Summary

Rescue dogs are patiently waiting for some one to adopt them. Rescue dogs are truly the way to go when acquiring a pet. Read about one who gave up waiting and rescued herself.

The storm raged outside but did not bother us, as we were all snuggled inside with our two dogs, Cimi and Grumbles, which you may learned about in previous articles. Suddenly, my granddaughter, Serina, said, “look gramma, there is a dog at our window”. The little dog had her paws on the outside ledge of the window, looking in. She was filthy and soaking wet. I told Serina to go get her. Serina brought her in. The dog was so dirty and her hair was so matted and wet, you almost could not tell what color she was. I put her in the sink to give her a bath. I know she was thinking, “What are you doing to me. I am soaking wet, hungry, and cold and you put me under more water? What ever is going on here?” Serina helped me hold on to her, as the little dog was trying to get out of the sink. She was not growling or trying to bite us. She just wanted out and she was very, very strong, despite the fact that she was just skin and bones.

We finally got her bathed somewhat and dried off. I then started cutting all the matted hair balls off her. That took me 3 hours and she still looked like a ragamuffin. She would not let me clip her hair anywhere near her face. She looked like her coat was probably light beige with silver on her ears and I thought she was probably Shih Tzu. She only had one tooth in her whole mouth. We thought maybe she had run away from a puppy mill. She was so sweet. Serina and I decided to call her Molly.

The next day I called one of my friends, to see if she wanted to adopt Molly. She fell in love with Molly at first sight, but her husband really did not want another dog. My husband, Ed, was in Florida at the time. When Ed came home, he too fell in love with Molly on sight. We decided we would keep her, because by this time she had wormed her way into our hearts.

The following day I gave Molly another bath, as she was still dirty. The matted hairballs made it hard to bathe her the first time. She looked much better after her second bath. We took her to the vet, who thought she might be about 8 or 9 years old due to the fact that she had no teeth. We had him sedate her and trim her hair around her face. She looked so cute after her trim…almost like a little Ewok.

Molly has settled into her new home over time, though she is still very skittish. If anyone tries to approach her she will keep backing up, staying just out of reach and if she is startled, she will turn and run out the doggy door as fast as she can. For example, if someone even walks past her when she is eating, she will immediately stop eating and run out the doggy door. Who knows what she went through before she found us and how long it will take for her to settle down? On the positive side, she will come to us to get loved on, if it is her idea and she loves our other dog, Cimi. They play together every day. She tolerates our Maltese, Grumbles, but lets him know immediately he better not get any ideas about making her his mate. She will have none of that nonsense.

Molly reminds me of a cat. She is very strong willed and independent. She will not come when she is call, unless it benefits her in someway. She will let you hold her if she wants to be held. But if she does not feel like it, she will fight to get down, and she is very strong. As I said, we have found that it is much easier if we let her come to us. She also has picked out where she wants to eat, and will not eat anywhere else. She is on a special diet, since we had to get her surgery for a bladder stone, which could return, without the diet. She loves the food, but is unhappy about not getting snacks from out dinner, like Cimi and Grumbles get. She does not mind her bath or grooming anymore and is no longer skin and bones. She’s actually beginning to look like a fat little tinker-toy. She also is probably only 2 or 3 years old, as she has developed little bitsy teeth.

On one final note, Molly and Grumbles share Grumbles toys, and Grumbles does not complain as he is hoping that one day, Molly will be more friendly toward him. She just does not trust him enough yet to play with him. Considering the environment, in which she must have come, it’s surprising that she trust anyone, but we feel sure that as she feels more and more safe with us that she will come around.

I’m sure you can tell by now that these delightful little dogs are truly part of our family and we love them. They have brought joy and laughter into our lives. You might think about rescuing an animal yourself, which I’m sure will bring more joy and laughter into your life as well.

Nancy Vacin is the author of this article and all three of her dogs are actually rescue dogs. To read about how they each have their own unique and individual personalities and there own special stories go to the article tab on her website and see if the other stories will motive you into rescuing and animal yourself.