Mayella came to my house initially as my foster. She was considered to be feral.  She had little to no human contact the first year of her life. She didn’t know what people were and trust was nonexistent. She wouldn’t let me touch her and ran away from me if I even looked at her. Every day I work to gain her trust and overnight she would forget. It took three weeks before I could pet her, and she started trusting me.

Little by little she started to trust me and come to me for attention. Each time she came by me my heart would melt.

Mayella eventually started playing with toys.  She started seeking out pets from people on our walks. I tried for nine months to find a good home for her. So many people are fearful of the shy older dogs. Most people want puppies that run up and shower you with kisses.

Mayella to this day takes a long time to develop trust in people. She is a gentle soul and so sweet. Even though she is fearful of people she had never been vicious.

After nine months of looking for a suitable home, I came to the realization I had in fact found a suitable home, mine.  I foster failed and I adopted her.  It took her so long to gain my trust and I loved seeing her come out of her shell and become a happy dog, I wanted to continue that journey with her.

The best day happened just about two months ago. Mayella crawled onto my lap, laid down and feel asleep.  This not an easy task as Mayella is a 68-pound black lab mix.
Adopting a shy down and watching them grow is so rewarding.