouble catching her.  Then she let me come get her, and this morning she even came in the door herself!  She still ran straight to her fireplace refuge, but I'm happy with her progress.  I've provided food and water on the hearth and am giving her a lot of space while she gets accustomed to life in a home.  The TV was a new experience for her I believe - she looked quite confused by the box that suddenly had moving pictures on it.  She has never shown any signs of aggression, and since she doesn't move or make a sound, so far she's been much more of a household decoration than a living dog.  I do enjoy having such a beautiful decoration, but I am ready for her to transform into a real dog, because that's what she was made to be.