Puppies, Parvo, & the Pound

I went to the local animal shelter. They were overcrowded, so they were having a free pet adoption. I walked into the first kennel room (there were quite a few different rooms) and saw two dogs in chain-link kennels. And I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t walk into that humane society, wandering down aisle after aisle of those sad eyes, all hoping you’ll choose them. Nope. Could. Not. Do. It. Luckily, I had saved a picture of a puppy from their website before I came. It did say she was reserved, but I thought perhaps she had a brother or sister available.

I asked the girl at the front desk, who, unfortunately, was just security (I wasn’t aware that was needed, but here we are). As I was explaining and showing her the picture (all while wiping my eyes and trying not to snot on the counter), a girl exclaimed as she passed by, “That’s Zelda!” 

I looked up from the picture on my phone & asked if she had any littermates. “I just took her hold off not five minutes ago! She’s one of my favorites.” “Can I have her?” No idea why I asked like that, but I did (there’s no end to my awkward encounters). She explained which room she was in, and I must have looked panicked at the thought of going back in, because halfway through explaining where she was, she just stopped and asked if I’d like her to just go get her for me. I was so relieved.

She brought her out & handed her to me. She was much heavier than I thought (worms weigh A LOT…we’ll get to that). The poor thing looked terrified, but who can blame her? Only bad things happen when they take her out of the kennel. And by that, I mean this poor puppy had a very rough start.

I didn’t have a chance to look at her paperwork until I got home. But when I did, wow. It said she was three months old (I would have been surprised if she had been eight weeks old). In her short life, she’s suffered from and been treated for a respiratory virus (not surprising), Parvo (and yes, she was lucky to survive), a hernia repair surgery (I had the same repair surgery, so I thought that part was kismet), parasites (still more to come on that), and she had been spayed the day before (after being cleared from Parvo). 

They tell you when you adopt a puppy from our local humane society that they have a 30-day return policy (also didn’t know this), so you can bring the puppy back and get another one if it doesn’t work out. Remember this when you see the carnage she & Molly wrought in my office. So our Bloodhound Molly was over the moon about having a sister to play with (and yes, I call them sisters AND talk to them. All day. Judge if you must.). This is where sturdiness is beneficial, and boy is she sturdy!

That was on April 16^th. It’s now been four months. My husband calls her “Chaos.” We tried Zelda (because it’s a cool name!), but in the end, she wasn’t a Zelda. She was a Poppy. Poppy Sue, to be exact. I told my sister we named her after her. Her middle name is Sue & we called her Sue-Sue growing up…but it was completely unrelated; it was just the name that sounded right. So we have the Chaos twins. Molly Mae, a 100+ pound, 1-year-old Bloodhound, & Poppy Sue, now a healthy 6- or 7-month-old, 50ish-pound Shar Pei mix…yes, the vet said that was the only breed she was sure about because of her “hippo mouth.” DNA testing will be done in the future.

I can honestly say, she is now a healthy, happy dog. But it’s taken this long to get here. What they don’t tell you about adopting a puppy are the challenges you may face. When I got her, she had been treated for fleas, ticks, worms, etc. Well, let’s just say we got a VERY rude awakening several nights in. Worms were involved. I regretted not naming her “Eddie” (if you get the reference, you’re my people).

So, a few vet trips in and an amount of money I don’t want to discuss, we now have the aforementioned “healthy dog.” When you have to treat a puppy repeatedly for parasites & illness, it really does a number on their poor tummy. I think we’ve finally got that fixed.

There were definitely a few times I jokingly (mostly) said, “We’ve still got time to return her!” She has become “my” dog (Molly was a birthday gift for my husband). She’s not done growing, and is only about 4 inches shorter than Molly. She’ll be big. She’s already big. Molly & Poppy keep our days & nights filled with chaos. We wouldn’t have it any other way!