Princess came to your Lexington Humane Society in the beginning of May to start searching for her forever home. Like any other pet available for adoption at LHS, she went through a health and behavior assessment. She was spayed, microchipped, and her vaccinations were updated. Princess showed our staff that she was timid, but ready to bravely venture to our adoption floor so that she might meet her new family.
Often, the first day is one of the most difficult on the adoption floor. Dogs aren’t able to understand why there are so many strangers walking by and staring into their kennel, or why there are so many new smells or noises. It simply takes time to become more comfortable in a kennel environment, and some dogs settle in easier than others. Princess became more and more overwhelmed by the noise and traffic of our Adoption Center on her first day. She was demonstrating to staff members that she had changed her mind and wasn’t quite ready for the adoption floor yet, so she was given more time to prepare herself for living full-time in the Adoption Center.
Our Train-A-Bull Coordinator, Andrew, met with Princess during that time to evaluate the fear issues she was displaying. She required some extra help to be able to trust more staff members to care for her and to trust that customers coming to visit our Adoption Center are a great thing. Andrew spent several hours each day working with Princess so that she would feel braver in a kennel environment. She tried to move to the main Adoption Center one more time and managed to stay overnight in her new kennel. However, the next day’s traffic overwhelmed her again. When a pet continues to have a difficult time adjusting to the adoption floor, staff must evaluate options (such as foster care) to better suit that pet’s needs. Staff recognized that the Adoption Center was simply too overwhelming for her.
After another break from the main Adoption Center, our staff made the decision to give Princess a chance to be brave at our Everyday Adoption Center at Petsmart in Hamburg. Staff chose to try out our EAC first because it’s a quieter environment that houses a smaller number of animals at one time. If that did not work, the next step would be to place Princess into foster care where she could continue working through her fears in a safe space.
However, as soon as Princess settled into her new kennel, she began demonstrating to staff that she finally felt confident enough to search for her forever family. She was a completely different dog! She began taking walks in the community and became incredibly affectionate with our EAC staff. Princess was able to come out of her shell and charmed everyone she met, including her new forever family! Princess was adopted this morning at our Everyday Adoption Center at Petsmart in Hamburg thanks to the care your Lexington Humane Society is able to provide because of your support. In order to continue supporting the care of pets like Princess, please donate to your Lexington Humane Society at https://www.lexingtonhumanesociety.org/donate!
