Six months after Nakia came, I received a text from M. asking me if I might be interested in taking Nakia's mother, Ada. I really hesitated. Nakia was only just starting to settle in and getting yet another Giant Schnauzer (especially if she was anything like Nakia) so soon seemed crazy. I could easily count off a dozen reasons why it was a stupid idea.
Knowing what I knew about the situation Nakia had been in, I also knew that I couldn't say no.
Two days later, I loaded Nakia into the backseat of my mother's brand new truck and we headed to the farm. When we arrived, Nakia jumped out of the truck and galloped her way around the yard, greeting Ada while ignoring M. I spent a few minutes chatting with before Ada came close enough for me to get a good look at her.
The first thing I noticed was that she'd obviously just weaned a litter. It made me sick to my stomach, but I didn't say anything. The second thing I noticed was how reserved she was. When I loaded her into the car she didn't object or look back. She was just resigned.
When we got home where I could get a good look at her, I was horrified. Her belly was matted all the way to the skin and blistered raw. She had fluid filled cysts from cheatgrass between her toes on every foot. I don't know how she managed to walk. Her elbow callouses were numerous and large. Her ears were inflamed, her skin was irritated and she had an area on one hip that was almost bald. She allowed me to clean her up without making a sound. She didn't seem afraid as much as unwilling to show weakness.
A trip to the vet let me know she had allergic dermatitis, double ear infections, the blisters on her stomach were likely urine burns from a dirty whelping box, while her bald spot was likely a result vitamin deficiencies and stress. We went home with a bunch of meds, a new diet, a list of vitamins and instructions to have her sit in front of a full spectrum lamp for 30 minutes twice a day to help the alopecia.
The first couple of weeks weren't easy. Ada and Nakia seemed determined to murder one another, Nakia regressed and starting peeing in the house and Ada well..... When she wasn't trying to kill Nakia she watched me. Not in a friendly, thank you for rescuing way, but in a "just who the hell do you think you are to tell me anything, kind of way..." I did a lot of crying in the shower.
I spent hours working with the two of them, I didn't care if they liked one another.... I just needed them to stop actively trying to murder each another. When she wasn't trying to tear Nakia's ears off, Ada was like a polite houseguest. She would allow me to pet her... but didn't seem to enjoy it. She would sit and move to a down, but walking her felt like a tractor pull invitational.
I called my adult son more than once in those first few weeks with both of the girls, his giant was a well bred, well trained secure lady. Mine were obviously a couple of hot messes.
Some time around the beginning of the new year, both girls seemed to accept that neither was going anywhere and that murder was not acceptable. Incrementally, Ada started to warm up to me. I will never forget the time she finished her dinner, jumped onto my bed and gave me the schnauzer paw. It's not a request. It's a demand for service. She grumbled at me while I gave her scritches. She slept on the bed that night.
She's different now, the most mature, but also the one who loves to play the most. She's smart and silly and the dog that knows me better than I know myself. She's my right hand, second in command who is determined that all the dogs in this house follow the rules.
