Rescue Dog Miracles- Ticks, pets and walks

Sunday 14th September

Tomorrow will mark the last day of Galas’ fourth week at home with me. I can honestly say it has been beautiful, heartwarming, stressful, tiring and just wonderful!

They always talk about the rule of threes in rescue: 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, that you will see a different dog. It’s been my pleasure to see Galas’ progress over her first days and weeks. At the end of three weeks, she had come so far, but still had so far to go! She didn’t want to come into the main house or let my parents touch her, and wouldn’t go anywhere near the gate, so walks were out of the question. As we started our fourth week, I was so hoping for her to gain some more confidence and for us to see more of the true Gala coming out.

We have had some really stressful times - even though she hadn’t been out of the garden, I found that she had loads of ticks, and not standard ticks you can see but the tiniest ticks imaginable. You couldn’t even really see them. I was giving her strokes all over and grooming, and as her fur is thin on her feet, I noticed this tiny white thing as my face was close, and realised it was a miniscule tick. I removed it, then kept finding more and more as I searched her feet. I think they must have been larvae to be so small and maybe some nymphs. Now, as we haven’t left the garden, that meant we must have a nest here. I had noticed a few ticks on me the week before she came when I was down the garden, and I was absolutely horrified to realise there must be a nest. When a female tick lays eggs, she lays from hundreds to thousands of larvae. I think it’s safe to say that I used to have a genuine tick phobia. I have been forced to deal with a few ticks from looking after animals, so all I can say now is it’s as strong as a fear can be whilst still trying to deal with it. So for me, this is literally a challenge sent from hell. I had been trying to use a natural tick spray on Gala (more about flea and tick preventatives in a different blog), so of course, finding all these ticks, I was even more keen to put it on. She really hates it, so I decanted some from a spray bottle into a pipette so I could just drip it onto her coat and brush it through. Seeing her cower away from me while I did it is the most awful thing in the world, but I was as gentle as I could be because I knew I had to do it. I then went inside for something, and when I came back, she was just sitting on the bed trembling. I can’t tell you how bad I felt. I had to go away again and burst into tears. I felt like such an awful person for upsetting her, and so despairing and anxious about the ticks in our own garden that should be somewhere safe for us. It was one of the worst mornings I have had recently, and I didn’t know how to pull it back together.

Then suddenly, a little Gala miracle. I was in the house making lunch, my parents were there too, and suddenly she started coming into the house! In and out, a little bit at a time, then back out, again and again, until in the end she came right into the sitting room and sat down next to my mum! I couldn’t have been more proud. It was such a lovely thing to happen on such a horrible day, and I can’t tell you how much it lifted my spirits! She carried on going in and out all afternoon, even lying in a bed I put out for her there, then racing outside to see me while I was working in the garden. I was using a scarifier to try and prepare the lawn for nematode application in a bid to kill the ticks, and instead of being scared, she ran right over and was trying to play with me! It amazed me how a day can be so awful and stressful, yet so full of joy at the same time. I felt so grateful to Gala for cheering me up. The tick nightmare isn’t over, but young Gala was taking strides forward and I am so lucky to be able to share it with her!

Another day, another tick horror, picking another six tiny ticks off her in the evening, then finding two on our bed in the morning. I have been trying so hard to stay calm about the whole tick situation, to handle it, research what we can do, and try to make a proper plan. I had ordered some nematodes, microscopic worms you can get to eat specific bugs from the garden. The nematodes that eat lawn fleas (did you know fleas don’t just live on dogs; they actually live in grass, and your dog can get them from there?!) are supposed to eat ticks too, so I ordered some to try and apply to the garden in the hope we could kill the ticks. It’s tricky not knowing exactly where they are, and the garden is fairly large, but it seemed like the best thing to try. So, having spent so much time researching all this, trying to keep my cool, it just pushed me over the edge finding so many more ticks, and I totally lost it again. I felt so close to the edge, and the fact that I couldn’t get Gala to go out the front means she needs the garden to go to the toilet, so it’s not like we can just never go in the garden either. Thankfully, my Dad was here to help; we started by fencing off the back half of the garden in the hope that is where the tick nest is, until we can treat it. I started looking into the possibility of a hardcore pest remover as well. But I was all over the place; the whole situation is so stressful, my skin has been crawling for days, I’ve barely got any work done, I’ve spent so long reading about ticks. Honestly, one of the worst periods of recent life.

Then what do you know, young Gala steps in again to save the day. After talking to the rescue for a advice, I decided that I would carry her round the front of the house and put her in the front garden so she could see what it was like, in the hope we would be able to go for a walk one day soon. I did so, and when I put her down, she took a look around and then trotted off down the street! Incredible. We didn’t go far and she is still nervous, but it felt like the most brilliant progress! I was getting excited and nervous energy from her. To see her actually trotting, and her tail out most of the time, I couldn’t believe it. And the feeling of freedom for myself to finally be out with her not stuck at home was also a tonic. I saw a couple of our neighbours, the very first people who have seen Gala (we had to turn round because she is scared of strangers), but I was just so proud to be out with her. It has been so long since my darling Miss Nancy and I were out. I hadn’t even seen these people since Miss Nancy died; the truth is I have been avoiding anyone I knew because I can’t bear telling people what happened. The pain hasn’t gone away, and I still can’t bear the thought of telling them, but I had Gala with me, and I have to concentrate on her and encouraging her, and it just somehow makes it easier.  We just trotted up and down back and forth near my house, getting to know the locale. Yet again it felt like such a gift after a horrific morning.

What a strange time this is for me, so stressed about something that is a personal nightmare to me and extremely hard to deal with in a practical sense as well as not to just break down into a blubbering wreck, and then sharing these joyful moments of progress with Lady Galadriel. She has gone from strength to strength in the house too, spending time in here, in the dog-sitting room with me, in my parents’ sitting room with them. She is turning into quite a grandmas girl and goes to her often for pets! Although she likes my dad, gives him huge tail wags and follows him around outside, she still won’t let him touch her. I am sure it’s not far away though after such a strong week for her.

Next week is going to see me try and apply these nematodes to the garden whilst desperately hoping I don’t get covered in ticks at the same time, which feels problematic. Honestly, I could throw up; that’s how it makes me feel, and it is driving me to drink, no mistake. But I have Gala to look forward to, carrying on trying walks, and I hope she will go to the gate on her own four paws this week, paws crossed!