Gilly was found as a stray and wound up in a shelter. She was hungry, scared, and bore the signs of being used over and over for breeding. Nobody called in to claim her and nobody wanted to adopt her. The shelter staff had a hard time leashing her to take her outside for walks and they could barely touch her as she was so stressed. Gilly spent most of her days curled up in a little ball at the back of her kennel shaking. She stayed at that shelter for 5 months. The volunteers at that shelter knew her only hope was to get her into a rescue. Rescue Dogs Match was the rescue that accepted her into their program.

It took Gilly a few days to settle in her foster home. She was so confused and stressed out that she would often pace back and forth, stopping to let out a very sad howl. It was heartbreaking to see. So, they focused mostly on confidence building and bonding. Simple things that many people take for granted were actually very hard tasks for little Gilly at first. Slowly she began allowing people to touch her collar in order to put her leash on. From there on, she began to show significant improvements in all aspects of affection. Gilly was finally housebroken; in fact, she would purposely go pee-pee on her pee pad when her foster family came home just to have them get all gushy over what a good job she had done. Eventually, she was allowing us to pick her up so she could lather us in kisses. Then the most amazing thing happened. One day when her foster family was singing a Christmas carol, Gilly began to howl with them as if to sing! From there, her howls became a song of joy!

Gilly was doing so well that she was finally placed up for adoption. She was a completely different dog than then when she was received from the shelter just a few months before. Gilly was a hit with everyone she met. She loved to ‘sing’ when visitors came over and she loved to give kisses. Gilly even learned how to sit for a treat!

Gilly has since been adopted into a wonderful home. She has bonded amazingly well with her new mother and her two kitty friends. Her new mom reports “She’s a good doggy and she’s proud when we go for walks. She is a silly girl with a heart of gold. Gilly has completed our little family. Everyone adores her. How could they not?”