Dogster

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Love conquers all

Page 2

Ok, so where did I leave off? Right, Mom took me home and helped me out. Mom and I spent TONS of time together. It was just her and I. Mom didn't have much but whatever she did have she shared with me. She bought me the best food she could afford and took me to the vet for medication and x-rays and stuff. Mom got some bad news about my limping. She hugged me so hard and I felt her wet tears on my fur. I guess a lot of people told Mom to just kill me then. Everyone said I was too sick and not worth it. I think that really broke Mom's heart a whole lot. I guess that is one thing about Mom and me... we are DETERMINED. Mom kept on loving me and I kept on getting stronger.

One time Mom brought me to this guy's house. He had a family. Mom left me there. I didn't want to go there. I don't know why she did it... I wasn't bad or anything. I guess so many people kept telling her she couldn't take care of me that she gave up for a while. I don't know but boy was I MAD!! This family was nice, but they were NOT my Mom. I tore up everything I could get my teeth on. I did all sorts of bad things to try to make them bring me back to Mom. I was there for about 2 weeks and I HATED it. I couldn't believe Mom would leave me like this!! One morning... very early I woke up to that guy who lived there. He came home from work at the same time Mom used to... very early in the morning when it was still dark out. He went to let me outside and I knew something was different. He opened the door and there was MY MOM!! She came back for me!! I leapt into her arms from the top stair! I licked her face and told her how much I missed her and how I would never do anything bad again... EVER! The whole way home I rested my head in her lap... Mom promised me right then and there that she would never let me go ever again and she would never give up on me. Mom cried and cried the whole way home... I think she really missed me.

Mom taught me all sorts of neat tricks and things and we started going to this neat-o place called AGILITY! Have you heard of it?? Oh goodness it is one of my most favorite places in the entire world!! There is this obstacle course for dogs there and I get to run and jump and run some more... and when I have all this fun I get TREATS!!! How great is that!?! Mom is always SO proud of everything I do, it is a very happy place! Even now when we go there I whine and whine because I want to play play play!! Mom says we are both addicted to agility. Ha ha ha! Oh well. So Mom and I did super great at agility together. I of course watch Mom's every move and can read her better than a book! Are you kidding me? I spend my entire life watching her move around!! I know where she is going before she knows it. He he. And so we started going to trials and as a team we won lots of pretty colored ribbons and things. Mom was always so proud of me. She cried the first time we got a ribbon. She couldn't believe how far we came... together. :) We worked and worked. I never told Mom my hips hurt me when I played. We were having too much fun! This was the best life a dog could ever dream of having. I sure wasn't going to tell her how much I hurt and end our fun. NO WAY!

Life went on, and things changed over time. Mom met this guy... he became Dad. We moved someplace where it was REALLY hot out and there was lots of bugs. We didn't get to do much agility there... I guess that classes were really all they had so we did that and a trial here or there... maybe once a year. Mom started helping other dogs like me... Ive seen tons of dogs come and go through our house. Mom helped them all find people who would love them like she loves me. I got to help them overcome some fears and teach them what "the good life" was all about. Mom and I started visiting old people sometimes too. Oh how fantastic! Old people give great belly rubs!! ANd I got to do tricks for them too. It is really great to see them smile. Sometimes I got to go see kids too. Mom and I did all sorts of great things together. Life was great! Then a little baby came along. Mom and I kept doing agility classes. Together we worked our way up to a level 2... whatever that is. :) We had tons of fun. One time at a trial my hip hurt me so bad I didn't want to jump anymore. Mom was upset... not about me not being able to run... but that I hurt. So she took me out of the games that day. I tried my very best, but the pain was just too much. I was six then... nearly seven years old. I guess I was getting old.

This one time... we had a dog come to our house. Well actually Mom and I drove for a very long time in the truck to a place called Tennessee. Have you heard of it? Well we met that lady who was with Mom when she picked me up from that pet shop. A couple days went by and then sure enough... we went to get another rescue dog. Oh big surprise! But Mom said this dog was different from all the rest. Mom told me that this dog was actually the dog who gave birth to me in that puppy mill so long ago. My dog-mom was named Comanche. She was very old when we got her and very tired. She was 8 years old. I didn't really know that she was my mom and she didn't really know me. I told her it was all ok and that my Mom would take very good care of her. Comanche was very afraid and had a very bad life. Mom loved her because she was my dog-mom and gave her the best life she could of asked for. Comanche didn't want to live with us inside the house... she had never lived inside. Comanche lost her mind I think and was no longer a dog. I am so glad I didn't stay there at that puppy mill. Mom said that we were just supposed to love Comanche until she felt safe... and Mom did just that. Comanche finally felt safe and then one day passed away in her sleep.

Life was still good, but boy did my hips hurt. OWCH. Mom took me to a very fancy doctors office place called UF. They had lots of doctors and dogs there. Can you believe it?? It was HUGE. They did lots of tests on me and my legs. The surgery guy said he couldn't believe I could even walk much less run and jump and stuff. HA! Little did he know how much I loved my Mom and how much I loved to see her smile... us working together as a team... oh yeah and don't forget those treats! :) So they cut me open and took out part of my hurting leg. Oh goodness. My leg still hurt when I woke up, but not like it did before. My leg was shorter. I wouldn't walk on it. Mom and I started right away on making me feel better. Medicines again and then some walking. Mom MADE me walk on my leg. I sure didn't want to. She said I had to if we were ever going to play agility again. We went lots of places. People used some warm laser thing on my leg that helped me feel better. Another lady put these sticky "stim" pads on my leg to work my muscles... and then she made me walk up and down things and use my leg. I even got to walk on a treadmill under the water. Oh goodness... what a trip.

