Your Pup + Me Story: Laura+Jan
Our first Pup + Me Story is brought you by the lovely Laura and the Jan Levenson-Gould (IG handle: @thejanlevensongould ).
Laura + Jan’s Story:
If I'm going to do this, I have to be completely honest and admit to something I don't really talk about. I had adopted a dog about 6 months prior to Jan who I ended up having to return. He had a lot of energy and really needed a yard but the core issues were he had extreme separation anxiety and really needed to be with people who would be around pretty much all the time and that he was biting including my young niece. We just weren't a good fit for each other and I felt like I had truly failed him and just at life.
When I first met Jan as a volunteer at Almost There Rescue, I still didn't really feel like I deserved the privilege of having a dog again. I remember the first night we met, she had just come back to the rescue from foster with the cutest little moo-cow babies you've ever seen, 8 of them. I sat with her and the puppies and other than a sniff, she was pretty disinterested in me. A week later, I was volunteering again and poor Jan was so skinny between the energy it took to nurse 8 puppies and the stress of being at the rescue. The animal care specialist on duty asked me if I would sit with her and try and spoon feed her some wet food. Three cans later, I said to myself "shit... I have to adopt this dog!" She wasn't so sure about me but I knew. I brought her now dog cousin in for a meet and greet a few days later and started the adoption process, which meant I could bring her home in about 2 weeks. The next day I received a call asking if there was any chance I wanted to come get her early because she was just over her puppies, as so often happens. I finished up at work and went to get her that evening. She was just confused in the car on the way home and wouldn't come near me when we got there.
Jan REALLY didn't like the other dog in the house (aka Jan in the mirror) but a few days later, she settled in, leaving puddles of milk everywhere as she dried up her supply. She wouldn't get in the car willingly for a couple weeks, always thinking she was being sent back. Two weeks later, Arizona was under stay at home orders and we went to stay with my sister and her family who had a big back yard, another dog to play with and lots of people to love on. It was great having that time at home with Jan but it also probably exacerbated her separation anxiety and other fears of the world. Jan is a sweetheart but that doesn't mean we've had an easy journey. While I don't know much about her life before me, there is evidence she was abused, left outside for long periods of time or was possibly roaming a reservation and didn't receive food consistently. She loves her family and the people she knows and most of the people she doesn't but has triggers that clearly run deep. We've been through lots of training and will most likely always continue with a formal program, as it really does help her and I've accepted that there always has to be a level of alert with new people. We're actually in the middle of muzzle training so we can both feel more comfortable out in the world when those triggers randomly do occur (and they are RANDOM), as Jan loves adventures and this will allow us to always have them safely. Jan is my best buddy and favorite girl. I'm forever grateful to the team at MCACC who brought her in from the streets and her foster Kelsey and especially to the team at ATR who entrusted me with this special mama.
Thank you Laura and Jan for your beautiful story and for being transparent with your journey. It is so important to share your story! Jan is lucky to have a wonderful guardian by her side.