Daisy’s One Year Anniversary

Alert! This is a longer post than I normally make, but it’s worth the read…

This past Sunday was Daisy’s one year anniversary with us… and I couldn’t let it go by without a post about her because of the special way she came into our lives.

Here’s the story: Gary and I were perfectly happy with our home and Deucey/2 kitties. We were watching the news one night and saw a clip about a group of 23 papillons that were being rescued in Grayson County due to inhumane conditions. These dogs were being forced to live in a tiny 4-door sedan with their owner. The dogs were not allowed to get out of the car, so they were forced to eat, poop, sleep and live in the car. When the SPCA rescued the dogs they said the ammonia odor was one of the highest amounts recorded in a dog seizure.

Here are some photos from the newspaper of the seizure:

Since we had Deucey (a papillon) already this story touched our hearts. The dogs that had been rescued wouldn’t be ready for a week or so (while the SPCA checked them out and spayed/neutered them) so we had a while to pray and think about it. We talked about it and realized we have the room for 1 more furbaby in our life and decided to visit the SPCA the day that they were put up for adoption. We were surprised to see other people there solely for the papillons (most of which had a papillon already) and realized the story touched many people.

When we met Daisy she was named number “5″ and she was curled up into a little ball in the hay pen they had her placed in. Gary reached over the side and picked her up and she curled right up to him. She was the smallest one there. We went into a private room to get to know her better and her true personality came out. She was so curious, still afraid of everything, but very curious and wanted so much love she just wasn’t sure what to do. So, we decided it was right. We filled out the paperwork and found out that they estimated her to be about 2 years old and took her home that day. I was off work the rest of the afternoon and stayed home with her. Sidenote: it is important to know that Daisy stunk…. really bad. Everyone that came over commented on it. I’m pretty sure the SPCA gave her a bath, but regardless she stunk bad. And we couldn’t give her a bath because she had just had the spay surgery 2 days earlier so she was still recovering and had stitches.

I’ve always known that it’s better to let dogs meet on “unclaimed territory” so I let Daisy and Deucey meet outside in the front yard… it went well… a few sniffs and circles and they were buddies. So, we went inside to meet the cats. This did not go as well. Daisy immediately chased Pookie under the bed (where she stayed for 2 days) and Kiki to the top of the closet (where she stayed for 3 days). Daisy and the cats never quite learned how to get along and when we moved to the new house we were comfortable with the cats having more freedom and roaming in our back yard so now they get along much better.

Back to the first day though… Daisy was incredibly emaciated (she looked like she hadn’t eaten in days). Gary could wrap his hand around her waist to where his thumb and middle finger met. She was that small. So, like any loving owner, I figured she was hungry and set out her first plate of dog food. She scarfed it down and looked up at me with these puppy dog eyes and I figured she was still hungry so I gave her some more. I didn’t think it was a whole lot but looking back in hindsight it would be like eating a 5 course meal when you haven’t eaten in days. She seemed fine for a while and in the middle of the night she started throwing up. At first, she purged the food and then she just started dry heaving. She dry-heaved numerous times in about 30 minutes so we rushed her to the animal emergency hospital down the road (which we had been to before when Deucey broke his leg). Sidenote: on the way there Gary got pulled over for stopping too far over the white line at a red light…. I didn’t even know you could get pulled over for this but the cop was nice and let us go once he saw the sick dog in my lap.

The emergency vet suggested that we do surgery. An expensive surgery and he wanted to hospitalize her over night for observation. And I can’t quite remember why or what he thought the problem was because the whole night was such a blur. Gary and I sat in the room by ourselves with this sweet, sick dog that we had known only a few hours crying together. We loved her already but we didn’t know her well enough to do an expensive surgery and we weren’t sure it was our place since we had literally just adopted her from SPCA. So, we asked the vet if we could just get her some anti-nausea medicine to hold her through the night and then in the morning we would go to the SPCA animal hospital and talk to them. He gave her the meds and we went home around 2:15 in the morning… I slept on the floor in the guest bedroom that night with her. I have to re-emphasize that she stunk so bad but I could overlook it… I looked into her sweet eyes that looked so weary from exhaustion. So confused, but yet so lovingly loyal. I say I slept… I really just laid there and cat napped all night long. I think she did the same thing because we both were still getting used to each other. She cuddled up right next to me though (like she does now) and we catnapped through the night together. The next morning I got up as soon as the sun peeked in the window… I think it was 6:30 or so and Daisy was acting a little better. The SPCA animal hospital opened at 7 and I was first in line. The vet checked her out and said that she didn’t need surgery she just needed some very bland food, some antibiotics and lots of love. The vet said that it was probably just a combination of nerves, overeating and the surgery that made her sick. I called Gary, relieved, he and I were both happy that everything was ok and that it wasn’t worse.

Through the next few weeks she adjusted to life in her new home and really opened up – she really loves the finer things in life. For example, we have lots of pillows on our bed, but she would choose the down-pillow one as opposed to the cotton fill. Or the egyptian cotton towel instead of the “car washing” towel. I remember the first time we heard her bark… her bark was so different from Deucey’s… her bark sounded so loud and confused… almost like she was still learning how to talk. Gary and I looked at each other and laughed the first time we heard it.

I remember the first time we gave her a bath too — which was very funny. I wouldn’t say Deucey loves his baths, but he will stand calmly in the bathtub with his ears lowered and let us finish. Daisy on the other hand, became a wild woman. She wanted nothing to do with the bath. I ended up getting in the tub with her fully clothed to finish rinsing her out. She smelled so much better after that.

I know this has been a long post, but it was such a special day to us and Daisy has become a part of our lives. We never knew rescuing a dog would enrich us so much. Everyday we learn new things about Daisy and realize how special we are to her… she likes it when strangers come to visit and she wants attention so bad but she is still nervous to have “strangers” pick her up or pet her. She has enriched our lives a lot and we love her very much. And, luckily, her and Deucey love each other too.

We know that there will be a transition when Lillian gets here, but we will still love our furbabies. We will still continue to show them affection and give them play time. We knew the responsibility when we adopted these furbabies and made a promise to them to ensure that they have a fun life full of play times, treats and walks outside. We know that there will be some tense times and it will take a while for everyone to get adjusted but we are prepared and know that it can happen. Gary and I hope to instill the love and respect for animals that we have in Lillian and we know that before long they will all be best buddies… as long as she doesn’t pull their tail