I first saw Charlotte's very sad face through the Pet Pardons app on Facebook. The photo was of Charlotte in a cardboard box looking completely terrified. Her time was up at a Los Angeles kill shelter. Charlotte was a 1 year old Chihuahua who had been a stray, and had clearly already given birth to at least one litter... at least I hope it was only one litter. I immediately posted that I would foster her, and applied as a foster with the LA area rescue that had posted her case. Charlotte was pulled, and sent to the vet to be spayed.
Then I hit a roadblock... I was working full time in San Diego, and could not pick her up from the vet after her spay surgery. I communicated this problem on her Pet Pardon's listing, and a stranger named Crystal came to the rescue. Crystal turned out to be a true angel. After much confusion and a near miss on the timing of Crystal's trip to Charlotte's available pickup from the vet, she was in the car and on her way to San Diego. When I first saw Charlotte, she was sitting on Crystal's husband's lap in the passenger seat of the car, and she looked completely defeated. I'm sure she had no idea that her life was about to get better than ever. When I leaned into the car and said hello to her in my best soprano doggie voice, her little tail started thumping, and I knew we would be best friends.
Charlotte fit into my family immediately, and by family I mean myself and my Yorkie, Mason. They were great together from the start, and Charlotte soon discovered the true joys that are Couch and Bed. Yes, Mason was jealous and would sleep with his butt in my face for the first week, but it was a perfect match.
Because I was still working, I had Charlotte baby gated in my small kitchen area while I was gone, just in case she hadn't ever had any housetraining. Well, to my surprise, I came home from work on Charlotte's second day to find her standing in my living room, baby gate undisturbed... or so I thought. Upon closer inspection, I found that Charlotte had chewed a hole straight through the gate, barely big enough to squeeze her body through! She just wanted to be with Mason! So as you can imagine, that was the end of that. She never had to be baby gated again.
Charlotte's little face could break your heart. For those familiar with Chihuahuas, when they are stressed or upset, they squint their eyes and you swear they are going to burst into human tears at any moment. This poor little girl was terrified of being outside and even more terrified of men. An approaching man on the street would get one fear bark before Charlotte was safely hiding behind my legs, trembling. It was clear that she had been abused. Not that I can imagine the abuse of any animal, dog or otherwise, but what on earth could this teeny Chihuahua done to deserve the abuse of a grown man?
On Charlotte's first day, I took her to stand in a dog park just to observe her new world. A girl around my age came up and asked me some questions about her, and I gladly shared her story while she continued to hide and shake. A week later, Charlotte and I were outside when this same girl walked by us. She stopped and was silent for a moment before she exclaimed, "this cannot be the same dog I met last week!" Charlotte was wagging her whole butt in anticipation of meeting a new person, and was no longer hiding behind my legs. Yep, it was her! That same little baby that was so unsure just a week before. On the last day that she lived with me, Charlotte finally discovered how to play with toys. That was probably my greatest joy of all.
Charlotte's confidence was so inspiring, I decided to take her on a trip to Mason's favorite doggie spot- Fiesta Island Dog Park. Even off leash, this former stray did not leave my side. On top of that, it looked like she had never been so happy in her life. And as it turns out, today would be Charlotte's lucky day. I met a nice woman in the parking lot, holding an adorable little Chihuahua of her own. She said, "your dog is beautiful" to which I replied, "do you want her?". After explaining the situation to her and assuring her that I was not, in fact, giving my own dog away, she took my phone number and we went our separate ways.. or so I thought. Next thing I know, she is chasing me down the beach calling out my name. She had just spoken to her husband who had said she could absolutely bring home a doggie friend for their little one. We agreed to meet on Sunday so that I could do a home check.
This lovely woman and her husband live in a suburb of San Diego in a beautiful two story home. They have a fenced in back yard and huge dog beds in every corner of the house piled with toys.... just for their little Chihuahua. The woman, it turns out, is home all day every day. JACKPOT! I told you it was her lucky day! Charlotte and their Chihuahua were best friends from the first moment. I have since been updated that they sleep together in their crate every night and play all day every day. There is no way that this little girl could have found a better home. I miss her every day because she was a true joy to know, but she is an extremely lucky little girl who will never know fear or discomfort again.
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