Next one of the humans in scrubs took me into another room. It had a huge, wide bucket in it and hoses coming out from the top. The human sat me down inside the huge bucket. I stared at him, wondering what was going to happen. All of sudden, water came out of the end of the hose. It scared me and I tried to climb my way out of the bucket. The human sat me back down into the bucket and talked to me in a calm, gentle voice. I did not like the water at first, but then it grew on me. It felt nice on my itchy, dry skin. He then squirted this cream-colored stuff into his hand. He rubbed it into my fur and skin. It felt so good. When he was done, all the pee, poop, dirt, itchy and blood-sucking things were gone. It was heaven. He dried me off with a towel and handed me off to another human in scrubs.
This human took me into another room where runs lined the walls. The runs had tile floors, metal fenced doors and a hole that took us outside. He opened the metal door, petted me on my head and sat me inside. I looked around. It was so clean and smelled wonderful! I drank the nice, cold water out of my new water bowl. I gobbled down the yummy, soft food they had left for me. Then, I saw this fluffy thing. I went near it and touched it with my paw. It was soft and squishy! I laid down on it and rubbed my face against the soft fabric. The air was cool and nice; not humid and stuffy like the barn. It was simply fantastic! I was in heaven. Then, another human walked up to my cage. He had another dog in his arms. He opened the door to my run and sat the dog and their food inside. I looked at the other dog and at first glance, I did not know who he was. The dog was skinny, covered in scars, and open wounds. He looked like a dachshund having a bad hair day. I then realized that it was Ace! All of his long, matted, red hair was gone. He looked so happy, but his hair cut sure did look funny. I sniffed his butt just to make sure. He hobbled over to the food and scarfed it up. Then, Ace and I curled up with each other and took a long, long nap.
Two months had gone by, and this place just kept getting better and better. Ace, the others and I started to gain weight and were starting to get nice and plump. We got a lot of love and attention by the humans that worked there. They were so kind and nice. After a month of being there, one of the humans in the scrubs, picked me up and took me into another room. It had a metal table in it and a light hanging from the ceiling. There was a lot of stuff sitting around. He sat me down on the table and put a mask on my face. I slowly drifted off to sleep. When, I woke up from my sleep, I was laying in a metal kennel. I felt a little groggy and confused. Another human in scrubs said, “well it looks like he’s awake!”. He came over and petted me on my head and I wagged my tail in excitement. My bottom was sore and in pain. I am not sure what they did, but it hurt afterwards.
After a day of rest, they put me back in my run with Ace. The same thing had happened to him too. I then realized that my tag was gone from my ear and also from Ace’s. It felt good not having it there, but it left a hole in the bottom part of my ear. Also, it was much easier to eat food and my teeth did not hurt as bad. That deep sleep I had also caused my mating drives to go away. That was a big relief. I never thought about mating again, after that day.
In the two months that I had been there, a lot of dogs went over the rainbow bridge. They had to put to sleep, dogs like Paw, that were old and feeble, dogs with cancer and other diseases, and the extremely aggressive ones, like that puggle. Even thought it was sad to see them go, it was the best for them. Now, they got to live a life of luxury, over the rainbow bridge. Most of the dogs that were rescued were not like me. I trusted that these humans were good and I wallowed in their affection. Most of the other dogs, growled and cowered in the corner, not letting the humans pick them up. The humans did not give up on them though, and worked to gain their trust. Also, during the two months, I had what was called a behavioral test. They took me into a room, with tile floors and white walls. I guess it was to see if I bit or not. They hugged me, petted me, kissed me, and tested how I responded to affection. They also gave me food and stuck a hand in it. I backed away and let the hand have my food. They reassured me that the hand was not going hurt me and I ate while it petted me. They ran a whole bunch of other scenarios on me. The female human who did the test said, I would do best in a home with no children and where I can learn to be confident. Other than that, I passed the test! I was so proud of myself. Some of the dogs did not pass the test, so the humans worked with them to learn those skills.
