A second start: Chico’s road to recovery

Two-year-old mixed-breed dog, Chico, arrived at the Ontario SPCA Lennox & Addington Animal Centre fearful, shut down, and missing half his fur. Little did he know his story would soon have a happy ending.  

Chico’s recovery 

After an initial assessment, Chico was put on steroids, and given special hypo-allergenic food to treat flea dermatitis. His animal care team worked hard to make him comfortable, but it was clear Chico wasn’t thriving in the animal centre environment. 

“When I first met Chico at the Napanee location, he was a fearful boy. He was not comfortable with approaching me. It took a while to get him comfortable enough to start playing with me let alone atking food,” says Kassie Dickson, Animal Behaviour Coordinator at the Ontario SPCA Provincial Dog Rehabilitation Centre. 

A few weeks after arriving in Napanee, Chico was transferred to the Provincial Dog Rehabilitation Centre in Peterborough. Kassie says he was very shy at first, but with the help of trust building exercises, socialization, and spaces like the Arlo Gattuso-Slaight Dog Living Room, he began to show his true self. Kassie says Chico also hadn’t been very socialized up until that point, so exposing him to new things and people was key to his development. 

“He very much went from fearful, uncomfortable and shut down, to a typical exuberant puppy that just wanted to play and chase a ball and snuggle,” says Kassie. 

Chico gets adopted! 

Lisa was volunteering at the Lennox & Addington Animal Centre when Chico arrived. During his time there, she had fallen in love with him, and the feeling had been mutual. 

“By the second visit he was leaning up against me and he always wanted to be touching me and me to be touching him. He warmed up almost instantly,” says Lisa. 

After he was transferred to Peterborough, Lisa says she couldn’t get Chico out of her mind. With two dogs and two cats already at home, Lisa says it took some convincing to get her husband to meet Chico, but she was insistent. They made the 2.5-hour drive to Peterborough, and after an hour with Chico, Lisa says it was clear they needed to take him home. 

Once home, Lisa says Chico became fast friends with her younger dog, a Cane Corso/Chocolate Lab mix. She says the two dogs play, cuddle, and can always be found together. Lisa says Chico spends his days racing around the backyard, cuddling under the covers with her and her husband, or curled up with his furry siblings on the couch. 

“He was like a whole new dog as soon as he got in the car with us. You could just feel like he felt relaxed and he was happy,” says Lisa. 

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