When I began my backpacking journey in 2015, I started a blog to share the experience with my friends and family. I didn’t keep up with it regularly as I usually came back exhausted from my trips and went right back into work. All of my trips were alone, with one exception, and everyone was worried about me every time I took off on another trip – rightfully so, I will say, because backpacking alone is indeed a very risky venture. So, I decided a dog would be a good partner because I didn’t want to deal with coordinating with people, but I wanted the security. When I decided to share with everyone all of my adventures with my sweet pup, Violet, I wanted a fresh start. You see, Violet gave ME a fresh start as much as I gave her a fresh start.
I “rescued” (she’s a strong, independent doggo who don’t need no knight in shining armor!) Violet on November 26, 2017 from Austin Pets Alive!. I had my eye on another pup I found on their website, and I rushed back from a quick Thanksgiving trip to the Great Sands Dunes National Park because I didn’t want that pup to be adopted before I met her. Well, long story short, that pup was just not interested in me, and ultimately was not a good fit according to their adoption counselors (who are amazing, btw), so they gave me a list of dogs that might fit my lifestyle. I went to see them all, but couldn’t find a connection with any of them.
Violet’s kennel was a few down from the last dog on the list, and every time I walked by her kennel she barked for me to come closer; she was even doing little tap dances with her feet! They didn’t have a ton of information on her, just that she wasn’t particularly great with kids or cats , she was fearful of people and other dogs, but she was housebroken. She was shy and timid when we went into a large fenced area to get to know each other. She would take treats for tricks, but was clearly beaten down over the shelter experience. This was my girl.
I will admit that I knew nothing about what it means to be a fearful dog, and I have had to learn a lot about dog body language & behaviors, as well as my own patience. Yesterday marked 4 months together, and I cannot express how happy I am at her improvement in this short time. She weighed 38 pounds when I got her, and now she’s at a healthy 45-ish. Where she wouldn’t get in the car with me the day I got her (I had to get into the backseat first and show her it was okay), now she wants to make a pass by it on our walks to see if she can trick me into taking her somewhere. She loves going anywhere with me, but she’s not necessarily a Velcro dog. She’ll gladly go into another room if she wants some space.
We took our first overnight backpacking trip a week ago, and it was honestly one of my favorite trips so far. I’ll share more about that in my next post, but for now I will say that I am enormously grateful that Violet asked me to be a part of her life. A dog’s love is unique and boundless. ♥
Miranda Writes 