A week later a female human came up to our run. She bent down and looked at Ace. Ace stared at her in question. She petted him on his head and talked to him in a soft, gentle voice. Ace decided he could trust her. He wagged his tail and licked her hand. She also petted me on my head, but she was mostly interested in Ace. She obviously fell in love with his old man charm. She went up to the male human that worked in the run room. She told him that her name was Ms. Lang and she was from Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue and she would like to know about Ace. The male human told her that Ace was very aggressive towards his food, but other than that he was a sweet, outgoing, old man. She told him that could be worked on. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she told him, she would love to foster Ace because she had two other senior dachshunds at home. Ace went home with that wonderful woman. I was so happy for Ace! He had lived the first eleven years of his life, living in h*ll. He deserved to live in luxury and to be spoiled.
The humans there called were we used to live, a puppy mill. They also said that these puppy mills are everywhere. Well, I called it h*ll. I thought about Penny and Mother a lot while enjoyed that place. I wished Penny and Mother were with me, and were able to enjoy that wonderful place too.
A month went by and at eight years old, I was still waiting for my forever home. I did not mind being there, but wished I had a place to call my own. I laid there on my fluffy cloud, enjoying the day, when I saw a female human walk by my cage. She was an older human and her hair was white and frizzy. Wrinkles covered her face and she carried a thing called a cane in here hand. The cane helped her walk. She then opened the door to my pen and came inside. She got down on her old knees and said “come her old man“. I slowly approached her, and she petted me. I looked at her and she looked at me, it was love at first sight! Her name was Martha.
The male human that worked in the runs, took me out of my run and put me on a thing called a leash. I hated it at first, but the male human made me wear it, so I unwillingly got used to it. Martha asked the man about me, because she had heard Jack Russells are hyper dogs. He told her I was an exception to that rule, that I was very mellow, but loved a nice walk once in a while. She paid my adoption fee, took my leash and we headed for her little, tan car. She opened the driver door and I jumped in. She patted on the seat beside her and I walked over to it and laid down. She petted me all the way home and talked about her life and how lucky I was to be with her. Martha was an amazing woman and I knew I was lucky! She then said I needed a name. I thought, well I already have a name and it is Jacks; doesn’t she know that! She ran though lots of names that I did not like. She then said, since you are a Jack Russell, I will make it easy and call you Old Man Jacks and call you Jacks for short! I was so glad Mother had named me something that even humans would guess!!
We pulled in the driveway to a little brick house out in the country. Martha said, “Welcome to you new home Jacks!” I wagged my tail in excitement and wonder! She grabbed her cane out of the back seat, put my leash around my neck, and we headed for her front door. I had never been inside a house before, so it was all exciting and new. I had a lot to learn though! We walked inside her home. It was decorated with dog statues, dog plates, and even a dog blanket. It was also decorated in what she called a country livin’ theme. My new home was beautiful! She showed me around the house. She showed me my new soft, fluffy cloud, new water and food bowl, and this thing called a dog toy, that squeaked! She let me off my leash to explore my new world.
I had a few things to learn about living in a house. These are the new things I was slowly learning: do not chew or pee on the rugs, do not pee or poop in the house, use the “doggy door”, and to not terrorize the parakeet! Martha never hit me or yelled at me. Whenever I did something wrong, she would just say no in a firm voice. I hated disappointing her so, I always listened. Living in a house was so much fun and Martha was retired, so she stayed home with me all day! Everyday, we would wake up at 6:00AM and go out for our morning stroll. I didn’t know a old lady with a cane could walk so fast, but Martha did! Then, we would come inside and she would make me my special morning breakfast. It was wet food mixed with broiled, shredded chicken and baby carrots. It was delicious! She fixed her regular breakfast of jelly toast and scrambled eggs. Sometimes, she would let me have a piece or two of her eggs. Then, we would sit down on her couch and watch TV. I usually would take a nap during this time. Then, in the afternoon, while Martha did her laundry and house chores, I would go outside and play. She had a nice fenced in backyard and it was so much fun to sunbathe and play with my toys! I would hoarse bark at the birds and squirrels and attack the flowers in Martha’s flower bed. I also loved to dig! It was so much fun digging and rolling in Martha’s flowerbed! Luckily, Martha did not care if I did that. She said, “she had to many plants anyway!” Then at night, she would make me my other special meal. It was either rice mixed with tuna and baby carrots, or wet food mixed with tuna. Both were wonderful! We always sat and enjoyed our dinner together. Then Martha would sit down on the couch, with me in her lap, and read novels. Finally, at 9:00PM, we both climbed into her big comfy bed and went to sleep. I loved it!
