Taypa

Taypa Pictures

January, 2012.  Our next foster dog was Taypa, a 2 year old Boxer mix with a sad backstory. According to IndyHumane: "Taypa was confiscated by Animal Care and Control along with one surviving puppy. The mom and pup had been locked in a windowless box without food or water. Needless to say, Taypa is very shy, especially of men."

They gave her a Native American-Miwok name which means "To spread wings".  It's pronounced like "Teypuh".

She was very scared at first, especially of men standing or walking nearby, including me, so I spent a couple of hours over two days working with her at IndyHumane before bringing her home.  Taypa and Boomer hit it off well, but she was very scared on our first few walks in the neighborhood. Strangers, barking dogs, trash cans, wind gusts and me just clearing my throat were enough to spook her and make her tail slink down underneath her belly.   So lots of slow going at first.

After awhile she began to chill out and became very lovey-dovey, including instantly bonding with my wife.  She loves to put her paws up on whoever is giving her affection.  She's been completely housetrained and hasn't tried to chew anything she wasn't suppose to.

Over the next few days she transformed into a happy, tail-wagging dog while at our house and in our backyard.  Her confidence improved a great deal on our morning runs, although she would occasionally get spooked by trucks or men nearby.  She loved wrestling and playing tug-of-war with Boomer.  They often slept together on the same doggie bed.

Slower walks were still more of a challenge, as several different sights or sounds would still send her tail slinking down.  After a few days I made her walk back and forth in front of whatever had spooked her until it became less of an issue.

We had Taypa for two and a half weeks, enough for her to “spread her wings” in the secure environment of our home and yard and familiar morning runs.  She was very affectionate and well behaved, earning the rare privilege of being trusted off leash in our front yard.  She got along well with women and our nieces we had over, but still was pretty shy of strange men and loud trucks.

Taypa didn’t get adopted at first so I got to spend a few more sessions with her at the shelter walking her around and getting her to overcome some of her shyness, which had greatly diminished.

She was adopted a few weeks after she went back.  Her new owner later sent an email telling them that she was doing well.  Good for you Taypa!