Using my leg was good and I started feeling better. Mom kept me active of course and about 6 months after my surgery I got to run again in a trial. Only one run. But it was encouraging. A year after my surgery we did some agility at the fair in NY. I love my Mom. :) But I guess I am just getting old. My leg still hurts me and Mom is taking me to lots of doctors to see how they can help me. Mom and I did one last trial together in November 2010. Mom and I earned our CL2 completely finished it off. Mom was so proud of me. But after only 3 runs that day I started limping again. I guess it is just time to admit that I can't do what I used to.

Mom and I have been doing agility classes in NY... but the doctors say I shouldn't play anymore. As it will just hurt me more and more. This broke my Mom's heart even more than people telling her to kill me. Mom cried and cried about me for a whole week. Nothing I did could make her happy. I don't like seeing Mom that sad. I still really want to play agility but Mom says because I don't show her how much I hurt until it is too late that we can't play regularly. Right now I am on crate rest for dang near forever. Then Mom says exercise and x-rays to see what is next. Mom is worried about my other bad hip and my back. I told her I will be ok... but Mom is very scared. Mom doesn't want me to be hurt and in pain... and she doesn't want me to live a life of pain medication. I just love Mom. I hope that Mom can think of something we can still do together. Making her happy is one of the best things in the entire world... besides treats, fishing and agility.

So that is my story so far. I am sure I Will think of more things I forgot as time goes on... but that is me. Mihkoa... a puppy mill product, pet shop survivor, FHO recovered, AGILITY ROCK STAR! And this is my life... that proves LOVE can conquer all.

The story of me. (PART ONE)

My name is Mihkoa. It means "Red squirrel" in Abenaki. My human is part Abenaki so that is why she named me this. For the first week she had me she just called me "Red Dog". I still answer to that and "Red". This is my story... though I try hard to forget these bad parts... like a nightmare fading away with the morning light.

I am nearly 8 years old now and it's about time I put the entire story of my life out there for the entire world to read. I used to be on here, but some drama made Momma say "NO MORE". But I guess she had a change of heart after several years. So here I am to share the story that brought me to where I am today.

I am a small Aussie. I am about 30lbs or so (a little chunkier in winter). I was born in a puppy mill. I don't think much about that place anymore. My mom was a red merle with no copper and my dad was a red tri with a full white collar. My Mom's name was "Patty's Favorite Gal" but everyone called her Comanche. My Dad's name was "RB's Huggy Redbear" but everyone called him Bear.

When I Was just a very small puppy the puppy mill lady sold me to a pet shop. I was about 8 weeks old. I came to New York from MIssouri on a tractor trailer truck. It was pretty scary! Then I arrived at a place called "The Pet Company" in the Wilton Mall in Saratoga NY. What a DREADFUL place! There were loads of other puppies like me there. Small ones, bigger ones, all different types of puppies. It smelled of sickness and death. At first I got to be out in the "fishbowl" where all sorts of people came to look at me. Sometimes if I was lucky people would take me out to play in this little white room. It was a pretty boring life and every single one of us hoped that we would get to play outside the "fishbowl" for a while. Being in a cage is no fun at all. I started to cough one day and the people there took me out of the fishbowl and put me into a cage in the back where I never got to play with people besides the ones who gave me medicine and cleaned my runny butt. Oh goodness. I got a little better and they sent me back out to the fishbowl with the other puppies. This went on for what seemed like an eternity. Back and forth from the front to the back rooms, and then I noticed it had been a long time since I was out in the fishbowl with the other puppies. I was still very sick. I coughed all the time and my legs hurt a lot from being in a cage. I thought for sure that this was the end for me. I was now 8 months old... I had been here for 6 long months, and I was WAY bigger than all the other puppies.

Then one day, while I was still sick and hurting in the back room one of the medicine people came and took me out of my cage!! They brought me out to the front room... to a white room where people play with puppies like me!! I could hardly believe it!! There was this lady there... and she had come there just for me. I couldn't get close enough to her. I am sure I must have smelled pretty horrible from being so sick with that runny butt. I kept coughing and coughing and when I would try to get up and walk around I limped. This lady... she looked at me and I saw it in her eyes. She loved me. She was going to save me!!! I wasn't going to die here in this smelly place!! This lady scooped me up and the medicine people made her sign some papers and then something AMAZING happened... she took me away from there.

This nice lady carried me all the way to the outside world and to a car. There was another lady with her too. I shook and shivered on our ride, but she put this thing around my neck and gave me treats. A collar, a leash... and treats. I walked on grass for the first time in my entire life. I smelled that fresh sweet air that I only dreamt of. That night I slept in that nice lady's bed... so soft and cushy and warm. No cage. I could hardly walk, and those big tall stair things were totally impossible for me to get up. But this lady... this very special lady that I will call "MOM" loved me so much that she carried me when I couldn't do it and helped me learn what was ok and what wasn't. Mom saved me.... and that is something I can never forget.

Mihkoa