Mila’s Next Chapter

Mila’s adoption story as told by Pam:

On the morning of October 29, 2018, a concerned citizen called SCAS as they found a very scared young dog abandoned in their yard.

She was assessed to be about 6 months old & extremely terrified but seemingly physically healthy. The shelter named her Mila. No one ever came for her so she was spayed, vaccinated & put into adoptions. I was a volunteer there at the time; our volunteer trainer worked with Mila for several months before a few selected volunteers could start to walk her because of her fear aggression, resource guarding and food aggression. I chose to continue to work with many other medium & large dogs. I didn’t have one on one experience with Mila until we fast forward to June 7, 2019 when she was transferred to Satchel’s ….it truly was her last resort. At about a year old, she was still not adoptable because of all her fears that lead to aggressive behaviors. By this time, I was also a Satchel’s volunteer so our paths crossed when Doug, our director at the time, asked me to walk her on her first day here but no touching, just walk her on a lead, she wouldn’t let them put a collar on her so no leash…& be careful! That began Mila’s and my 6 year relationship at Satchel’s. We went from walks at the shelter to car rides (3 years of terror running around the car but now she loves them) to visits to Twin Lakes Park and over the years expanding to many parks, even Home Depot with full distance away from humans & dogs. She eventually became such a good girl I had her at my home twice a week where she instantly loved my ailing husband before dashing outside to jump so high in the pool it looked like she could walk on water. She participated in the first agility classes we did at West Coast, even having two other handlers while I took photos. She was assessed by K9 Korral and accepted into their daycare a half a day a week in the last three months of 2019 leading up to the beginning of Covid in 2020 and the last painful six months of my husbands life. I continued having her on short visits as often as I could and she loved on Billi then turned into her mermaid self. But something happened that year, we could never figure out what, that resulted in Mila trusting no one but me. Adoption wasn’t in the equation then because I still had multiple dogs & cats, my grandchildren were younger & I had many visitors. Other than swimming, Mila did no other normal dog activities- didn’t pay any attention to toys, sitting on the couch or hanging out inside. As my animals passed away & family became adults living in different states with new adult lives, I spent more time with Mila and lengthened her visits to two six hour days a week beginning in January of 2024. It had taken 4 years for her to just let me gently pat the top of her head; for her to learn how to eat in a kitchen; peacefully ride in a car -although motorcycles & certain other scary things still create very loud barking. By the time Hurricane Milton was on the move our way, I decided to evacuate her to my home. Her first week out of a shelter in 7 years was going to be in a very strong hurricane. Mila was amazing. She was fully potty trained even though she’d never had a home, no food begging, always waits to enter or exit a door, still won’t go out in the yard or on the lanai without me. She’s terrified of hearing big trucks going through the neighborhood & still terrified of anyone but me but after spending most of her life in a shelter, I’m patient waiting for her next journey in over coming all her fears. And some good future training. She still is a resource guarder and has food aggression but I’m not interested in taking things away from her. She loves controlled affection but no tummy rubs unless I’m gently towel drying her after a swim. And seeing her happily play with toys now is pure joy. The stars were aligned for us to be together now. Harry my only remaining cat has learned to coexist in his own unique cat way. Mila is one of the strongest examples of what our name truly means – Satchel’s LAST RESORT. They didn’t give up on her & neither will I.

Congratulations to Mila and Pam as they officially start their next chapter together! #AdoptionJourney