In November of 2020 I was on a community page for Italian Greyhound owners and lovers. As it sometimes happens, someone saw and posted a listing from a rescue for 6 Italian greyhounds. They were listed as having been in a puppy mill like situation, and needed new homes. Wonder of wonders, it was actually a rescue close to me, across the state line into Washington. A quick discussion with the partner and I was filling out the application.
A couple days later, we were sent an email saying that we had been selected out of the hundreds of applications sent. (2020 was all sorts of fresh hell, but man were pet adoptions up!) Because we had experience with Iggies, having lost my beloved Banafsh mid-summer to cancer and a spider bite, they paired us with Aster, the oldest of the bunch. Unfortunately, we already had a dog named Chester, and those two names were too close together so, for the second time in a year, the 5 year old (we think) iggy was renamed, and we named her Ziyal. (If you’re a Star Trek, DS9 fan, you’ll get the reference.)
Ziyal was tiny. So tiny and so scared. The absolute first thing she did when we left the rescue with her was crawl off my lap and under the break pedal of the smart car we came in. She wasn’t coming out for nothing so I had to pry her out so we could drive home. It was cold and we needed to get a crate for her so we did stop at a pet supply store. It was so overwhelming for her that, after we traumatized her by cramming her into the only jacket her size, she decided hiding in the back of the shelf was the best option.
Progress with her has been slow, and sometimes painful. It was hard because she is SO FREAKING ADORABLE and for the first couple of months I couldn’t even pet her.
A year later she will sit on us, and insist that we pet her, though we’re still working with her on being picked up and being comfortable with the leash being put on and taken off. She’s wiggly and cuddly, and so very sensitive, but getting stronger and more confident.
MCM Creative 