Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Lucy
As told by Bonnie
Cheerio! My name is Lucy and I here to tell you my long “curly” tail. I am approximately 4 years old, according to my wise old vet, and in such a short life I have been passed around like a hot potato (don’t get me started on food!). I was purchased as a puppy to be with a family in South Carolina. Unfortunately, my new pug parents were not very good to me. They did not realize pugs are family pets and must live inside! They kept me in a very small enclosed pen outside! It gets very hot, as well as pretty cold here in South Carolina and I didn’t enjoy living out there all alone! My family did not know that pugs have special dietary considerations either; they fed me miscellaneous table scraps and so, with a lack of exercise and good yummy food, I got to be very fat! Let me tell you, for someone with as much pride as I have, being so fat was very embarrassing for me!
After I was spayed, I didn’t go back to the vet, so from all the neglect, I became a very poor and sad pug. Eventually my owners got tired of me (and I was getting tired of them too!!!) so they posted an ad up offering me free to good home. A nice lady from the Union County Animal Shelter heard about my ad and went to pick me up. Her name was Donna and she brought me home.
Boy, was I happy to be with her and her nice family! She gave me a warm bath and cleaned me up really good! She also house trained me (who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?). Donna was amazed one day when we were outside and I pooped out a little metal army man toy; I had been so badly abused at my former home I probably ate the toy out of boredom or sadness! I had also worn the same collar for so long, it left horrible indentions and calluses on my poor little pug neck. I also had developed kennel cough from being outside and I wheeze and pant a lot from the strain the collar put on my throat. I had a horrible mite problem in my ears on top of that. But even through all that, Donna could see the sparkle returning to my sad and lonely eyes while she taught me to be a happy pug that trusts humans.
After I had been on a diet for awhile and had shown significant health improvements, Donna was ready for me to go to a forever home!
My mommy and daddy found me on this great site called petfinder.com, which places homeless pets of all kinds in loving families. My new mommy had been searching for a homeless pug for a few months, to be a companion to their existing fawn pug, Lily. When mommy saw my photo, she fell instantly in love with my cute little face and emailed Donna right away. After many emails, mommy, daddy and Lily came to pick me up. Since my new family lived about an hour away from Union, Donna agreed to bring me half way. When I came to my new home, I was very very excited! All the excitement about having a new sister caused me to breathe very heavily for a few days! Mommy thought I must be sick; she did not know it takes me awhile to calm myself down when I am excited!
When I went to the vet a few days later, they took lots of tests and said I was healthy as a horse but just needed to lose a little bit more weight!
I loved my little sister Lily from the very get-go. I took to mothering her, laying her down at night and washing her face and little belly. We also sleep together on the couch snuggled right up against each other! I love to go to ‘puppy spa’ with my sister and get pug facials and massages and manicures! I also have 2 huge baskets of toys to play with (my cookie monster is my favorite toy) and I love to go on a short walks when it’s not too cold or too hot out! Mommy also buys me all kinds of fancy outfits now that I am small enough to fit in them!
I love my mommy and sister but my daddy is the VERY best. I am definitely Daddy’s girl; I am always on his lap and follow him from room to room. My breathing difficulties have definitely improved and I have lost tons of weight since my crazy pug sister taught me about ‘pug attacks’ where we run through the house like 2 miniature galloping horses.
I finally have reached the end of my tail! I conclude by saying I am one happy, lucky, and VERY loved little pug!
Donna
12/20/2007
Such a lucky little girl! Went from neglected to spoiled rotten in record time.
What a blessing you guys have been for her. How can you not love that face?