This beautiful dog was spotted by folks in the area as a “dumped” dog. She had been living in a field next to a daycare center & terrified to come close to people. Photos circulated on the NextDoor app and Kris wanted to help. This was during the height of covid – October 2020 and the Barber’s had recently lost a long term rescue to heart failure. There was a space open if everything worked out as they hoped.

Fortunately, there was a mysterious gated area right behind the daycare play-yard (it’s still not clear what its for). However, it was a perfect trap IF she’d go in. Kris & Chuck went out to her hiding spot one early morning in fall of 2020. It was dark out, but she was in exactly the location the daycare manager had indicated she would be. There was just one hurdle once she was spotted; she disappeared into the shadows. She was used to the area she had been living for at least two weeks and they didn’t know her patterns other than the path she used behind the daycare. Just as Kris & Chuck were about to give up, she was spotted at the very back of the empty lot, close to the gated area, and the foot race to coral her into the enclosure was on!

It worked! She ran right in and the heavy gate was closed behind her. She barked her very deep bark and ran circles around the enclosure and eventually, squeezed under the back fence of the daycare’s play-yard. The daycare manager was keeping up with everything via the NextDoor app as Kris was updating another concerned neighbor in real time. The manager came out to see how the rescue was going and assured them that he’d keep the kids inside until the dog was safely in the truck. There were a lot of little spectators watching out the window while this very scared dog paced for several hours.

After about 3 hours of waiting her out, she finally walked up next to Kris, sniffed her cheek and allowed her to reach over and pet her thoroughly trembling body. This scared dog was done trying to act tough; she just gave up. The leash was put over her head and this terrified, shaking dog was finally safe. She slept for most of the next 2 days and seemed to really respond to Kris. She took a little time to warm up to Chuck; they are buds now.

The story doesn’t end there. She was taken to a vet where it was discovered she had a microchip! The vet’s office called the owner, who promptly told them they’d be there to pick her up asap. Kris was very happy to be able to reunite this very scared dog with her family. Kris stayed with her at the vet’s office, waiting for the owners, until it was time to close. The owner never showed up. They were called again and the real story started to emerge. The vet’s office told the owner that Kris was going to take the dog home and would make arrangements directly with them for pickup. It turns out, this dog had been missing for 5 months! She was adopted from a rescue organization just prior to June of 2020 and apparently ran off when someone left the gate open some time in July of 2020. The owners said they looked for her for a bit, but never found her so they adopted another dog that “was easier to manage.” That begs the question…where was she for the 5 months? In speculation, she was probably picked up by someone that thought they were doing a good deed, but decided they didn’t want her and dumped her in the daycare parking lot. That’s a lot of upheaval for such a young dog. Kris spoke to the grandmother of the owner from the microchip (who was off at college) and figured out pretty quickly, they didn’t want her back. Long story short, the microchip information was transferred and “Ivy” (named after the school she was hiding next to) became a permanent fixture as one of the “den dogs” at Kris & Chuck’s house. Ivy has trust issues as one might imagine, having been with a rescue as a puppy, adopted, escaped in a busy city area, picked up again and then dumped at the daycare, to fend for herself. She is still untrusting of people, but she found her place and is thriving!