Cleo
Dogs are creatures of emotion. They can be a person’s best friend, opening up their hearts to people that even mistreat them. This brings me to Cleo, a Doberman, approximately 6 years old, residing in Pioneer.
I first met Cleo at the Deer Ridge Inn and knew she was a dog with a story. She had just hopped into the driver’s seat of a vehicle and sat poised to drive away. It was a picture moment. Her guardian, David Clifford explained to me that she had been used as a breed dog at a puppy mill. They had come upon her via a relative who knew that Cleo was up for adoption by a rescue organization in the Bay area.
Watson Clifford and David Clifford came to mind as possible guardians because they had two Dobermans previously, one of which recently passed away. The Cliffords, like most dog owners recognized the emptiness created in the house and in their hearts after a dog’s passing. The Rescue group was contacted, but before they place a dog with a guardian, they do a complete home inspection to make sure the match of guardian to dog be a good fit. In Cleo’s case it was a perfect fit.
Cleo is a dog whose stature carries respect. Her coat is so black that it glistens in the sunlight. Her body would be compared to an athlete that works out every day. It was easy to see why a puppy mill would pick her as the female dog to breed. She was perfect in size and stature. Puppy mills are abusive in many ways but none worse than the dogs not receiving the love and attention they require.
As I entered the room Cleo knew that she was going to be the subject of the conversation. Her first action after I sat down at the table was to come lay her head in my lap to say “Hi”. She sensed I was safe. Abused dogs are very aware of their surroundings and any person nearby. Once she had accepted me into her house she went back and lay on her couch.
Dogs who are abused find safe spots in their environment and for Cleo; hers is a faded blue worn couch. She laid there with her Pooh Bear, keeping her dark brown eyes on us as we sat at the table. David explained to me that this had become her couch immediately upon her arrival. At one point they thought because it was so worn they might replace it but Cleo would have none of it. As they moved the couch towards the door she sat on it and refused to budge. So it stayed. To her it meant safety.
The Pooh Bear had been confiscated from under the Christmas tree one year. The bear was meant to be a gift for a granddaughter but Cleo laid eyes on it, grabbed it from under the tree and took it back to her couch. The bear is another item that to her means safety. She, unlike most dogs does not play with the bear but cuddles with it. Cleo treats her bear as a good friend. I sensed she feels no harm will come to her with her friend beside her.
These days Cleo lives a life of luxury. She still carries some of her baggage from being mistreated at the puppy mill. She has a phobia of one set of stairs in the house refusing to go up them. She does use other stairs in the house. She also refuses to be around spraying garden hoses. At the sight of a spraying hose, she runs back into the house to the safety of her couch and her friend Pooh Bear.
Cleo is very attached to David and Watson. As I got ready to leave, David tried to get her to go outdoors for a picture. She went outside for a second then ran back onto her couch. She has a very good home and was making sure that she was going to remain there. Abused dogs, once they find a safe place do not want to leave it and her safe place is on her couch with her Pooh bear and guardians nearby.
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