She was born in a shelter, then adopted but unsocialised, escaping into an Italian forest with her brother Spino. Spino was hurt in the foot and captured, and Spina was caught by a trap and then lived in the shelter for 3 more years. Spina was a prisoner without hope or chance of adoption, suffering from a deep depression. After a lot of official paperwork, we adopted her sight unseen, bringing he
r to Denmark to live. She was introverted and unsocialised. A few days after adoption, we took her for a walk in the forest, an exceptionally beautiful place north of Copenhagen. She was on a harness with a secure leash. At the end of the walk, just before reaching the car, she maneuvered herself into a position where she pushed her shoulders forward and was able to escape the harness and run into the forest. Far from Italy, it was the perfect prison break. We spent the next 7 months trying to catch her, out of love and sense of responsibility for this animal, driving an average of 100 km per day just to leave food for her. Various traps were used to try to catch her, many people helped by calling and letting us know they had seen or heard her. But she was too smart and experienced to get caught again by any trap. After 6 months, many people thought Spina would have become feral, wild forever. Rumours and fear spread that she could become dangerous. She was at risk of being shot. Meanwhile, she showed that instead of being wild, she actually wanted to be a dog, and started to have a relationship with Gonzo, a German Shepherd, following him on his walks and visiting his garden. It seemed she wanted Gonzo to adopt her, but it was not easy for her to determine how to achieve this. The Police and Rescue tried to capture her during a few of her visits, but things didn’t work as planned. An ingenious trap by a dog trainer and forest warden finally caught Spina. She was very sick and needed surgery and a lot of medicine to help her regain her health. For a while, we did not know how long she might live because she had to regain enough strength and health in order to undergo surgery to remove a large and open tumour on her shoulders. Luckily, it turned out to be non-malignant. Despite her health condition, Spina immediately went on intensive dog obedience classes, completely miserable because she simply didn’t like school. But she learned to follow commands, like "come", "heel", "stay", all in Danish naturally, and learned how to communicate with and understand people. After 6 months, much to her surprise, we let her off the leash for the first time. She was delighted and behaved beautifully. She became a much better behaved dog than most dogs, always coming when called, happy and social with other dogs, and loyal to her family. No one knew or suspected her history. With time, patience and hard work, she learned to become a loving dog and family member. Her story is told here to show that even the most hopeless and unsocial dog can learn to love people and be a partner. Spina followed her natural inclinations to be a domestic dog and not a wolf. Her story is told from what we think is her perspective and is organised in the photo albums sequentially according to chapters. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the people who helped us find and catch Spina. In particular, we would like to thank the Humane Society of the United States and the Danish Dyrenes Beskyttelse for their advice and ideas on traps and for their support during those times when it all seemed hopeless. Also thanks to Gunnar Madsen and his dog Gonzo for helping Spina find her way back home, and thanks to all the Danes who called when they saw her, gave her food when she was hungry, and the people who spontaneously helped look for her.
