roxanne riley

MARR covers Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Roxanne is being fostered in IA currently. However, transportation is available for adoptions within our coverage area.

Oh… oh hello. Oh… my name? Well, I’m Roxanne. Yes, like the song. No, please don’t sing it. Loud noises scare me.

Actually, everything kind of scares me…. When I lived in my kennel, I didn’t hear or see very much so I thought the world was really quiet and small. And sometimes it was dark and dirty. I always felt bad when it came time to have puppies because they had to be born into a dark and dirty place and I didn't like that. I kept them as clean as I could.

The humans who owned me would only come around once in a while, and they were loud and said loud, harsh words to me that I didn't understand. I would hide in the corner and shake because I didn't know what was going to happen to me. When my puppies would get bigger, they would come and take the puppies away and I would never see them again.

One day, I got out of my kennel, and the world was so big and scary that I just took off running, trying to find a quiet place to hide. Some kind people picked me up and took me to a big building with lots of dogs in it. I was very scared and even though they were very kind to me, I just wanted to hide in the corner because I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

It wasn't long before a kind woman came, and she took me to her home. It was much quieter there and she is very kind to me. I'm still very scared because I don't know what I'm supposed to do or if I can trust her, but I'm trying to learn. It's very hard. I haven't known anything else my whole life. But this is nice! She is kind to me, speaks quietly to me and I never have to worry about being fed or having water. I have a big soft bed to sleep on and every day I get to go out in the grass and in the sunshine and sniff around. I really enjoy that. Sometimes there will be loud noises or something I've never seen or heard before, and I get scared again, but every day I get a little braver and feel a little better. I've sniffed my foster mom's hand a few times and I like the way she smells and how she smiles when I do that.

Things like putting the leash on and off are still scary for me but I'm learning to be more comfortable with that. I like to be able to see my foster mom and sometimes I cry when she's away from me because she does bring me comfort. But she says I'm really good in my crate otherwise. I also get in and out of the car willingly even though that scares me a little bit, too. I want to be a good girl and make my foster mom happy because my other humans were never happy with me.

My Foster mom has a couple other dogs and they haven't bothered me too much when I'm in my kennel. I have met them in person and kind of like them. They are smaller than me but they bring me big comfort having them near. I have also met their cat while outside and she's pretty nice too - I don't even try to chase her.

My Foster mom says that I would do really great in a home who understood that I'm kind of like a "blank slate", and I just need to learn how to be a dog and how the world works slowly, but surely. They would need to have lots of patience with me and understand that I would need some time to adjust, but I'm trying my very best to be a good girl so that I can live in a home like that someday soon. Can you help me become the best girl I can be?