ADOPTED! Chula – Fortunate Guatemalan Beauty

I’m beautiful Chula, a year-old female mix rescued from Estancia Chimaltenango Guatemala  (a very small pueblo in the mountains) by a Rennselaer County Peace Corps Volunteer. And I now have a home!

As in many places in Guatemala, dogs and cats are treated very poorly.  If someone owns a dog in Estancia, they feed it only corn tamales – no meat, because they cannot afford to do otherwise. Many dogs are near starving.  When the good-hearted Rensselaer County woman found Chula, she had been left to die – full of worms and scabs.  With her tour in Guatemala over, the volunteer decided to bring Chula home to New York.

Since recently moving to Rennselaer County, Chula has spent months being loved and cared for by her rescuer.  Though her body has fully recovered, Chula still flinches sometimes when someone goes to pet her and she retains a few quirky behaviors from time to time… but she continues to improve.

Chula’s exact breed is unknown, but she seems to be a retriever, possibly a pointer mix. She swims beautifully, either fetching a stick or just swimming for the fun of it. She also points on occasion, and she is mellow and very friendly.  She is housebroken and does not chew things, and seems to find comfort and security in her crate.  She loves tennis balls, and does not always want to give up what she fetches.

Chula is not good with dogs at first. The dogs in Guatemala were rather vicious so she is very defensive. It took her a few days with the dog she shares space with but, in about a week, they were good friends. Cats are an unknown but, although she loves to chase things, Chula shies away when another dog attacks an animal.

Chula was a courtesy listing, as Dog House Adoptions tried to help her rescuer and foster mom find a less stressful environment to live than NYC. That goal has been achieved thanks to connections made by her foster home.

ADOPTED!

Chula now lives with a very nice couple and an 18 month old Chocolate lab. Within her first week “home,” they all fell in love with one another. Helen, Chula’s foster mom, writes:

Thank you for all your help. She really is a wonderful dog and deserves a good home. It was very hard to leave her there but the more I talk with her new owners, the more I know it is a very fortunate situation.