Healing Marley — From Neglect to Nourishment

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This page is dedicated to documenting the recovery journey of Marley — a severely neglected chocolate lab rescued by On Our Way Home Animal Rescue Society. What began as a desperate plea on Facebook quickly turned into a life-changing experience, not only for Marley, but for everyone involved in her healing.

Marley arrived in devastating condition: painfully underweight, nearly hairless, riddled with infection, and emotionally unstable. Her nails were so overgrown they distorted her posture, and the scent of yeast and skin infection filled any room she entered. She had clearly suffered for a long time. When I first brought her home, she was frantic for food, spinning in circles, pacing constantly, and unable to rest. She was starving — not just for food, but for stability, safety, and care.

This journal is a personal, day-by-day account of Marley’s progress in body, mind, and spirit. I’ve created it as a space to not only document her physical healing through veterinary care, proper nutrition, and daily support routines, but also to share the emotional side of rescue: the fears, the challenges, and the beautiful breakthroughs that come with patience and love.

As a foster, my role is to provide structure, healing, and stability to help her rebuild her strength and confidence before she moves on to a forever home. The care Marley is receiving — from vet visits and blood work to medicated baths, custom-cooked food, and natural supplements — is only possible thanks to the support of the amazing On Our Way Home Animal Rescue Society.

If you’ve found your way to this page, thank you. Whether you’re here to learn more about the foster process, to follow Marley’s transformation, or simply out of compassion, your presence matters.

If you’d like to support Marley’s recovery, please consider sending a donation by e-transfer to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com. Make sure to include “For Marley” in the message. Every dollar goes directly toward her ongoing medical care, food, supplements, and comfort items — and every bit helps give her the second chance she deserves.

Marley’s story is just one of many, and I hope her journey can shed light on the resilience of animals, the importance of rescue, and the power of compassionate care.

Thank you for being part of her story.

 Day 1 – The Beginning
Well actually, let’s start with how this all goes down. There’s a post on Facebook, and a woman is looking for an immediate home for her dog. The dog is losing all her fur and “going to die” — those are the owner's words in an anonymous post. Thank goodness the amazing On Our Way Home Animal Rescue Society steps up and volunteers to take her in, with the need to find an experienced foster home.

I know this is meant for me. I have all the training, education, and passion to care for and help transform a dog like this. Just from the first photos, I can see something is seriously wrong. Poor Marley is skin and bones. She has lost more than half her hair, and she looks at least 20 lbs underweight. Her nails are so long that her feet look deformed. In the top corner of one photo, I spot what appears to be a water bowl — almost empty, filled with very dark brown water. 🤢

Even with all that in front of me, I choose to put my faith in humanity. I want to believe this isn’t full-blown neglect. So I contact the rescue and tell them I want to take her in. They agree quickly, and since I’ve fostered before, I’m already approved.

The next day, I reach out to the owner to arrange pick-up. It’s always a bit nerve-wracking bringing a new dog into a home already full of pets — I have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 parrots, and 3 kids. My biggest concern is my parrots, since they need time out of the cage daily, and a high prey drive dog would be a deal-breaker.

The owner tells me she’s good with dogs, kids, and cats — and honestly, that might be the only detail that proves true. Marley is amazing with all of them.

So Day One. I go to pick her up, and she is wild — excited, spinning, jumping, barking. The house smells of dirt, feces, and urine. I panic a little. What have I gotten myself into? Is this dog going to wreck my house? Pee and poop everywhere? I have a moment of instant regret. But I take a breath, regroup, and start asking questions.

We talk about the basics, then about behaviour and food. She isn’t going to give me food until I ask for it. I know it won’t last long, but I need it for the transition. The second she brings the bag out, Marley completely loses it — barking, jumping, lunging at the bag and her. It’s clear there’s no training, and even worse, Marley is starving.

The woman tells the rescue Marley has been losing weight for six months and has skin issues. To continue the conversation, I hide the food bag in my car just to calm her down. She explains that Marley’s nails are so long because she won’t let anyone touch her feet. They’re curled and twisted, and her toes can’t even sit flat.

