Gaining Confidence and Love

Deja. Why did I pick the name Deja for my rescue dog? Deja means "already" in French. I named her Deja because when I saw her picture on the rescue's website she was already my dog, before we had even actually met. Something about her beautiful smile and brown eye just drew me in. I knew she was meant to be my dog. I emailed about her immediately.

And I was devastated. I was informed that someone else had emailed about her before me, and they're having a meet and greet that afternoon. I felt like I had missed my chance and I cried. I didn't look at any other dog. I wanted Deja. The next day I got another email from the rescue. The other person had decided on another dog. I emailed back right away to set up the meet and greet. I was going to take Deja home. I felt so lucky to have gotten the opportunity.

Deja was born blind in the eye that's missing. They removed it when they spayed her. She doesn't know any different. She has white hair in the shape of a bite mark on her head, we don't know what happened there. Her right ear was torn nearly in half by another dog at the rescue. She looked a little beat up when I met her, because her ear had just been torn. She still had the stitches holding her ear together in hopes of saving it, because at the time they didn't know if her ear was going to heal.

That didn't matter to me, but I wondered if that's why the other person didn't adopt her. I met up with her foster and Deja came up to me right away, and she snuggled me. That was it. She was mine. I left with her that day.

I very quickly discovered that Deja had been through more than a few bites. If I moved too quick, she ran away and cried. If I shook something that made a rattling sound, she howled. If a man walked into my home, she cowered in a corner. None of these signs of past abuse had been in her bio, but I'm not complaining. Deja needed love and confidence. She bounced around. Someone had hurt her. She couldn't communicate what had happened to her before she was rescued, all she needed now was love and patience. And I had all the patience and love she needed.

I signed her up for training to work on her confidence. I moved slower as I gained her trust. We had quality time with walks and snuggles and play. Deja grew before my very eyes. She turned into a completely different dog in many ways. Where she used to cower, she now wags her tail. Where she whined or howled, she tilts her head curiously. She is friendly, loving, and goofy. I feel so very lucky to have her in my life every day, even the ones where we get frustrated with each other.

I got Deja in summer of 2019. I had work, but she was well cared for. She was sweet, and chill when I was gone. She just napped on the couch until I got home. She was well behaved. She never got into things she shouldn't. She was quiet for the neighbors. Deja is one incredible soul.

I have had Deja longer in quarantine than out, and I couldn't have done it without her. With everything I was dealing with during the pandemic, Deja was there with me to keep me company and make me smile. When I got Deja, I knew I had to help her with her confidence and make her feel loved, but little did I know that she was going to give it back to me tenfold. Deja is my best friend, my doggy soulmate, my sweet doggy daughter. We can communicate by eye contact alone. Deja. Already my dog the moment I saw her.