When my brother comes to visit, he brings his wonderful dog, Nacho. It has been a privilege to watch this beautiful animal blossom into the confident, friendly dog she is today. Oh, she still has her demons, I’m sure, earned from trauma in her early life. But she’s a valued member of the family. And I thought today, after their Easter visit, I’d take you back to when Kevin first discovered her. Here is my original post from 2017:
If you cry easily or can’t stand a tragic story, even when it has a happy ending, this is your opportunity to bail. Go ahead. The rest of us will wait. Head over to Cute Things Falling Asleep or watch a cat video.
If you’re still here, this is the story of a lucky dog named Matilda. She didn’t start out lucky, though. In fact, for the first few months of her life she was brutally abused and horribly neglected. She was found in Mexico, her furless body soaked with motor oil, criss-crossed with long wounds from beatings with chains or sticks, and tied to a car. She had never been indoors or properly fed. As you’ll see in the before photo, it’s pretty incredible that she was even alive. And look at her now. She has scars but she’s a beauty.
Some wonderful people rescued Matilda and she spent months in an animal hospital in Mexico growing back fur, learning some basic house-pet skills and getting strong. She was then brought to St. Catharines to get adopted. When my brother found out about her he had to meet this tough little fighter. Although he knew he was going on a bike trip to Alaska, he adopted her and while he was away, she stayed in doggie paradise with the couple who brought her to Canada. Although her name means “strength in battle”, he couldn’t see himself yelling Matilda across a dog park so he renamed her Nacho.
Nacho is a project. Although she now trusts Kevin, there have been challenges with potty training and getting her to eat. She had to learn to accept love because it was something she had never known. She didn’t even know how to play. She’s a little on the timid side but slowly coming out of her shell. She’s really sweet and absolutely loves her bed. Can you imagine how it must feel to have a comfortable space all your own, when all you knew was the rocky dirt beneath a car? Kevin says he sometimes has to coax her out of her bed, she is just so content to have it.
Kevin is doing everything right with this wonderful dog. They’re going to training. He accepts her as she is and gently guides her into learning the things she needs to know to become part of his wolf pack. He’s patient with her and treats her well. And this is why I say she’s lucky.
Thousands of rescued animals are waiting for loving homes. If you’re thinking about adding to your household, I’ll never give you grief for going to a legitimate breeder, but I’ll probably say something about buying from a puppy mill or pet store. Kijiji is no place to find a furbaby. Please consider a rescue.
Although a rescue dog doesn’t meet my unique needs for a dog, my niece makes up for it. She has a cat with a balance issue and wobbles when she walks and a horse she rescued which was on its way to slaughter and she’s been learning to ride. My niece also has a dog which is the brother to one of her mums dogs not to mention two kids. Think her husband had to put an animal limit on her collection.
Wow, that’s great. Now granted, rescues aren’t always workable. You may recall my post about Sammy the Beagle/Bassett who didn’t work out and the SPCA had deemed her unfit for adoption. That’s how I learned the difference between an organization that has vets and other experts to determine a dog’s fitness versus very well meaning amateurs who don’t have the skills – just the heart. That decision brought me two years of heartache.
I’m so happy Nacho found your brother. Bless you brother for the patience to give Nacho time and space. I volunteer at a cat rescue. Some of the cats are very timid. They get adopted and the people are told, it takes time for an animal to adjust, it takes time. Sadly people are impatient and don’t give it time, and return the cat. Our dog is a rescue, and we had two rescue cats, one has gone over the rainbow bridge. You work with them to help them be comfortable. Rescues have lovely animals, it is the way to go.
Personally I think whoever chained Matilda and beat her, should experience the same.
Thank you for your post.
Thanks, Roberta. She really is a sweetheart. My only caution about rescues is to research the facility well or stick to the well-known ones. I had a terrible experience with a mom-and-pop organization that “rescued” dogs deemed unfit (by Veterinarians at the Humane Society) to be rehabilitated. Their intentions were good but the dog we got was a Jekyll and Hyde. We put so much love and time and expense into her and she was just too damaged and dangerous. <3
Lisa,
Please give your brother a giant hug from me.
My heart breaks as I read her past history of torture. Poor baby. But, it melts when I read her current beautiful history.
Your brother and Nacho’s connection is a beautiful story of love, patience and caring.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
I will happily give him a hug! Kevin is quick to also give credit to his friends Kristy and Ryan. Kristy is the one who went to Mexico and brought Nacho (and many other deserving dogs) back. Ryan is her husband and a fellow animal lover. When I wrote about “doggie paradise”, that’s Kristy and Ryan’s place.