Minerva, my rat was a 'mistake' too! I have never been a little dog person, but a girl at work was desperatly trying to find a home for her. She was 5 months old and the woman who purchased her had to get rid of her. It seems her boyfriend didn't like the fact that the puppy peed in their bed EVERY night!!! When I asked if the puppy was crate trained, the response was "She doesn't like the crate." ... Well, she quickly learned to LOVE her crate once we got her!!! In fact, two years later, she still goes into her crate at will for quiet time (of course she has a crate designed for a 120 lb dog, HA! We refer to it as "Puppy Disneyland". Funny thing is, Ozzy's crate is actually smaller than Minnie's right now!!!
I am a sucker for strays and hard-luck cases!!!