April 21st

Jolene has now been with us over for a little over 5 weeks. We let her take some time when she first got here just watching and observing her surroundings. She was unsure what was happening and would get really nervous (as well as try to run away) when anyone got close.

We have been working with her over the last couple of weeks to help her become used to people and touch. In the beginning, it used to take several minutes to catch her. Breathing hard, it was like she almost expected you were going to do something bad to her. Now she is much more willing and after less than a minute-voluntarily lets you lean in to grab her halter!

She is such a brave girl as last week she even allowed us to stroke her neck without trying to pull away! For the first time today, she let us use a brush (for a short period of time) to remove a few tangles from the large burrs stuck in her coat.

We have been working with her, praising her and showing her kindness and (although still very frightened with most things) is becoming more curious of the world around her. The past couple of days she even went on short trips outside of her area (and even though constantly on watch) is learning to let her guard down some. It’s hard to believe just how far a little bit of love and patience can go…even with an animal that has gone without it for years.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop