Her amazing new mum rescued her from one of Victoria's puppy farms when it was closed down in 2015/2016. Jo tells the story of her pain in seeing her little Kira, being unable to walk due to her hind legs simply not working.
Kira now has her forever home, but tragedy struck her again recently when her companion Staffy was bitten by a tiger snake in her own backyard. Since then, the family have moved to a more suitable residence further away from wetlands, minimising the risk of a snake bite. Since that day, Kira has been lost without her K9 friend.
Her friend was a special companion to her 'brother' an autistic child, who had their first Staffy trained to assist him in the event of an emergency or in general, companionship. So, as it turns out, multiple members of the family have lost a true friend.
When ilps learned of this heartbreak for Kira and family, I decided to write about her story; the real outcome of puppy farms and snake awareness.
In recent times, the Victorian Government has enacted several new laws that assist in the prevention of legal puppy farms. It has not, however, stopped backyard breeders exploiting any loophole that they may deem acceptable. I am strongly opposed to backyard breeders who flaunt the system and have no regard for the welfare of animals. I am NOT against a breeder who has the welfare of all animals concerned at the forefront of their minds at all times. I don't believe the Andrews Government is placing the right constraints on the right people. The current laws state that a maximum number of dogs are to be kept on a property at any one time. Sometimes this number, however hard you try, will be too few for some, both law abiding, and those that aren't.
Kira was one of the unfortunate few that were purely in a puppy farm to make money for their unscrupulous owners, but thankfully, her suffering, however long, was stopped. Kira still has scars of her incarceration to this day; no scars on the outside, but it is evident there are so many scars on the inside that it will take years, if at all, to heal.
ilps motto is built on compassion, and seeing a dog that should be so full of energy to see new people, but was subdued and scared, cemented our resolve to continue to help all animals in anyway we can. Although she is an absolute love-bug, she doesn't hide her fear of the unknown.
When we met her for the first time - Jo, her mum, brought her in for a meeting first before her bath and blow dry - she walked then 'army crawled' up to us as we squatted and then sat to be at her level. She buried her gorgeous face into our arms and gave us love. She knew at this point, that we were not there to hurt her or take her away from her mum. This memory will stay with me forever.
When I spoke to Jo on the phone when making the appointment, she told me of her story and honestly, it broke my heart. I hadn't met either of them yet, but I truly felt for the both of them.
Her determination to survive has put her in great stead for leading a life that is full of happiness and love, but always with an eye open.
When she had her 'spa day' with us, we allowed her, like we do with all of the dogs we groom, to explore her surroundings. Her exploration only covered where we walked. She was next to us like glue, no more than 30cm away from us at any time. So, with this in mind, we walked her around the salon and showed her everything.
After her brief exploration, we lowered the bath (it's an awesome electronically controlled lifting bath ) to within 30cm of the ground and coaxed her in. This took sometime as to her, it may have resembled her gaol in her first year of life. We talked slowly and with gentle tones to assure her that we weren't putting her in anything to lock her up. After a little time, she jumped in herself!
We patted her and praised her for being such a good girl, then slowly raised the bath so as to not hurt our backs. Our next step was to show her the shower head and shampoo's.
Not surprisingly, as we had gained her trust at this point, she didn't mind the water being turned on. We could tell that she was a little uneasy when we slowly wet her feet to introduce it to her though.
With her feet wet and only a little trepidation from her, we massaged her body as we gently wet her with warm water. Now she was totally wet!
Nick very slowly massaged the sensitive shampoo into her coat. Initially she wasn't sure of this white foamy stuff, but after receiving a relaxing massage, she slowly closed her eyes and finally was at total peace.
For the entire groom, Tim photographed and filmed her experience so we would never forget her first bath with ilps.
We are so lucky to have such wonderful clients and customers at ilps, people who trust us with their pets, to treat them like they are our own. Putting yourself in Jo's shoes, would you trust 'just anyone' with Kira? Allowing us to groom her is one of the highlights of ilps's history thus far.
After the luxurious shampoo, we washed it off, all the while gently reassuring her that it was all ok. After this, we applied the feel good conditioner. There is nothing better than seeing a dog that is full of trepidation and anxiety, relax and enjoy the experience.
After a nice shammy and towel dry, it was time for the blow dryer. Now a blow dryer, for most dogs is not the most pleasurable of experiences. It is loud and scary! Thankfully, our hairdryer is variable speed from very low to Formula One speed!
So, we started very low and introduced the blow dryer to her. We showed the nozzle of the blow dryer and that it didn't hurt. She sniffed at it and worked out quickly that air came out and that it wasn't a threat.
We slowly worked the blow dryer over her back, all the while increasing the speed of the air, so as to not scare her.
For a dog that has had such a sad start to life, she did exceptional well. We completely dried her and lowered the bath, opened the sliding door and she jumped out. She immediately came up to us and cuddled in. In her own way, she was thanking us for the massage and being kind.
Kira is now a regular to ilps and we honestly can't wait to see her each and every time.
If you have any questions about Kira, we are happy to discuss. Awareness is key.
The videos I took during her visit have been compiled into a short movie and uploaded onto YouTube shortly. If you wish to view this video, please click the link here: https://youtu.be/w-Xo_h2oCs0
Subscribe to I Love Pet Supplies Grooming YouTube channel by clicking here: I Love Pet Supplies - YouTube
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