When I pet Marley, her hair and skin are dry, flaky, gritty — like sand. I grab her leash, the blanket the woman gives me, and load Marley into the car. She hops right in.

Our first stop is the vet for medicated shampoo and a weigh-in. She weighs 45 lbs. That’s at least 15–20 lbs underweight for a healthy chocolate lab. Her breed is barely recognizable.

Then we head straight to the pet store for a bath. She’s filthy, and I’m not bringing her into the house that way. (Side note: I’ve already reviewed her food before pickup and prepped a bland cooked diet.)

At the dog wash, she sits beautifully while the shampoo soaks in for 15 minutes. It’s not the best bonding experience, but she tolerates me. She won’t make eye contact and looks away every time I try. As I wait, I take a closer look. Her eyes are sunken — a sign of what, I don’t know yet. Her fur continues falling out, and wet, her bony frame looks even worse.

Despite everything, she is kind, gentle, and sweet. She smells so strongly of tortilla chips and infection that I think I’m ruined for nachos for a while.

We leave the pet store clean, but she’s nervous. At home, I bring her straight to the backyard, then introduce her to my dogs one by one. To my surprise, they all do fine with her.

I’m nervous to bring her inside — will she pee everywhere? Go after the birds? She comes in and sniffs every corner of the house. She zones in on the kitchen where we keep bread, muffins, butter, and snacks — and immediately starts trying to steal food. Panic hits again. How am I going to manage this dog?

It hits me just how well-behaved my own dogs are. Marley has zero manners, and I have to remind myself this girl probably hasn’t been properly fed. She paces for hours. Her nails click loudly with every step. I don’t want to overwhelm her, but I gently pick up a paw. No reaction. I massage her feet. Still no issue. So I trim a few nails — she lets me. Maybe she wasn’t comfortable with others doing it before, or maybe she just needed a different approach.

Meal time is chaos — just like earlier. She’s frantic. I decide to try the kennel overnight since I don’t know how she’ll do unsupervised. The owner had said she was kennel trained. That doesn’t seem to be the case. She cries all night and keeps everyone up.

She also said Marley was great on leash. We go for a walk — and it feels like she’s never walked on one before. I swear I lose weight these first few days from stress alone — I can’t even eat.

I know I can get her healthy. But at what cost to my sanity and the rest of my house?

If you’d like to help support Marley’s recovery, donations can be sent by e-transfer to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com — please include “For Marley” in the notes. Every bit helps this beautiful girl get the care she so desperately needs.

  Day 2 – Relief, Reality & Hope
I start today by saying how incredible the On Our Way Home Animal Rescue Society is. Without them, Marley wouldn’t have access to any of the care she needs right now. If you’d like to help support her recovery, donations can be sent by e-transfer to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com — please include “For Marley” in the notes. Every bit helps.

This morning, thanks to the rescue team, we’re able to get into the vet — and thank goodness. We’re all completely exhausted after Marley howls and cries most of the night in the kennel. I can barely keep it together. My anxiety is sky-high. From her restlessness and frantic behaviour to the weight loss, hair loss, and elephant-like skin, I worry something truly serious is wrong. She’s pacing constantly, her skin is flaking in chunks, and she smells like something sour and broken. I keep thinking — what if it’s cancer? What if she’s dying?

But she surprises us. Her bloodwork comes back showing she’s actually quite healthy — aside from anemia, which makes sense given her malnourished state. Her skin scrapes show a deep yeast infection, but no mange and no visible bugs. That’s a huge relief. There’s still a long way to go, but now I can shift my focus from fear to care.

The reason I’m being so cautious is because I have other pets at home, and I need to make sure whatever Marley has isn’t contagious. Thankfully, it’s not. I’ve been carefully separating her just in case, so now I can relax a little. We leave the vet with a full pharmacy of supportive medications. I usually lean on natural care whenever I can, but in cases like this, I fully believe in the power of veterinary support. Marley needs both.

