By Kim Hilsenbeck.
Virginia and Dave Brakefield of LeisureWoods recently adopted a dog, Cain, from PAWS animal shelter in Kyle. The three-year-old German Shepherd/Black Mouth Cur mix is the brother of Chuck, who was adopted in the fall by a family in Dripping Springs.
Both dogs spent most of their lives in shelters.
The Brakefields saw a story about Chuck in the Hays Free Press in December. That story mentioned his brother, Cain, who was still awaiting his “forever family.”
That sparked the Brakefields to head over to PAWS to check him out.
Virginia and Dave Brakefield of Buda recently adopted Cain from PAWS animal shelter in Kyle. He spent most of his life in a shelter. The three-year-old German Shepherd/Black Mouth Cur mix is slowly adapting to his new life. The couple says it takes lots of patience but they are confident he’ll come around. (Photo by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
“We just put our other dog down about a month before we got Cain,” Virginia said in a phone interview Monday. “We had him 14 years. He was a fantastic dog.”
She continued, “We saw Cain down there at PAWS. We saw the story [about Chuck and Cain] in the Hays Free Press and thought about it more.”
Virginia said one of her grandsons told her, “You really need to adopt him.”
She and Dave acquiesced.
“I said we’d give him a month,” Virginia said.
And that month was hard.
“We’ve shed many tears,” she said.
It’s now been about six weeks since the Blakefields brought Cain home. She said there were many times when she was going to take him back. But her daughter wouldn’t let her, telling her mom she would take Cain before allowing him to go back to a shelter.
“It has been a challenge,” Virginia said. “He’s doing a lot better. We’re working on it.”
Virginia said that first night he came home, he stood in the den and looked at himself in TV. Then watched TV with her husband. Then discovered himself in mirror.
“He’s discovering so many things,” she said.
According to Virginia, “He doesn’t like furnace (sound). We’re working on that.”
She said Cain will now follow her upstairs and even lay on bed with her.
Cain hasn’t had many accidents in the Blakefield house.
“He goes to the door when he wants to go out. He loves to go for walks,” she said.
The Blakefields hired a trainer to come out to the house for advice. They also called Chuck’s person, Melanie Cambron, for her insight. She advised a lot of patience.
“Melanie said we need to take baby steps – one day at a time,” Virginia said. “‘Just work with him,’ she told me. And she also recommended we have a lot of patience.”
The trainer offered similar advice.
“Be patient. It will take time. He will come around,” Virginia said the trainer told her.
“Our trainer said he is a typical teenager. He’s rebelling – he’s got so much freedom,” she said. “We have lots of snacks and treats – we reward him when he does something good.”
While Virginia said the challenges still exist, including him wanting to go outside at 4 a.m., as well as not responding well to her husband, she said they have no plans to give him up.
“He’s got a great personality and disposition,” she said. “He’s a great dog. We can’t complain.”
