Ruby's Story

The true story of Ruby remains a mystery. Her early life is unknown to anyone. Ruby was a stray who appeared at the Host's workplace and soon became a cherished member of their family. She was underfed, wounded, and displayed indications of recently giving birth to puppies, along with signs that she had been abused.

Her known story started around Thanksgiving of 2023. She showed up, very fearful of people, very skinny and worn out. She had calluses on her skin from sleeping on the ground. You can see evidence of this in the picture above on her left ear. She had a noticeable limp. She would not put weight on her right rear leg. Without getting gross, it was obvious she had just given birth.

Ruby would not run off, but she was very careful to get close to anyone. The only way she would approach someone was if the person had food. She was desperate for nourishment. Her ribs were visible, and she just looked very worn out. No one knew if she was going to hang around, so the only food she got the first few days, was snacks that the workers had brought for themselves, or part of their lunches.

Due to getting fed, and the outside shelters that were on the workplaces property, she decided it was the best place for her to be. Everyone would go home for the night and weekends, but Ruby would stay there. As far as we know, she never left. She was always there the next morning happy to see her friends. After a few days, someone brought some dog food for her along with a water bowl. She finally was able to have access to food and water when she needed it, not just scraps. Co workers also started bringing toys for her to play with. Ruby became part of the work family.

Over time, she finally started trusting people to let them pet her. Although even with that, she was very careful around people. She would flinch and run away if anyone moved to quickly. And she would never go inside the work buildings. She was almost the perfect work place pet. She stayed to her self, and provided a nice distraction from the work day. Everyone loved having Ruby around.

Unfortunately, Ruby got a little too comfortable, once she made herself at home. At night and over the weekends, Ruby would get bored and chew on things she wasn't supposed to. We would find vehicle parts and wiring harnesses laying around, obvious that Ruby had chewed on it. When that started happening, it was apparent that she needed a better home. But is was unknown how she would do in a home setting. She would not go inside the buildings and she was very slow to trust anyone, so it was thought that she would be very scared in a home, and possibly be violent with new people or other pets.

A lot of the employees tried to find a home for her, but this proved difficult. No one wanted to take that chance on her. The animal shelters were called for advise, and they let us know that she would almost certainly be euthanized. They were already at capacity with strays and finding a home was going to be almost impossible. Finally, just before the Christmas break, someone decided to take her home and give her a chance while we continued to try and find a permanent home for her. We are not sure what changed, but she turned out to be a great inside dog. She was completely house trained and got along very well with other dogs.

With this new information, Joey, the Shrouded Realities Co host, decided to get her and take care of her over the Christmas break. Joey already has 2 other dogs, so he didn't want his other dogs to be hurt by Ruby, if she reacted harshly to being re-homed. Ruby went home with Joey and it was very obvious in a very short amount of time that Ruby was home!!! She played with her new house mates right away. And the rest of the family fell in love immediately.

She was taken to the vet to get spayed, and have a full physical examination done. She had an X ray performed while under anesthesia, on her rear legs to see why she was limping. It was found that she had been shot! This explained her extreme fear of people. The bullet was still under her skin and the femur bone had been shattered. The wound had already healed and miraculously, the bone healed back on its own, so no treatment was needed. The veterinarian was surprised on how well it had healed without medical care.

At home Ruby has never had a bathroom accident in the house and she does great on a leash in public. She loves to go for rides, hikes, and walks outside. She can be taken off leash and she will not run away. She responds to command, and is very easy to teach new tricks. She likes to shake and catch treats when thrown to her. She is still a little untrusting with new people she meets, but once she trusts you, she loves like no other pet we have ever known. It's like she is thankful for her new life of comfort and leisure and she does not want to mess that up.

Now Ruby lives her days napping on the couch, playing with her housemates, and cuddling with her new family. She loves to go with Joey to record the podcast and can often be heard in the background clicking her nails on the floor as she walks around. She is a big part of the Shrouded Realities Family.