Winnie’s Story
I first heard about Winnie when the rescue I was working with sent out an SOS for a group of dogs being rescued from a hoarder. You can see Winnie at the verryyy far left in the top picture (with the red collar on ) below. The hoarder was giving away over 40 dogs and the rescue couldn’t take them without committed fosters. Even though we still had Blakey at the time, I knew I had to help.
I was sent the picture above, and knowing nothing about her I said I’ll take her!
After she was spayed, microchipped and given all her shots, 2 days later I drove an hour to her vet to pick up a little brown terrier mix . She was SO tiny at only 6.8 lbs (she gained about 2 lbs during her time at my house), I thought she was still a puppy but she was around 2 years old! I bought her a dog cookie and bully stick, but she was so loving all she wanted to do the whole way home was snuggle in my lap.
Her brindle coat looked like a Tiger which reminded me of Winnie the Pooh, so I named her Winnie 🙂
After spending her entire life in a cage, she was finally in a home and she fit right in! Sometimes in hoarding situations, the dogs can be unsocialized or scared of people, but Winnie was the opposite! She never met a stranger! She loved everyone and was so good with other dogs.
Collar flower (pack of 8 for under $15!)| Doggie Dress ($2.98!!)
Okay, I know this outfit (above) is ridiculous – but it was so dang cute! She ruined it in less than a day (thankfully is was only $3), but at least I got a few cute pictures of her in it.
Winnie is one of those pups where it was really hard to capture her adorable personality on camera, but I think I got kinda close in the next few “glamour shots”.
Since she had spent most of her life in a cage, growing up she didn’t have the chance to explore and learn. She was probably my most curious and adventurous foster, and with that came chewing. One night she ended up chewing through my computer cord when I wasn’t looking and electrocuted herself – it was so incredibly scary and we rushed her to the immediately ER. Thankfully she was completely fine, and I think I ended up more scarred than she was.
After having her for about a month, she had many interested families looking to adopt her. While a few initial families fell threw (one lived on a farm and I was scared to death Winnie was going to be taken by a hawk or eaten by a coyote), I talked to a really nice family who was so excited to meet her.
On our way to the meet-and-greet*!
The family immediately fell in love with her and was SO excited about making her part of the family. They had already bought her a bed and toys and had a nice sized backyard for her to play! I usually let the family think on it a day or so after the meet and greet, but they were so ready to take her home they asked if they could come get her early the next morning.
*For this particular rescue, I always do a home check (“meet-and-greet”) to visit the potential adopter to see if it’s a good fit.
Adoption day! I may have shed a tear or two when she left
This sweet couple showed up bright and early to take sweet Winnie to the loving HOME she always deserved!