After I lost Charlotte (and she gained a new lease on life), I felt empty. I knew I had to find another dog to help! I applied online later that week to be a foster mom for a local (and extremely successful) rescue. The next day, I had already received a phone call from the president of the rescue saying that they desperately needed my help. A hoarder had just been busted in the area with 52 Min Pins in his home that he had bought under false pretense from people who could no longer keep their pets, and was breeding over and over and selling the puppies for profit. "Min Pins", I thought, "this should be interesting..".
That afternoon, I went to the rescue to meet my new charges. I would be taking home an 8 year old mama and her 3 week old puppy. I had never even seen a puppy this young in person! I couldn't believe what a little ball of fur he was, so alien looking and so helpless! Mama was very protective, and would jump from person to person until she found who was holding her little one. It was so sad that she had only one puppy. Was it her age? Was it because she had been bred so many times? I wondered, too, if she had ever had a real home or, if so, how long it had been since she had been stolen from it and how long since her abuse had begun.
Once in my home, mama (now named Lisette) was very protective of her baby around Mason. Mason also made me a little nervous... he seemed to think the puppy was some kind of rodent and, for those who don't know, Yorkies were made to hunt rodents. Oh boy, there goes leaving these two alone together EVER. Luckily, puppies grow very fast, and soon he looked like a real dog enough to save his own butt from the ratter! But back to that first day... Louie (the baby) could only hop a few steps before he would tumble over, and when he was scared and wanted to turn around, he didn't know how. He could only run backwards as fast as possible. Sad... yet hilarious.
With each day, Lisette became more trusting of me and Mason, and would lounge on the couch wrapped in a blanket while I babysat. Louie grew fast, and soon he was learning about puppy wee wee pads and eating big boy food. His patient mama let him nurse despite his needle teeth coming in, but his steps towards being weened were very positive. He learned to run and jump, learned that playing on the edge of the couch would likely mean taking a pretty big tumble (oops!). His prey drive started early, attacking dog toys twice his size with wolf-like tenacity. He was a little devil early on, but you couldn't get mad at those little blue eyes. Louie, by 6 weeks, was tall and beautiful, well on his way to being a handsome young man.
The time came for me to make my annual trip back to Boston to see my family. The timing was terrible! I didn't want to abandon these little ones. After all, they were my responsibility, and I was loving every moment of it! The day before my trip, I dropped my little ones back off at the rescue to await their new foster mom. I once again had to deal with saying goodbye to babies who had become so attached to me, and it was even harder this time. As I walked out of the office, I could hear them both screaming out for me, wondering why they weren't in my arms as I walked out the door. All I can hope is that they can understand my role in their lives in some capacity and not think that they were being abandoned yet again. I still cry as I sit here telling you about our last minutes together, but being a part of their lives is all I could ask, and I certainly was.
Louie was adopted by a family, but his mama is still with her new foster waiting for her forever home as of August 2011.
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