LabraDOG Lodge Residents
Lily Marie SCOTT
Miss Lily arrived from Hawkesbury Companion Animal Shelter in 2006 – when we were still carers for the Animal Welfare League. Lily is hands down the most scared and mis treated Labrador I have come across in my time in rescue. My friends consider me quite pragmatic and reasonably strong – a head thinker and not a heart thinker! That said, the moment I saw Lily curled up in a ball at the back of her cage I knew she was coming home with me. The ranger who collected Lily from the drain that she was found in is sure that she couldn't have got herself there. Lily has a crooked muzzle where it's thought that it has been fractured at one time and she has scars from cuts across her head and on her belly.
Lily has been a huge labour of love. Within a few weeks of her arrival I decided that the only way I could be 100% sure that no harm came to her again was if she stayed with us and to be truthful I wasn't convinced that I would ever get her to the point where she could be considered adoptable. When Lil first arrived she simply wouldn't move – I took her straight to the vet thinking that she may have had an injury from her time in the drain but it seems she was simply petrified of her new home. Lilys saving grace was that she loved other dogs and seemed to light up when she met Georgia and Max. For many weeks Lily avoided all contact and ate only periodically. On walks my husband would pick her up to get her over some obstacle so we could keep going and often she would wet herself and freeze at having him so close. Despite being so scared Lily has never raised a growl at us or anyone else for any reason – she has the softest and sweetest personality I have ever come across.
Lilys progress has been slow and steady. Gone is the girl who lived hiding in the bushes – I have managed to turn her into a terrorist without manners! Bad behaviour that I would never have tolerated from Georgia and Max is an exciting development where Lily is concerned. Those of you who have been to our home will remember that I used to say that the first person Lily went up to would have to take her home. I have stopped saying that because Miss Lily is quite intrigued with our visitors these days and I couldn't bear to part with her now! Lily will reliably get in and out of the car when she is asked, she will reliably come in and out of the house when either Tim or I call her, she leaps around like a lunatic at the gate when we get home and a big waggy bum and a wet Lily tongue to my face is still a thrill! Lily has taught me more about love and patience than I could have imagined and despite the heartache along the way I will be forever grateful that she made her way into our lives and completed our doggy family.
