She had recently lost her family, and when we found her under a stone wall, she was so afraid of people that she tried to bite. We took our time, and after many tries we could hug her.
Her name is a nod to the model Heidi Klum, and to how she tried to hide, first under a stone wall and then under the couch at home.
Watch the video15:08We Rescued a Scared Puppy · May 25, 2024 · Open on YouTube ↗
We found her pressed into a hollow under a stone wall, half hidden in the long grass at its foot. She had recently lost her family, and she was so scared that she had squeezed in there to hide. From that narrow gap among the stones, she kept her eyes on us.
She was so afraid of people that, when we reached toward her, she tried to bite. We did not know what she had been through, and we could only imagine it, so we took our time. We held out an open hand and waited, hoping she would calm down.
After many tries, it began to work. She moved a little and let our hands reach her, and we kept every touch gentle. Up close we could see wounds and ticks that needed treatment, and we were not going to leave her there, so we hugged her and took her with us.
In the back of the car she was still frightened, and she was starving, for water as much as for food. We set a bowl in front of her, and she drank slowly. Then came what was probably the first meal of her life, and she loved it. She looked fragile, as if she had not eaten in days, perhaps weeks, but she was safe now.
After a detour to a nearby farm, where another abandoned dog had been reported but we found none, we turned for home. At first she lay with her head down and watched us. The road back was long, and somewhere along it the puppy who had tried to bite us finally relaxed, so much that she fell asleep.
Before we took her home, we stopped at the vet for the first checkup of her life. We checked her organs and tested her for viruses, and to our relief she was not sick. We removed a tick as well, and we left knowing that her health was good.
When we finally brought her home, she was still scared, and once again she looked for somewhere to hide, this time under the couch. She smelled the food we had set out and even wagged her tail, though it took a second try to bring her out. Once she was out, she enjoyed her dinner and cleaned her plate.
Bath time came next, and she surprised us, because she was not afraid of the water. In fact she liked it, and she loved the drying and grooming that followed. The puppy who had pressed herself under a stone wall now stood under running water in our hands. When we filmed her story, we were looking for a family for Hidey Klum, and until we found the right one, she would stay with us.
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