Our reader rescue story this week was submitted by Nicole Gifford. Her Corgi-American Eskimo mix, Khalessi, had a rough past and a lot in common with her namesake from “Game of Thrones.”
If you’re the pet parent of a rescued dog, we want to share your story, too! For information about submitting your rescue tale, click here.
Every passionate fan of “Game of Thrones” knows of Khalessi. She’s the fair-haired, feisty heroine queen of the series. However, before she became queen she had a rough past. She was forced from her homeland after the death of her parents, and even as a queen still searches for her “forever home.”
While our Khaleesi had a slightly different story, lucky for her she has found her “furever” home and now rules our hearts. Khaleesi, who is 2 years old, is also a fair-haired beauty.
Khaleesi has had a rough past. As a puppy she lived in a small home with more than 50 dogs. She was rescued with her brothers and sisters by the local animal control and then transferred to Family Dogs New Life, a great shelter in Portland, Ore.
She was adopted for a couple of months but then returned. This had shaken her confidence to the point that she would not even accept a yummy treat from a stranger or the nice shelter volunteers. When she looked into our eyes that fateful day a year ago with a longing just to be loved forever, we just knew we couldn’t live without her.
Like Khaleesi from “Game of Thrones,” our young girl was very shy and quiet in the beginning. The shelter told us that she would probably hide under the bed for a week. Well, that was the shortest “week” of our lives. It was merely half a day before Khaleesi was in my lap.
I wish I could say the same for Khaleesi and my fiancé – they took almost a month to bond. However, like Khaleesi and Khal Drogo from the series, they learned to love each other and now you can barely separate them.
Khaleesi’s confidence and love took little time to evolve. She now rules the house with the confidence of a queen. She loves to run around the backyard, chase the birds and help make dinner (you can’t keep that girl out of the kitchen). She definitely plays alpha dog and loves to teach my parents’ dog how to play tug-of-war.
Because Khaleesi has done so well this past year, we are getting her a sister next month. You soon may be reading the rescue story of Chocolina (if you are as nerdy as we are, you will get this “Final Fantasy 13.2” reference). Give us a break – we couldn’t name our future human children these names!
Needless to say, we love Khaleesi so much. She is truly the sun of our stars.
PHOTO CREDIT: Nicole Gifford
