After living outside for the first nine months of her life, being abandoned by her owner, and forced to fend for herself, a puppy named Kita was completely paralyzed by the fear of the great outdoors.
Her fear was completely justified, though.
Kita was alone for weeks on acres and acres of land… hungry, soaking wet, and terrified.
Thanks to a nonprofit, foster-based organization called Cross Your Paws Rescue, from Irwin, Pennsylvania, Kita was finally caught and rescued.
Hiding From The World
Although she was finally rescued and brought to a safe foster home, Kita was still absolutely terrified.
“She would just sit in the corner and stare at the wall. It absolutely broke our hearts. She was completely shut down, broken,” Kita’s foster mom told The Dodo.
For the first couple of days, Kita would simply tuck herself into a little, tiny ball – as small as she could make herself – and try to hide from everyone. She was just scared of everything.
When they tried to take her outside, Kita would freeze, almost as if she was paralyzed by her fear.
She was probably afraid that they would leave her outside again, like her last owner did.
“Originally, she wouldn’t make eye contact with us. Four or five days in, she jumped up and laid right next to me, and I started crying,” Julie, the foster mom, said.
Whenever they weren’t home, Kita started to take their clothes and bring them up on the couch with her because it made her feel safe.
“Seeing her going from the sad, wet puppy who was caught in a crate to cuddling on a couch, accepting love and asking for love – it’s amazing,” Julie said.
After staying with her foster family for almost two weeks, it was time for Kita to go to her forever family in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Safe, Fun, And Loving Home
As soon as Kayla Kovatch and her husband saw the pictures of Kita, they knew that she belonged with them. There was an instant connection.
“She had a lot of struggled when she first got here. She hid a lot. She didn’t want to let us touch her. She was very timid and she didn’t want to go outside. The first time we went walking, she was very, very scared,” Kayla said.
Thankfully, the family already had two other dogs, so Kita’s new sister helped a lot with her anxiety and fear of the outside.
When she saw Flare and Raven (the family’s dogs) take off, she immediately felt more comfortable to do the same.
Her sister’s showed her that it was okay and that she didn’t need to be scared anymore because she now had a loving family that wouldn’t leave her ever again.
Kita isn’t scared of the outdoors anymore… in fact, she now gets excited to go outside.
As she became more and more comfortable with her new family, her personality also started to blossom.
Kita is a very cuddly dog, comfortable, and much more confident than she was in the beginning.
“We’re both super thankful to have her in our lives. It’s definitely a piece that we didn’t know that we were missing,” Kayla said.
With love and patience, even the most anxious can find solace in the open air.
Take a look at Kita’s journey from a timid pup paralyzed by her fear to a cuddly dog with newfound courage:
