March 2, 2010
Today I adopted a dog that is 3 years old and has never been named. She is a Mini Dachshund who is scared of everything. You see she is a puppy mill dog, a dog that is only given a number instead of a name. And who was kept in a cage all 3 of those years and breed twice but each time had to have a C-section because of her size. So with having to have two C-sections she was not a profit dog and was thrown away.
This mini Dachshund is a beautiful little girl, her color is Mahogany, a gorgeous shade of red with black mixed in. I was undecided whether or not on getting her, but one look at this tiny little dog and I decided that she deserved a chance in having a normal life. I would do whatever I could to change her life around and make her a unafraid, and happy little Dachshund, I now know I have my work cut out for me. And so I've decided to name this sweet little girl "Lucy".
The 40 minute car ride home went better then I had expected, Lucy sat on the toweled covered front seat of my car. At first she was scared and was looking for a place to run to but realized there was no place to run so she laid down. I noticed that every little bump in the road scared her, but it didn't take her long to get use to them so they were no longer a bother to her. She finally fell asleep with the sun shinning through the window on her, I think the warmth of the sun felt good to her tiny body, that probably never before had sun light on it.
Once home all hell broke loose, I clipped a leash to her collar and tried picking her up from the front seat, Lucy went nuts, she just does not like to be picked up. I suppose she hadn't been picked up to many times during her 3 years at the puppy mill. I managed to get control of her and got her out of the car and placed her on the ground. BIG mistake on my part, Lucy went even more nuts, she was so scared and afraid, she fought the leash and collar and was jumping and twisting just trying to get away. I was afraid the collar would give way and off she would go and there would be no way of stopping her. So I bent down to try and pick her up, this scared her even more, she tried biting me not once but twice. I was not afraid of her biting, I was more afraid of her getting loose. So after several times of trying to get a good hold on her I managed to do so, and straight into the house we went. All I could think of is, what have I gotten myself into with this little girl, I wasn't sure what to do with her next. My first thought was to unleash her in the bathroom and let her get settled down for a bit. So off to the bathroom we went, after unleashing her she paced the floor and sniffed under the door trying to figure out who was barking at her from the other side. The barker on the other side was my good old barking Shetland sheepdog Shelby, and of course at times also barking was my little Chihuahua Selina. This barking did not scare Lucy, I am so sure she was use to barking dogs at the puppy mill, she just wanted to see and meet the barkers on the other side of the door. I was told that Lucy liked other dogs and got along with them just fine, this amazes me to think how does a dog who is kept in a cage for 3 years get along with other dogs. Maybe she was in a cage with other dogs, this I do not know but I was ready to open the bathroom door and let Shelby and Celina meet their new sister Lucy.
As I opened the door Shelby was standing guard on the other side, Lucy darted out wagging her little tail the whole time, you could see she was excited to see another dog. Both dogs did the sniffing thing on each other and Shelby gave a little low growl as if to say, get out of my face. It didn't take Celina long to get into the action of meeting Lucy, she took one sniff and you could tell she wasn't sure she liked her. I suppose both Shelby and Celina were thinking oh no, another butt sniffing dog in the house. So before it got to the point that Lucy annoyed both Shelby and Celina to where they tried to nip at her, I went to pick her up, and of course that was the wrong thing to do, again Lucy did not want to be picked up. But I managed to get a tight hold on her and to the sofa we went.
The people at Heritage Farms Rescue who rescued Lucy from the puppy mill told me that in a weeks time I would see a huge difference in Lucy's behavior and that all I needed to do was give her lots of love and cuddles. I could give her lots of love but as for the cuddles, whoa I wasn't to sure I could do that at this point, you see Lucy stunk so bad, I'm sure it would be a safe bet to say that she never in her life had a bath. So I thought what the heck, lets see how this little girl would do with getting a bath, I mean how bad could it be? Well to my surprise she did wonderful, for a brief moment I thought she was going to dart, jump, and spread her long ears and fly from me, but she settled down and I'd have to say she enjoyed the bath. It probably felt good having some warm water and tons of lather on her skin. I first used an Oatmeal shampoo, followed by two more lathers of a medicated shampoo, rinsed her off and wrapped her in a big warm bath towel. She smelled 100% better and her fur had this beautiful shine to it, most of all she seemed content and happy, little Lucy was learning what it was like to be a pampered pooch for the first time in her life.
Next it was time to see if I could get her to eat something, she is so thin you can feel her bony back bones I am sure she is under weight. They told me she was eating dry dog food, so dry dog food it is, but I could not get her to eat. So I decided not to force the issue, thought it might take a bit of time for her to adjust to things. I really feel that she is just so scared of this new environment that it may take longer then a week for her to come around, time will tell I suppose.
Now it was time for the both of us to try and get some sleep. The big question now is what do I do with her, I did not want to put her in a crate for the night after all that is where she has spent all of her life so far. And I did not want to let her wander around the house, who wants to play hide and seek the next morning? So the only thing left was to warp her back up in the big towel and take her to bed with me. As I placed her next to me and with me being a side sleeper with my arm stretched out to the side she felt she needed to have her head in the crook of my arm, and this is how we both fell asleep.
Today I adopted a dog that is 3 years old and has never been named. She is a Mini Dachshund who is scared of everything. You see she is a puppy mill dog, a dog that is only given a number instead of a name. And who was kept in a cage all 3 of those years and breed twice but each time had to have a C-section because of her size. So with having to have two C-sections she was not a profit dog and was thrown away.
This mini Dachshund is a beautiful little girl, her color is Mahogany, a gorgeous shade of red with black mixed in. I was undecided whether or not on getting her, but one look at this tiny little dog and I decided that she deserved a chance in having a normal life. I would do whatever I could to change her life around and make her a unafraid, and happy little Dachshund, I now know I have my work cut out for me. And so I've decided to name this sweet little girl "Lucy".
The 40 minute car ride home went better then I had expected, Lucy sat on the toweled covered front seat of my car. At first she was scared and was looking for a place to run to but realized there was no place to run so she laid down. I noticed that every little bump in the road scared her, but it didn't take her long to get use to them so they were no longer a bother to her. She finally fell asleep with the sun shinning through the window on her, I think the warmth of the sun felt good to her tiny body, that probably never before had sun light on it.
Once home all hell broke loose, I clipped a leash to her collar and tried picking her up from the front seat, Lucy went nuts, she just does not like to be picked up. I suppose she hadn't been picked up to many times during her 3 years at the puppy mill. I managed to get control of her and got her out of the car and placed her on the ground. BIG mistake on my part, Lucy went even more nuts, she was so scared and afraid, she fought the leash and collar and was jumping and twisting just trying to get away. I was afraid the collar would give way and off she would go and there would be no way of stopping her. So I bent down to try and pick her up, this scared her even more, she tried biting me not once but twice. I was not afraid of her biting, I was more afraid of her getting loose. So after several times of trying to get a good hold on her I managed to do so, and straight into the house we went. All I could think of is, what have I gotten myself into with this little girl, I wasn't sure what to do with her next. My first thought was to unleash her in the bathroom and let her get settled down for a bit. So off to the bathroom we went, after unleashing her she paced the floor and sniffed under the door trying to figure out who was barking at her from the other side. The barker on the other side was my good old barking Shetland sheepdog Shelby, and of course at times also barking was my little Chihuahua Selina. This barking did not scare Lucy, I am so sure she was use to barking dogs at the puppy mill, she just wanted to see and meet the barkers on the other side of the door. I was told that Lucy liked other dogs and got along with them just fine, this amazes me to think how does a dog who is kept in a cage for 3 years get along with other dogs. Maybe she was in a cage with other dogs, this I do not know but I was ready to open the bathroom door and let Shelby and Celina meet their new sister Lucy.
As I opened the door Shelby was standing guard on the other side, Lucy darted out wagging her little tail the whole time, you could see she was excited to see another dog. Both dogs did the sniffing thing on each other and Shelby gave a little low growl as if to say, get out of my face. It didn't take Celina long to get into the action of meeting Lucy, she took one sniff and you could tell she wasn't sure she liked her. I suppose both Shelby and Celina were thinking oh no, another butt sniffing dog in the house. So before it got to the point that Lucy annoyed both Shelby and Celina to where they tried to nip at her, I went to pick her up, and of course that was the wrong thing to do, again Lucy did not want to be picked up. But I managed to get a tight hold on her and to the sofa we went.
The people at Heritage Farms Rescue who rescued Lucy from the puppy mill told me that in a weeks time I would see a huge difference in Lucy's behavior and that all I needed to do was give her lots of love and cuddles. I could give her lots of love but as for the cuddles, whoa I wasn't to sure I could do that at this point, you see Lucy stunk so bad, I'm sure it would be a safe bet to say that she never in her life had a bath. So I thought what the heck, lets see how this little girl would do with getting a bath, I mean how bad could it be? Well to my surprise she did wonderful, for a brief moment I thought she was going to dart, jump, and spread her long ears and fly from me, but she settled down and I'd have to say she enjoyed the bath. It probably felt good having some warm water and tons of lather on her skin. I first used an Oatmeal shampoo, followed by two more lathers of a medicated shampoo, rinsed her off and wrapped her in a big warm bath towel. She smelled 100% better and her fur had this beautiful shine to it, most of all she seemed content and happy, little Lucy was learning what it was like to be a pampered pooch for the first time in her life.
Next it was time to see if I could get her to eat something, she is so thin you can feel her bony back bones I am sure she is under weight. They told me she was eating dry dog food, so dry dog food it is, but I could not get her to eat. So I decided not to force the issue, thought it might take a bit of time for her to adjust to things. I really feel that she is just so scared of this new environment that it may take longer then a week for her to come around, time will tell I suppose.
Now it was time for the both of us to try and get some sleep. The big question now is what do I do with her, I did not want to put her in a crate for the night after all that is where she has spent all of her life so far. And I did not want to let her wander around the house, who wants to play hide and seek the next morning? So the only thing left was to warp her back up in the big towel and take her to bed with me. As I placed her next to me and with me being a side sleeper with my arm stretched out to the side she felt she needed to have her head in the crook of my arm, and this is how we both fell asleep.
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