Expression of dog returned to shelter for being “too boring” breaks hearts

A rescue dog is back at the shelter and appears despondent after being returned for the most soul-crushing of reasons.

In a video posted to her TikTok @jjack.iie, Jackie Gonzalez, a dog care associate at the Valley Animal Center in Fresno, California, posted a clip of Lucy, a dog who she said was returned to the shelter for being “too boring and nervous.”

Lucy cuts a nervous figure in the clip, shaking and clearly uncomfortable within the confines of the facility she now calls home. “Lucy struggles from lack of confidence, she is afraid and anxious of all her surroundings,” Gonzalez told Newsweek.

“At the shelter Lucy is terrified, to hear dogs barking all the time is a high stressor for her. She barely moves from her corner just from how scared she is.”

The clip has drawn a significant response, with over 260,000 views and counting as well as a glut of emotional comments. “Can someone please adopt this poor soul?” one viewer pleaded, with another writing: “I would literally pick her up tomorrow, I am so sad I’m in Florida. My heart broke seeing she’s in Fresno.”

It’s normal for rescue dogs to experience anxiety when first entering a shelter. A 2016 study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior found dogs tend to experience a spike in cortisol levels, the so-called stress hormone, that decreases in the days that follow.

However, Lucy has more reason than most dogs to feel anxious about the shelter, given what she previously went through. “Lucy came to us after being removed by animal control from another rescue that was closed down due to it turning into a hoarding situation,” Gonzalez said.

“We do not know much about her life before that. We got her from animal control, severely overweight and covered in flies from how bad she smelled.”

Given Lucy’s struggles at the shelter, efforts were made to set her up with a stay at a foster carer. Sadly it didn’t work out. Within days of taking Lucy on, her foster carer had returned her.

“She was returned from her home because her foster parent, I believe, had the expectations of a hyper dog, or a dog that would be active,” Gonzalez said. “She considered her ‘boring.'”

Now Lucy is back at the shelter and facing her biggest fear all over again. The problem is that, the longer time ticks on without her finding another home, the worse Lucy is likely to get.

In 2021, a study published in the journal Animals exploring the characteristics of long-term shelter dogs noted that while being in the shelter had not impaired the physical wellbeing of these dogs, they did exhibit “stress-related behaviors” over time.

Lucy needs someone to break her out of what could quickly become a vicious cycle. “She is the type of dog that needs time and patience,” Gonzalez said. “To be introduced to new experiences without increasing her anxiety, which can take a lot of patience on her adopters side. Lucy is the type of dog that will take a long time to feel comfortable in her own skin.”

Having spent an extended period of time with Lucy, Gonzalez is better placed than anyone to explain what kind of forever home this brave rescue dog would be best suited to.

“Lucy would be better suited in a quiet home that does not have much going on, she can go with other animals as long as they have a calm personality,” she said.

“She would also do ok in a home with older teens that can learn to respect her space. She has the potential to be a great dog, she just needs someone who is not expecting her to be jumping off the walls. She needs space, time and patience.”

Gonzalez said: “She will open up as soon as she feels safe and comfortable but that can take time, months to years even and truthfully , part of Lucy might always be this way. She just needs her person to understand her in that way.”