Nugget

sex: female
born: December 1996
birth place: Arizona
champion: Carol Penn

Almost every animal at Wolf has had a champion,  someone who connected with them and their plight. A special person who went the distance to find them a home at Wolf.

given sanctuary: 06 June 1998

 

Nugget's Story

Nugget’s story begins much the same as most wolf-dogs. She was purchased by people in Tucson, Arizona, and originally was the pride of the family. She grew quickly and bored easily. Her high-energy level and extreme curiosity soon landed her chained-up in the backyard. As time went by, less and less time was spent with her, until ultimately she was lucky to even get food or water. When she reached a year and a half, Nugget was confiscated by animal control due to this neglect and malnutrition.

Nugget’s days were now numbered. She was very thin, and definitely not what most potential owners were looking for at the shelter. Nugget was not going to be adopted. The day before she was scheduled to be euthanized, her champion arrived on the scene. Carol was a retired 64 year-old lady who visits the shelter regularly to emancipate some of those on death row. Their eyes met, and Carol immediately knew there was something special about Nugget. Carol paid the adoption fee, had Nugget medically checked out, vaccinated and spayed. Then it was off to Carol’s home with the rest of her death-row menagerie consisting of cats, dogs and ferrets, totaling 14 in all.

Nugget’s first days consisted of shyness and uncontrollable mischief. She was into everything and damaged human possessions. It became apparent to Carol after several months of trying to train Nugget that she would be better off in a rescue that specialized in wolf-dogs. The hardest task began, trying to find a shelter that had room to accept new animals. After weeks of searching and contacting various rescues, she was referred to Wolf. After another few weeks of qualifying and raising funds to ship Nugget to Colorado, she was picked up at air cargo and made the car trip to the Wolf Sanctuary.

After a brief isolation period to ensure she was healthy, Nugget was placed with Ahzeem, a young male. They became instant friends. Nugget was finally able to behave like the wolf she is. Not long after, Sky, a young high content wolf-dog puppy was placed with the pair. He was immediately accepted, and Nugget began her mothering role, which she takes very seriously and continues to this day.

The trio enjoyed many years together, before Ahzeem’s passing in 2004. Sky and Nugget are fiercely bonded to one another. Nugget became ill in late 2005, and was started on antibiotics. The drugs did not help, and she continued to worsen before being rushed to the vet hospital. After days of testing, they determined she had three different infections in her blood stream. This required days of hospitalization on IV fluids and antibiotics. She was finally able to come home on Christmas Day. Thankfully, Nugget made a full recovery from her strange illness.

Nugget does not even resemble the scared, shy, thin animal she was when she arrived. In fact, she is now a bit on the heavy side, but we like to tell her she is just fluffy. There is no way she could be any sweeter now too. Although she barks like crazy and intimidates some, as soon as you enter her enclosure, she will sit in your lap or demand a belly rub. And you can’t stop scratching until she decides you are done. Nugget is an absolute joy, and we are forever grateful to Carol for saving this beautiful animal so she could live her life with respect.

 

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