I am a breast cancer survivor. I was first diagnosed in 2010 and then had a reoccurrence in 2016. At that point in my life I was 36 single mother with a 12 year old. I was faced with not only having breast cancer but the fact that I would no longer be able to have anymore children due to breast cancer treatment as well as some other minor medical complications. I was 36 a single mother with a 12 year old boy. Not at the point in my life where I wanted to rule out any possibilities for the future. During that sad lonely time where I was so discouraged someone talk to me about getting a small dog. I already had a couple of dogs that I was super happy with but they were not super cuddly. I thought about it and remembered that my neighbor had a toy poodle that I really liked. She was super cuddly and I always said I would like a dog like her. After surgery chemotherapy and remission I set out on my journey to find a smalldog. I ended up getting a couple of small dogs that didn’t really work out. One of them did not like other dogs, and the other bonded with my son which was good and she did not like other dogs either. Shelters but unfortunately I have a disability I’m a single mother in so a lot of places like that are very discriminatory toward people.
Also I don’t drive so I was limited by distance. I did have friends willing to drive me up to an hour away but I could not travel much beyond that.I also live in a small town with a lot of low income people so the variety of dogs was pretty much Pitbulls and Chihuahuas. I was not interested in either one of those breeds although I know it’s all about training and I do not subscribe to Bree discrimination that just was not going to work out for my situation. Through a lot of trial and error in about three different dogs I ended up with a dog that came from another state. The owner was willing to drive and meet me halfway. So that fit with my hour away distance requirement. I actually hired someone to take me to pick her up. She was called Abigail. It’s really interesting. I talk to the lady about her and decided I wanted her, then we lost each other‘s contact information and I was able to find her a couple of months later. When I first talked to the lady she told me that she had poodle puppies for sale. Abigail‘s puppies I ask her if I could have Abigail in it first she said no that I could have Abigail‘s older puppy that was around two years old. I was OK with that but after talking to me she realize that, Abigail would be a better fit for me. She told me that the puppies had to be weened before Iwe could come and get her and that is when we lost each other‘s contactinformation by the time I found her again Abigail had weened puppies and was ready to go.
This is when the fun started. So I was sent pictures of a poodle looking dog with nice hair. By the time I picked her up she had gotten into something outside and the lady was not one to pay for many things. So she did not take her to a professional groomer. She decided to groom her herself. With a surgical blade so her Furrer was gone her skin was practically showing and she looked pretty terrible. There was nothing I could do but wait for the fur to grow back but it was not a nice situation at all. Not at all what I thought I was getting. She told me that Abigail had a history of killing birds. Apparently the lady had pet birds that she allowed to fly all around the house freely and Abigail hadkilled one. Not to mention according to this woman Abigail had also tried to attack one that was in a cage. So Abigail was banished to outside. So this little tiny dog was left outside 24 seven. The lady told me this before I picked her up and I expressed concern that the dog was not housebroken. She assured me that Abigail had lived indoors for most of her life and she would just need some practice but she would be fine because she was an inside dog really.
One other thing that she mentioned to me was to not let Abigail use potty pads. She said oh potty pads just train dogs to use blankets towels or anything on the floor. It’s best to teach them to go outside because potty bats lead to a lot of bad habits. I’m not sure if this isOne other thing that she mentioned to me was to not let Abigail use potty pads. She said oh potty pads just train dogs to use blankets towels or anything on the floor. It’s best to teach them to go outside because potty pads lead to bad habits. I will say with my small dogs I have found this to be the case but I’m not sure if it’s a small dog thing, just my dogs, but it was some useful advice.
When Abigail came to me she was very underweight she had never been to a vet and I’m pretty sure on the phone she told me that Abigail was three years old and then when I got her home and was going to take her to the vet she changed it to saying that she was four years old. I guess that’s not a huge thing but it’s just one of those things.I took her to the vet got her rabies shot got her on some flea preventative and did all the preliminary things. Now I will say I did pay the lady a rehoming fee or whatever you wanna call it. I’m trying to remember but I’m believing she charged me $150. I know for me I did not want to pay more than a rescue or shelter would charge so I felt $150 was fair. Now I look at it and think she had never taken her to the vet she had never taken her to the groomers she wasn’t current on flea preventative had not ever had any care other than food and by the fact that she was underweight it did not seem like she was getting much food. So in someways I think 150 was a little too much. I also talked about her being underweight to the lady and she said she put out food and if the dogs pushed Abigail or any other dog out of the way and chose to eat it all that was just the way it was. So I got her home got her vet care and started to see some problems this dog was not housebroken. This dog had terrible habits she had been allowed to eat off that lady‘s plate and drink out of her cup. That’s a habit that we’re still working on five years later. Of course she had never had on A collar, leash, harness, never been in the car probably never left that lady‘s property. I don’t even think that lady owned a leash or collar the day she brought her to meet she had her wearing a cat harness. She brought me some sort of sweatshirt for her the cat harness a bottle of water for the ride home and some sort of toy. It was not even a dog toy I think it was like a kids stuffed animal. I had the lady meet me at Petsmart which I highly recommend because there’s always going to be some pet item you need or you’re going to have to go to the pet store right after you pick up the dog so I just thought it was best to meet at Petsmart. I took her straight into Petsmart and looked for her a collar I brought a leash with me I also brought one of my other dogs with me to make her feel a little more secure.
