A rescue story: Indy

Today we're sharing the story of a special girl: Indy.

With Millions Paws Walk just around the corner (Sunday 20th May), let's raise awareness on animal cruelty and shine a light on the misconceptions associated with rescue pets.

Here, Indy's awesome mum shares with us some tips and insights to adopting a rescue.

We had been looking to get a dog for a while and I found Indy on the RSPCA SA website and those floppy ears had me hook,line and sinker.

Meeting Indy

My partner and I drove to the Lonsdale shelter to see what this cutie was all about. Indy was in her kennel very quiet at first until her big bark came out!

Tip#1 would be to not let dogs barking turn you off. Some dogs don't cope well in the kennel environment!

We asked one of the staff members if we could meet Indy one on one and we got taken to an enclosure were we could all meet each other.

Indy wasn't very interested in us because there was a pool and that was way cooler than these two strangers!

Tip #2 this is a good time to talk to the RSPCA staff to get some insight into their personality and why they were given up for adoption.

We learnt Indy was a stray and had some behavioural issues to work on but we couldn't hold this against her, nobody's perfect right?

We finally got her attention and we played, had a few pats and we were in love. We couldn't leave her! Although we ended up having to leave her for one night so they could get all of the paperwork prepared. So the next morning we drove back and officially adopted Indy.

Home Time

Indy was very shy when we first adopted her and she didn't even want to get in the car, so we didn't think we were off to a good start.

Tip #3 take some treats or buy some from the RSPCA shop before you take your forever friend home.

We eventually lured Indy into the car with some yummy treats and whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

I also took a toy on the day for Indy to have I thought it would be nice to have something travel with her from the shelter to her new home.Once we arrived home we let Indy roam her new domain.

Tip #4 Let your dog get comfortable with their new environment and let them explore because they will be taking in all of those new fantastic smells! You can get their water bowl and a bed set up for them in this time if you haven't already.

Once Indy was familiar with her home environment, we took her for a little walk around the neighbourhood to keep familiarising her with her new surroundings.

Happily Ever After

The rest is history! Indy attended force free training courses to help her with her behavioural issues and she has come leaps and bounds from where she was. Indy has also recently adopted a brother Onyx (another RSPCA rescue) after being told she would most likely not be able to live with another dog.

We couldn't imagine life without our gorgeous girl. She is loyal, smart and most of all loving. I would 110% recommend adopting an animal if that is suitable for you. There are so many animals that have just found themselves in unfortunate circumstances but that doesn't make them any less lovable!

We are currently raising money for the RSPCA Million Paws Walk to give back to the people who took care of Indy & Onyx when they needed help. Any donations would be very much appreciated and you can donate here

Love and pats back

Kiara, Indy & Onyx

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