I rescued Roxy ( photo on right ) from a puppy mill many years ago. She died of congestive heart failure in 2011. Max was born sometime after that. I can not express in words how my heart never healed from loosing her. She was my devoted and constant companion.
I signed up to receive emails from a Yorkie Rescue group right after Roxy passed and have looked at many dogs over the past few years with the thought of adopting another rescue. I can honestly say, none of them motivated me to fill out the adoption papers. I assumed I was not ready until I saw Max. There was just "something" about him. The next thing I knew, I was adopting him.
He reminds me of her in so many ways. Max was scared but he really enjoyed the ride home the day we picked him up. I remember Roxy did too. Both Roxy and Max had never seen the outside world and something as simple as walking on grass had to be introduced to them. Puppy mill dogs don't play with toys and they do not know what treats are. They have to learn. To them, humans were not kind and I am quite sure they had never been petted in a loving way. When you rescue a puppy mill dog, you have to go slow and build trust. Roxy taught me that and it helped me with Max.
Something as simple as a bath can be traumatic.
Roxy required a lot of grooming. Most Yorkies do. She always seemed to enjoy me fussing over her and allowed me to comb her out and even cut her hair when needed. I was surprised that Max seemed to like it too. He almost fell asleep the first time I groomed him because he was so relaxed. Once again, he reminded me of her. Even the way he looked up at me as if to ask "am I ok?" was exactly what Roxy used to do.
A few nights ago, I had a dream. In the dream I took Roxy to the vet for a check-up. They told me she was sick and they gave her a shot and took her out back for more tests. I got upset when they did not bring her back to me. I remember screaming in agony" Give me back my dog!!! Give me back my dog!!" over and over again. I was ready to tear the place apart because I was so frantic.
In the dream, I went out back and saw the cages where they kept the dogs. I saw her and scooped her up in my arms. In the few moments afterwards, I was filled with such love for my little girl. I was happy to hold her again and on some level, I knew this was a dream and I knew she had passed. I realized she was visiting me from afar.
I looked back down at Roxy and her color changed and I then realized I was holding Max. It was at that point, I woke up. I was dumbstruck by the realization of the meaning of the dream.
They did indeed give me back my dog.
