Special Needs ~

I'm sitting here wondering what I've gotten myself in to. I guess I need to start at the beginning. I got a phone call this morning at work asking if there was any way I could pick up a pug at a kennel in Cleveland today and could I possibly foster her. The only thing I knew was that she was an eight to ten year old fawn female who needed to get to the vet ASAP because she had very bad dry eye syndrome. I'm not sure I was ready to foster so soon and I REALLY liked not having a dog to walk at 6 am. OK, so I agree to foster her. The first thing to decide is a name. No two pugs coming in to Ohio Pug Rescue are given the same name so after many hundreds (thousands?) of pugs, names can be somewhat of a challenge. Lately, they have been picking a "theme" each month and naming accordingly. Last month was cereal month, so we had Chex, Kix, Apple Jack (AJ), Kashi, etc. The month before, rock stars ~ Cher (Eema's pug sister), Bon Jovi, Aerosmith. Get the picture? Well, this month is fabrics. Suggestions were Taffeta (Taffy) or Polly Esther. Polly wasn't too bad, but I thought something to do with my hooking might be good. I was told Wool(ie) sounded like a boy, so when I suggested Linen (since I hook on linen), they loved it. I guess it's a good thing I don't hook on monk's cloth (monk-ie?)! So I figure she will be my Linnie.

Anyway, back to the story. I leave work early to pick her up at the shelter. The first thing I am given is her eye ointment for her dry eyes and told she is blind from it having been untreated. OK, I guess I can handle that. I have heard from many people how well blind dogs adapt. I carry her to the car for the drive home. If you know anything about pugs, you know that they shed ~ A LOT!!! By the time I got home, I was pug hair head to foot. I'm sure it was partly due to stress and partly due to the fact that she is a pug.

So Fritz takes her to a grassy area while I run in the house. Now I find out that she has problems walking. What else could be wrong? At the vet, I find out. An ear infection and really bad teeth and severe arthritis in one hip.

She's had a bath and smells so much better. It was good to get rid of the awful kennel smell.

She has paced the house this evening (as my mom would have said "more nervous than a whore in church"...lol!) running in to walls and stuff, but she already knows where to find the food and water. She's finally worn her self out and is sleeping contentedly on the couch next to the computer desk.

If you've stuck with me this long, let me introduce my Linnie.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading about my new foster. I will get on my high horse once again and ask that your PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy an animal from a pet store. There are too many dogs (cats, skunks, horses, etc) just like Linen looking for someone to love them and get them out of those awful kennels.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren