The Story Continues, One Dog at a Time…

I have kept in touch with people that read my original blog article and call for help. Some of them were actually able to adopt some of the Quebec sled dogs. This is the continuing story for two of the dogs who found such a home with a woman named Trish.

“I wanted to take one dog and make sure it was the happiest dog possible.”

Minou was going to be difficult to place since she is thought to be 6 or 7 years old. Yet she came to us with a surprise. When she went to be spayed it turned out that, she was very pregnant but too skinny to tell. I wanted her home to bond with me during her delivery and while she had her puppies. When I met her she was timid but accepting and put her head in my hand for the drive home from the foster. She has a brown eye and a blue one and her thick fur is brownish black on a creamy undercoat. She has been a dream dog, housebroken, inquisitive, and gentle. She fit right in with the 9 month old puppy my daughter has. We have begun installing a 6 foot fence so she can run around without any leash. She loves walks and we go on about 3 a day. Her advanced pregnancy made it a challenge to get on my bed, but she sleeps beside my bed in a crate with no door because she wants to. She had two healthy puppies out of four and is slow to produce milk, but since she was so skinny you couldn’t tell she was pregnant, it is not so shocking. Imagine what would have happened out there among 100 other starving dogs. She has learned to play a little and she gets excited and dances when she sees the leash. She takes treats gently and is happy to learn to sit, lay down, and come. Since she had her puppies I have slept by her side and shown her that I am also a protector and now I wake to kisses and dancing at the door to go outside. Welcome home Minou, you’ll never be hungry, cold or alone again.

Melisse was also going to be difficult to place. Thought to be around 5 years old, she was very timid, didn’t know how to walk on floors, was afraid of stairs, and people. She was exactly what I was hoping for; a dog that needed me. I am selfish that way. Melisse was one of the pregnant dogs that delivered right after being rescued so I have to wait until her puppies are weaned before she comes home. There is no need to flip her life around again while she is nursing. She had some tummy troubles but that is working itself out. She is learning to be more trusting of people and is beginning to understand life in a house. I wish I was the one teaching her these things but I will wait and teach her unconditional love if that is all that’s left to learn. When I met Melisse for the first time she was the skinniest dog I had ever seen in person. Her light silvery coat hung off of her hips and spine like someone draped it there. Her ribs showed as her skin was pulled taught by teats heavy with milk for her puppies. Her spine was no wider than my hand and led from her slightly wagging tail to her narrow face. She looked like a greyhound disguised in a husky’s coat. Then I looked into her brilliant blue eyes and knew she was mine. I squatted down to introduce myself. She immediately gave me a kiss and I murmured softly to her while I scratched under her collar and deep into the fur of her chest. She was timid but brave and I fell in love with her right there in the driveway.

As Minou has learned belly rubs and to fall asleep on her back getting scratched and snuggled, so too will Melisse and we look forward to her filling the space that we have waiting for her in our hearts and home.

I’d like to thank everyone who rescued the dogs we’ve been waiting to love and I’d like to see changes so that the cruelty that brought them here never happens again.