I do not think she had ever eaten out of a dog bowl I mean this was a dog who knew nothing. I had to start from the very beginning and it was so overwhelming those first few months. I remember wondering what I had gotten myself into. There were many tears much frustration and a whole lot of questioning myself. I took her to training and she progressed a little bit but I was still really discouraged. Not long after that I found out she had Giardia which was contributing to a lot of her accidents not to mention she had been throwing up as well.anytime I had a problem I contacted the previous owner I guess just to show her how much she had messed up which I do not recommend I don’t know what I thought I would get from her maybe a reason maybe an apology. She always acted shocked or like the problems were my fault. I do not recommend contacting the previous owner especially if it’s not a reputable person. It was just kind of pointless and I quit calling her after a while. For those of you who do not know Giardia is an intestinal infection of sorts sort of like a parasite, it causes throwing up diarrhea it’s very bad dogs get it from drinking contaminated water usually with some sort of animal feces.
I can’t even tell you win but at some point things started to get better. I got a crate and began crate training her and she started to develop a little personality of course she put on a lot of weight probably too much because she found out she was going to get to eat every day.
One of her big things is and was door dashing although now she does it a little less often and is easier to get back when she used to dash out the door sometimes it would be a couple of hours before I could get her back.
She is still a dog who is prone to have accidents I guess that’s just the way it’s going to be I’ve talked to trainers and a lot of them think because she wasn’t housebroken at a younger age that’s part of the problem I’m not sure what sometimes she can go months without having an accident and sometimes she might have three accidents in one week.
I’m happy to say training has gotten a lot better in fact I have found that she really likes to learn and she’s really smart. She is my dog that I can teach the most things to and is the most willing to learn. In fact if she hears me training with another dog she’s quick to start coming around and wanting to participate.her leash walking has gotten better and she listens better and the biggest thing that we did early on was changed her name. Pretty early on I decided she needed a new start but I wanted her name to be similar to her old name. She was Abigail called Abby and now she is tabby. Here’s the good stuff. She is so cuddly loves to be held she is got this whole baby persona going on. I joke around and say how on earth were you ever anybody’s mother because you want to be the baby. She is the oldest dog in my house but you would think she was a young as she wants to be carried and held and she actually cries when she does not get her way. She wants to be cuddled at night when you sleep she wants to be in bed with you. She loves to go in the car she loves to travel I feel like her life has grown so much and so has mine. We’ve gone on trips together we visited friends together. In fact the very first weekend I had or we went and stayed with friends so she’s done a lot of traveling. I found she does not like being the only dog. About six months after I got her maybe a year I went and stayed with a friend and I brought her with me and did not take any of the other dogs and she did not like that. A couple of times I’ve gone on trips and left her with my mom and she’s not like that either being the only dog.I found she does not like being the only dog. About six months after I got her maybe a year I went and stayed with a friend and I brought her with me and did not take any of the other dogs and she did not like that. A couple of times I’ve gone on trips and left her with my mom and she’s not like that either being the only dog. Recently I found that she is slightly spoiled she will bark to get your attention she will bark to get her way she will come and move your arm and make you pet her she will jump up and try to get you to pick her up. Yes I’ve learned that I need to put a stop to a lot of her manipulating bad habits but it’s so hard because she’s so cute. The last thing I want to share is she loves going to the groomer getting her hair brushed and styled she loves all that stuff she is a total diva. No more surgical blades get haircuts for her.The last thing I want to share is she loves going to the groomer getting her hair brushed and styled she loves all that stuff she is a total diva. No more surgical blade terrible haircuts for her. Oh and she’s not a poodle at all like the lady said she’s actually a bichon surprise I didn’t even get the breed that I thought I was getting.
Paws of Happiness 