Rescue Stories: Meet Zoro!
Happy Rescue Stories Friday Friends!! We're back this month after an exciting October. We hope you are loving our new look and enjoyed watching our howl-o-ween pictures come out!
If you've been following along the past few months you know that during these ruff times, animal shelters and organizations have been struggling to maintain enough funding and supplies to support the hundreds of adoptable dogs/pets in their shelters. We are doing everything we can to help their efforts!
At Fit & Go Pets we play an important role (sometimes big, sometimes small) in helping dog rescue parents and their dogs as they go through their rescue journey and adapt to a new life. We see, firsthand, entire lives changed for the better. We feel this role we serve is a big part of who we are as a company, and our duty, to help our community and help as many dogs and pawrents as possible. Learn how you can help at the bottom of this blog post.
And without further ado, we are so excited to introduce you to this month's Rescue Story... meet Zoro!
His mom Genesis tells us Zoro’s Story:
Zoro was found as a stray in rural California, with a severe infection in his left eye - likely due to trauma. No one knows his backstory, but given his injuries, we know he’s had a rough go at life.
We adopted him shortly after his operation and have been working really hard to rehab him. In the beginning he was pretty scared and reactive to the world around him. It took a lot of hard work to train him and provide a secure home for him. We’ve had Zoro for 2 years now, and he has become such a wonderful, loving, and curious dog. He’s absolutely the light of our lives.
The greatest lesson:
Patience is everything when it comes to rescues. These dogs have unknown origins and trauma that has shaped the way they move in the world. It's important to provide them with the structure to feel safe and the training to gain confidence. It’s hard work, but it’s 100% worth it to see the progress and the love they can give you.
A piece of advice:
Do it! Zoro has changed my life in so many ways. My biggest piece of advice is to focus on relation-building with your dog, and finding ways to turn training into a game. Rescue dogs can have a lot of fear and unknown trauma, the best thing you can do for yourself and your dog is to prioritize bond building within your training.
What I wish I had known:
That it’s going to be ok. I won’t sugarcoat the fact that raising a dog is a lot of work, and that rescues may also come with extra attention.. but eventually it will all be ok. As long as you put in the time and consistency, one day you’ll find yourself with an incredible dog and a best friend for life.
