Coco's Story

The next few posts I publish are going to be looking backward all the way to August in an attempt to catch up. I don't want to leave any fosters out! After Buck left for New Mexico, we took in Miss Coco, a cute little diva with a whole lotta attitude. Coco had a ton of nicknames that reflected two sides of her personality: crazy and fussy. Coocoo, Poof, Poofy, Coco Poof, Puff, Coocoo Brain, Coco Loco, Coco Latte, etc. Coco was picked up as a stray by a shelter volunteer near Berryessa & 680. That's a very high-traffic spot. Coco, as beautiful as she is, did not pass the shelter's behavior assessment. This landed her on the needs rescue list, so St. Francis APS stepped in.

Coco came to us after cycling through a couple different foster homes. She proved to be a very tricky girl who needed a lot of socialization work. She looks so cute and innocent, doesn't she? That was the tough thing about Coco. Everyone would approach with their hands stuck out to pet her, assuming that because she was small and fluffy she'd accept their physicality with grace. Not so much. Even after working with Coco for weeks, she'd still bare her teeth and snap at everyone if they got too close.  We were no exception. She could be the sweetest thing, then just snap at the drop of a hat if something rubbed her the wrong way. It became clear that Coco really wanted to be an only dog. She'd pick fight over flight every single time. She was uncomfortable at our house with all of our guys. It was a weird experience watching her just sort of plateau after a while instead of improving. Of course we saw certain improvements while we had her like potty training, leash walking, sleeping quietly through the night, etc, but she never really blossomed. You could just tell she needed something she wasn't getting from us: space.

Coco at the shelter

The cute little fluffy-eared angel became one of our group's toughest dogs to get adopted. It was an exercise in patience and paying very close attention to canine communication. Coco's body language was always very clear: she was uncomfortable, on edge, nervous, and stressed. Almost all the time. She couldn't go to a home with very young children. She needed to be an only dog, yet she wasn't going to make a good "first time" dog due to her issues. She did so poorly at adoption events that we stopped taking her for liability reasons. How the heck were we going to get this dog adopted? Sure, she's cute and can be sweet at home, but she requires everything done on her own terms. Her foster parents, all of us, were the only people she ever let see her lovable side. It was there, trust me. Coco loves to play with toys, runs like the wind, bounces off the furniture, and gets super excited when we come home from work. The challenge was getting her to let others in enough to see that side of her. 

Goofy Coco

Fortunately, one of our rescue friends and fellow foster parents stepped in to help. She wanted to try fostering Coco and see if she did any better at her house. She only has one other dog and her house is much quieter than ours. I was a bit hesitant at first, as I really like to see things through and it felt weird, but we agreed. Coco went to Cathy's house and did quite well. They walked our downtown area with the adopt-me vest on and showed off Coco's good looks at every chance. After about a month with Cathy, Coco found her forever home. She lives with a family that has two older children and no other dogs. She's doing great!

People often asked us what happened to Coco to make her so snippity. For all we know, nothing happened. She wasn't well-socialized, didn't have any people skills, and didn't know how to be a house dog. That may very well be all. A dog who shows fear or poor social skills hasn't necessarily been abused or "gone through something". It may just be a dog who needs time, patience, love, and work in order to learn how to trust. I think this was the case with Coco. 


This is a perfect example of why we should never judge a book by its cover and ALWAYS ask before approaching someone's dog. Just because Coco looked adorable and happy doesn't mean she wanted to be petted by a stranger. You just never know. If you ever see a yellow ribbon attached to a dog's leash, it means they need space and prefer not to be approached. Please be mindful of this and teach your children these lessons, too. Some dogs are friendly from the get-go, but others might take some time to warm up. I'm definitely the latter type of person. Maybe I'll tie a yellow ribbon around my neck...

For more information on The Yellow Dog Project, click here:

 http://www.theyellowdogproject.com/The_Yellow_Dog_Project/About.html