my story...

When I was just a little puppy people took me away from my mommy & brothers & sisters--they put me in the car & took me to a scary place full of sad dogs--some were old & some were young--it was so cold & I missed my family & wondered what had happened. It was crowded, noisy, stinky & some of the dogs were sick, some wimpered in pain, most barked a lot, but the worst part was that it smelled like fear & despair. At night I huddled together with the other puppies trying to stay warm on the cold concrete. In the morning the lady would come with a big bowl of food & then she'd hose off the mess we made & get us soaking wet--it was so cold! We cried & jumped at the chain link gate to get the lady's attention but she was always busy. Once in a while though, she'd put her fingers through the holes & her touch felt so good--but we knew she was sad too. The lady gave us lots of food since she knew we'd have to fight to get any but sometimes we were still hungry. The food was hard & not what we were used to. If we fought too bad she shot us with the hose to break it up--so we were wet most of the time & our noses stung from the smell of the place. We knew something was very wrong but just waited hoping our mommies would come for us since that's what us little puppies do.

One day two new people came & everyone thought they were there for them & we all barked & cried with hopeful joy! First they let two of my friends out & I was left behind but then they came back to look in my kennel again so I wiggled with joy & cried to them to please take me too! I was so excited when they opened the gate again & let me out! The other dog's sad hearts must have broken a little bit more when they only took us. They still barked but it had lost that hopeful sound.

We were the lucky ones--so happy to get out into the sun & feel the grass--it was wonderful but we were scared too, we weren't sure we were safe so we wagged our tails & crawled on our bellies toward the people to show our respect & graditude. The people touched us gently & it felt amazing! They picked us up & put us in a car on a blanket that felt so soft & warm.
We drove a long way & tried to sleep but the ride made me sick & I lost some food. No hose! When we got to our new home we had our first warm baths & we smelled so good...they fed us wonderful food-- each with our own bowl! We were happy & we knew everything was okay now & we were home. We had warm soft beds & the big dogs welcomed us, played with us & showed us around--we learned to go potty outside & not in the house-this was our first time ever in a house! Camo made us stay together & broke up our puppy fights & Moxie taught us how to hunt lizards. Emmie made us be good & let us know we were safe. Our new people taught us about collars, leashes, took us to the vet & we even learned to "take walks"! We learned a lot since then & are so very grateful to be out of the scary place where dogs are sad & lonely. My mom hopes people will care about all the forgotten sweet pups who so desperately need homes & someone to love them.