It’s not often anyone would look forward to the arrival of a police vehicle, but on Monday, November 14, 2022, the entire QK team could not wait for the animal control officer from Suffield, Connecticut to park by our front door.
It had been a long 6 days.
For nearly a week, the caring team from Suffield had combed the woods in the State Wildlife Management Area trying to recover a young Springer Spaniel that had been abandoned by (or run from) her owners. By the time she was safely in hand, Autumn — as she would come to be known — weighed only 26 pounds.
A call to QK.
Years earlier, Jennifer and the QK team worked with the Suffield community to train and place rescued sporting dogs in their fur-ever homes. Familiar with our compassionate experience, Suffied reached out to QK, once again, to see if we could help Autumn.
Clearly terrified from her experience or potential earlier abuse, when Autumn arrived she was paralyzed with fear. We immediately began building trust, sitting with her in the car, and slowly coaxing her out to explore a new, safe environment. Hugging the ground with deep anxiety, the trauma was clear but even more clear was this — despite her experiences, Autumn was not aggressive or defensive. We knew that with time, and compassionate training, we could help Autumn and pair her with a great fur-ever home.
Autumn’s new leaf began that day.
Assigned to Sheena O’Neil, a gentle and experienced trainer, Autumn was given every opportunity to explore her new surroundings from the safety and security of her own crate, later that evening going home with Jennifer to enjoy the companionship of other dogs.
Soon, Autumn was fetching/retrieving toys, displaying her natural instincts — a sure sign that healing had begun.
In the days ahead we will share Autumn’s progress with the QK community and when the time is right, place Autumn with a family where she can hunt and pursue birds to let this sweet girl fulfill her genetics.
See more of her journey on our youtube channel: https://youtube.com/shorts/GueoJyZWIVY
