Vera came out ok, Nadia made it a few feet out into the back yard, and Clover made it as far as the gate before putting the breaks on.
These three girls are from a hoarder up near Yellowknife and they have been here for a few years now.
And still if a butterfly crosses their path they run back to their safe house. The girls will be lifers, they never will be able to leave here and live in a "normal" home. Our staff and volunteers are so incredibly patient with them as they take one step forward, several steps back.
Still it is sad to see them so cautious about going for a run which they do twice a day and have done for a couple of years now. Some days they have their big girl pants on and will happily run thru the field and pond, and some days they are just too scared of their imaginary monsters to venture more than a foot or two past their safe door.
They have come a long way in the past few years but that is a long way from hoarding hell. The distance to feeling safe and secure is a thousand miles away for them...hope floats one day they will find that too.
And this is why SAINTS exists, to give these three sweet yet so terrified trauma dogs a place to be whoever they are now and whoever they eventually can be. It is their journey and our job is to be their supportive family while they navigate their sometimes still scary world.
