Freedom's Story
Freedom
Freedom’s story began on August 1st, 2018 with a social media post where a local individual was able to snap a photo of a scared and filthy dog standing alone at the end of a dirt road with the word “Free” clearly spray painted across his body. After a quick read through the comments, it was clear that everyone had something to say, but nobody was actually acting to help this poor soul get to safety. Once again, knowing he was located in a county without animal control services, we knew it was time to act or face the bleak alternative of knowing he would conclude his days confused and alone in the forest.
It was a two hour drive from Mead, WA to the aptly named Deadman Creek Road where Freedom had been left behind, and for three days, we made the trip once or twice daily to maintain the live trap and canvas the road to speak with locals about possible sightings and trap placements. On 08/03/2018 we got the call that a resident on Deadman Creek had successfully captured Freedom in her yard and we hit the road to pick him up.
Freedom came with a lot of baggage and that became clear the moment we received him. He screamed in terror and soiled himself the whole ride home, lacked trust in people, and was generally uncertain, anxious and uncomfortable with everything we were showing him because he clearly had very limited positive life experiences.
Over the months that we were blessed to spend with this poor jaded boy, the sharp edges of his personality slowly wore down and he developed trust in people. He is smart and affectionate, and well motivated by food which helped him tremendously in his training and he quickly mastered a variety of commands. He also overcame his fear of car rides, acclimated to being contained in a crate, and learned that the insides of houses were for acting civil, not for parkour.
The greatest stroke of luck again came from social media when we spotted a family seeking an adult aged rescue dog that was friendly with cats, and I presented Freedom to them in all of his glory, trust issues, just blossoming house skills, and generally uncertain personality. I promised them that if they genuinely wanted to try to make a life with him that I would be there every step of the way, and they assured me that it was their top priority to give a beautiful life to a dog that otherwise wouldn’t have one.
We once again hit the road, but this time we set our sights on Western Washington state where we were blessed to meet the Burris family who went on to adopt Freedom, and have become good friends of the Mission and repeat adopters. Freedom has now been in his home for four years and I know that the Burris family has had to put in ample effort to create a success with Freedom (now Walter) who is a challenging dog, and they have done it with grace.
Happy Tails Freedom. We love you and your adoptive family so much!
