Finding Olivia (part 2) - Reuniting with Olivia!

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Seeing Olivia again after almost two years was absolutely overwhelming for me - I'm still not over it!

As soon as the shelter staff brought her out of her little "cell" for us to see her, we went about physically confirming that it was Olivia.  We looked for the scars that she had before she ran away and even compared the stripes in her brindle coloring to the pictures we had of her.  Everything matched.  The only possibility that it wasn't Olivia was that the shelter had listed her as unaltered but Olivia was spayed. Still, she shelter staff had based their conclusion on the fact that her nipples were distended, indicating that she had had puppies before, because she was too fearful for them to check for a scar.  This didn't make me any less sure, though.  Only about a week before she had come to live with me, she had had a so-called "pregnant spay" and her nipples were very distended when she came to me. Her nipples are still distended, but much less so than they used to be.  That said, the vet is still going to check to make sure that the dog we brought in is in fact spayed.

She has obviously had a rough time of it.  She is still very skinny:  you can see her rib cage, and she weighs only about 80 pounds; and, with her frame, she should be at least 100.  She also has some new scars, including a new (though healed) tear in her ear.  Finally, she has a bad hot-spot above her tail.  I can't wait to  help her heal and gain weight, and generally restore her to health.

Her temperament seems a bit, though not much, less fearful; but otherwise the same as I remember.  She's still shy but curious, and seems eager but hesitant to trust.  She had formed an attachment to one of the shelter workers, Monica, who had become attached to her. Monica would come and sit with her every day and Olivia would sit next to her and put her chin in Monica's lap or just come and stand her 80-pound self in Monica's lap.  It was wonderful to see, partly because it suggests to me that she has been treated well for at least part of the time she was gone and partly because it means that her shelter experience was not as stressful as it could have been.  Incidentally, it also made me less incredulous that someone (probably a woman) had been able to get her into a car.

What was incredibly gratifying to me was that she seemed to remember me.  I assume she recognized my scent, and may have associated it with a warm bed, a safe, quiet apartment, and plentiful good food. Whatever it was, Livvie warmed up to me right away:  as soon as we got her into a visiting room, she came and hung her head next to me for me to pet her, stood in my lap, and even relaxed enough to sit down (progress for her) next to me.  Within a few minutes, she was following me around, and tried to go with me when I left the room.  It was so heart-warming to learn that my love for her, which had only grown over the two years she had been away, seems to be requited.

 

Sam filled out the paperwork to claim her and restore her as a ward of A Forever-Home (rather than the shelter), and she was ours again!  Another memorable moment was leading her out of the shelter into the beautiful October afternoon - it had rained on our way to the shelter and it had cleared up and the sun had come out!  We helped her into the car, and, adorably, she clearly still has the odd but cute habit of staying in however she lands, no matter the position of her long limbs.  Despite the nicely padded back seat of Sam's car (what I affectionately call the "track-mobile"), Livvie had slipped in between the front and back seats with one of her back legs up in the air, and it didn't seem to bother her one bit. On our way to the vet, we stopped at Chik-fil-A and bought her a big order of chicken nuggets.  Until then, she had been too over-stimulated to take any treats (or simply they didn't like them), but she loved that chicken!  She was clearly hungry and it the way she accepted the nuggets was adorable.

What was most endearing, though, was the way she just soaked up the love we showered on her.  On the drive to the vet, she put her big ol' head on the center console between Sam and me and leaned into it whenever we petted her face or the top of her head or scratched her ears.  When her head wasn't up front with us, I would reach back and pet her - I can't get enough!  If I took my hand away for more than about two seconds, her head popped right back up in the front for more lovin'. So sweet!

When we arrived at the vet, she showed more curiosity.  She was most excited about the Great Dane puppy across from her in the waiting room.  She was clearly disappointed that, because she hasn't been vaccinated in two years, we couldn't allow her to interact with him. She even made a super-cute whine, which I hadn't heard before, to appeal the decision!  It seemed that everyone there enjoyed meeting her.  Another heartening moment was meeting another AFH affiliate in the waiting room.  When we introduced her to Olivia, she was amazed and told Livvie, "We have been think of you and praying for you for a long time!"

I noticed that Livvie still seems more scared of men than women, though.  When the male vet tech came out to get her, her tail, which had been wagging at the Dane, tucked up between her legs as high as it would go.  I was again touched to see that, when she would go to the back (out of the waiting room where Sam and I had been sitting), she willingly followed me back when he led me there, even insisted on doing so.  To get her into her little space in the back, I walked into it first. She followed me there and, when I sat down in the entrance to keep her from trying to go back out of it, she put her head into my lap again.

Olivia needed to stay there for a full evaluation, including vaccination, heartworm testing, and treatment of her hot-spot.  We are not sure how long she will have remain there: at least until the tests come back.  She'll be fine, though. With a nice soft blanket, her little space was much more comfy than was her one at the shelter, and she'll get much more attention.  Hard as it was for me to let her out of my sight, I was quite confident that they would take good care of her and that she is in good hands.

I still can't believe that we've found her!  I cannot overstate my gratitude to Sam Connelly - pet tracker extraordinaire whose track record (so to speak) in recovering lost dogs for A Forever-Home is now 100% - and to A Forever-Home.  For those of you who do not already know, AFH did not take Olivia on until after she was already lost.  I had drained my savings paying for search expenses and tracks and could not continue to fund the search adequately.  AFH stepped in and offered to pay for the search no matter how much and how long it would take.  They have devoted copious amounts of resources to finding Olivia.  I have never encountered and can hardly imagine a more generous, committed rescue.  (A little shameless plug:  if you want to contribute to Olivia's vet bills or help AFH save other dogs, they are always accepting contributions. aforeverhome.org)

Thank you all so much for your help and encouragement throughout the search.  Through our combined efforts - Sam, AFH, the volunteers, the sight-ers, people watching out and spreading the word, and even just those hoping, praying, and rooting for Olivia - and some last-minute luck, we achieved this amazing, triumphant, miraculous result!

Long live Livvie!