By the afternoon, she already seems a bit calmer. The medications are helping with her skin discomfort, and the antibiotics are hopefully beginning to address the deeper infection. She also has a bad ear infection — I notice it because she keeps shaking her head and scratching.

We continue with daily medicated baths. I leave the shampoo on for 15 minutes, using that time to gently massage her and help her relax. After rinsing, I follow with a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse that includes aloe extract, green tea extract, and a couple drops of lavender. I dry her as gently as possible, slather her in coconut oil, and slip her into a soft t-shirt to keep her from scratching.

The smell is still intense — yeast and infection. Everything she touches needs to be washed daily, and we’re using very gentle laundry detergent to protect her sensitive skin. I want to leave her skin uncovered to breathe, but right now, it’s too fragile and flaking too badly.

Meal times are still chaotic, but her water intake is what shocks me most. She’s drinking a ton — I think she’s been extremely dehydrated. We’re giving her only filtered water now, in clean bowls, and she has access to fresh water at all times.

I keep her in the kennel again tonight, mostly because we’ve started transitioning her to fresh food, and I’m not sure how her digestion will handle it. I don’t want her to have a reaction overnight and wake up to a mess.

The afternoon brings the best surprise yet — she relaxes enough to start exploring the toy box. She finds the Kong and proudly claims it as her own. Watching her actually play is incredibly heartwarming. She’s starting to come alive.

The eye contact has shifted, too. From avoiding my gaze in the bath yesterday to now looking me right in the eyes — there’s trust building. She’s looking for guidance. She just wants to understand how to be loved, how to belong.

This morning, I wake up overwhelmed — she immediately jumps up to counter surf, and it’s too much. I take a deep breath and make a plan. I reorganize the pantry and completely clear off my counters. That one step brings my stress level way down.

Now that she’s feeling more settled, it’s time to start rebuilding her health and supporting her body’s healing. Tomorrow, I’ll finalize her care plan and begin implementing it step by step.

If you’d like to help support Marley’s recovery, donations can be sent by e-transfer to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com — please include “For Marley” in the notes. Thank you so much for following her journey.

  Day 3 – Feeding the Body, Calming the Spirit
Today started off as a much better day. Still a little sleepy from Marley’s 4 AM wake-up call, but overall, much improved from the day before. The biggest win? I could let her out of the kennel without fearing she’d be counter-surfing. Huge relief.

Today we’re starting to work on her relationship with food — helping her feel safe, satisfied, and supported so she can begin to trust that food will always be there. She’ll now be fed four small meals a day, at exactly the same times, to establish structure. Before each meal, she’s asked to sit quietly — even for just a few seconds — so she begins to connect calm behaviour with being fed. This is by far her biggest struggle, but I know with time and consistency, she’ll come around.

When I build my support plans, I always begin by reviewing every bit of the dog’s current diet and identifying what needs to change. I remove absolutely everything they were eating before and switch to limited-ingredient, fresh, gently cooked foods. Even her treats have to align with the new plan.

To help boost her calories beyond the core meals and begin healing her gut, we’re adding a rotation of high-protein, healthy fat additions and whole food prebiotics, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. She’s getting eggs, a bit of sauerkraut or kefir, and plain yogurt. She’ll also be receiving vitamin E, omega-3s, and a daily dose of cooked elk liver as an iron source to support her anemia. Since beef is no longer an option, elk liver is our go-to — thanks to a lovely hunter connection, we’re stocked. She’ll get 10–15 grams per day, which is plenty considering how nutrient-dense it is. We’re starting slow, though, because liver can be tough on the gut if introduced too quickly.

So far, the biggest difference I’ve seen is how much calmer she is on the fresh food. The kibble seemed to trigger something deep — hunger trauma maybe. She ate it like she’d never see food again. The fresh food, being soft and mushy, naturally slows her down. Mealtimes are calmer. When she has kibble mixed in, it’s total chaos. Luckily, she’ll be fully transitioned off kibble by Day 5. I rushed it more than I usually would, but in this case, the sooner the better. That food isn’t helping her itchies, and she desperately needs gut support.