At 11 years of my life, living with Martha had been wonderful. Our days were filled with playing and lounging. We had been through many hurdles, but had gotten through them all. Our favorite past time was going to the dog park. She talked with her friends and I played with the other dogs. Then after the dog park, she would go to Sonic and get us both a vanilla ice cream cone. Vanilla cones were delicious! On Sundays, she would invite her friends over for poker night and I would be her right hand man. Martha usually always won. She said, “I was her good luck charm. “ I had learned not to chew or pee on the rug, not to pee and poop in the house, and to use the “doggy door”, but I still terrorize the parakeet every now and then. Martha and I had not been feeling like ourselves. My old joints hurt and I would rather just sleep. My chest hurt and I would cough up this green stuff. Martha’s bones became brittle and she was not able to walk as good, as she used to. She had been really sick and was not getting better. Martha and I were getting old. We started to skip our morning strolls and we would both rather lounge on the couch. We mostly sat on the couch and watched TV. Martha and I took our usual afternoon nap and we did not wake up. We died a peaceful death and in my eyes, it was wonderful.
I am in heaven now. I am reunited with Mother, Penny and Runt. We are all a big, happy family once again! I have realize there are good and bad humans in this world. I still think there are more bad than good. Spud and Dorothy went to jail for one year for animal cruelty. They are now back in business. It makes me mad, that they were not stopped. Runt lived with his family for fourteen years, where he was loved and spoiled. I was glad he had lived a good life. Mother was shot at ten years old because she couldn‘t give birth anymore. Penny went from puppy mill to puppy mill. Penny did not produce big litters, so she was auctioned at auctions a lot. She died giving birth in a puppy mill, at the age ten. At ten, she had been in six different puppy mills and three different auctions. Some dogs in puppy mills are rescued as a puppy, like Runt, some are rescued by angels, like I was, but most of them, like Penny, Alpha, Friend and Mother, live in puppy mills their whole lives. They never got to experience love or attention. They never got to lay on a fluffy cloud or eat yummy food. They lived in misery and were neglected their whole lives.
Please think before you buy from a pet store, a puppy mill, a backyard breeder or that free puppy at Wal-Mart. Do not buy a puppy just because it is cute. Look at where the parents live, look at where the puppies live, get the number of their vet and ask the vet what they think of the breeder. Get references from humans that have bought their puppies. Research the breeder. If they tell you they do not have the parents there or they say they do not have a vet, do not buy from them. If the parents and puppies do not look healthy or do not live in a clean, nice environment, do not buy from them. Do not buy a puppy if it is poor quality or looks sickly. When I was a puppy, as I said, I hated and liked the “puppy buyers” at the same time and I still do. Think about this quote before you go and buy from a puppy mill, pet store, or backyard breeder. “Puppy buyers” save the puppy they paid for, but at the same time, paid the humans to keep neglecting the rest of us and making our lives miserable”. Even though humans think they are saving a puppy when they buy from a puppy mill, they are paying for hundreds of other dogs neglect and abuse. They are paying for that puppy mill to continue. The best thing “puppy buyers” can do, is report the puppy mill to the angels. Then, hopefully they will try there best and rescue us. Please save other dogs and puppies from going though the neglect and abuse, the others and I were forced to live in. Please buy from responsible, reputable breeders or even better, adopt a needy dog from a shelter or humane society! We do not have a voice so humans need to speak up for us. Please think about my story, before you go buy your next family member. It will make a difference in so many dog’s lives.
Written by: Katy Campbell
This story is protected by © Copyright, 2008. Please do not copy or transfer any text found herein. Thank you.