One thing that’s often overlooked is how critical gut health is. It makes up 70% of the immune system. When the gut starts to fail, the rest of the body systematically begins to shut down. Feeding the same dry, highly processed, carb-heavy kibble day after day is the perfect storm to start that cascade. That’s what happened here — and it’s what we’re starting to undo.

She’s calmer today. She’s sleeping a lot. The itching has gone down considerably, although she’s still scratching here and there. That’s when I decided to add coconut oil topically to her routine. Between the medications kicking in, the medicated baths, and the soothing, antimicrobial power of coconut oil, she’s finally starting to get some real relief.

Now that she’s sleeping better, her body can begin to truly heal.

Tonight, we’re all desperate for some rest. Instead of another night in the kennel, I made her a bed on my floor to see if she’ll settle better beside me. Fingers crossed.

If you’d like to help support Marley’s recovery, donations can be sent by e-transfer to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com— please include “For Marley” in the notes. Every bit helps this beautiful girl get the care she so desperately needs.

  Day 4 – Progress You Can Feel
We finally get some sleep. I set Marley up with a comfy bed on the floor, but when I wake up — there she is, curled up sweetly at the foot of my bed. She must’ve climbed up so quietly. It’s adorable… and honestly, I don’t have the heart to move her.

The room still smells strongly of yeast and infection, even after the daily baths. The scent always seems to creep back in overnight, which just shows how deep this issue really runs. Marley has clearly been dealing with this for far too long. But today, she barely scratches. She seems calmer. That panicked energy is easing, and her obsession with food — while still intense — is slowly shifting. A full belly and regular feeding are starting to bring her some peace.

Her food transition is going well. She’s almost off the kibble now, and it still blows my mind how much waste kibble creates. My larger dog eats more and poops way less. Marley’s poop is finally starting to look healthy, and she seems to be digesting all the new food just fine. I rushed this transition faster than usual, but she’s handling it like a champ.

We’re keeping up the daily medicated baths, ACV rinses, and coconut oil massages. I plan to continue that routine for at least a few more days. We also stop by the vet this morning for a quick weigh-in — and to my amazement, she’s already gained 3.5 lbs. It’s such a good feeling. It confirms everything I’ve been suspecting. Whether it was a lack of food, stress, or something else, she’s finally starting to rebuild. The shine in her eyes is already different.

Dinner time for the humans rolls around — and that’s when things unravel a bit. Marley cannot handle the kitchen. The smells send her into a frenzy. We try to gently send her out of the room, but with two open entrances, it turns into this non-stop cycle of her circling in and out. It’s overwhelming — for her, for the kids, and for me.

I’m trying to prep food for everyone — the dogs and the family — and it’s total chaos. A trainer suggests I try kenneling her during meal prep, so I give it a shot. But within just two minutes in the kennel, she injures her nose trying to escape. It absolutely guts me. That moment is hard. I don’t want to feel frustrated with her, and I really don’t want her to feel confined or punished. She’s been through enough. I know she needs patience, not pressure.

After things settle, I jump online and find a couple of gates on Facebook Marketplace. Tomorrow, we’ll try a new setup. Something that gives her space, but also some boundaries — especially when food is involved.

Her obsession with food continues to blow my mind. It’s like she’s never experienced a home where people cook. The smells, the sounds — it’s all too much for her. She can’t settle. I’m hoping that, over time, her nervous system can calm down enough to learn that food isn’t going to disappear anymore.

Tonight, she’ll sleep in my bed again. I want her to feel safe. She’s finally eating, sleeping, and starting to trust. That alone is powerful medicine.

If you’d like to help support Marley’s continued care and recovery, donations can be e-transferred to onourwayhomeanimalrescue@hotmail.com. Please add “For Marley” in the message. Thank you so much for walking this journey with us.

  Day 5 –