Rob and I had been considering adopting another dog for some time now. Our biggest fear was "Queen Charlotte". Our current dog thinks she is the ruler of the house, and while we joke about it, the reality is...it's true. We had always worried about how Charlotte would react to another animal taking up her space, dividing her attention between us. Every time I browsed the Craigslist Pets section, I read about countless dogs just like Charlotte, who needed a home and a family to love them. I dreamed of taking them all, but the thought of Queen Charlotte having to adjust to a little brother or sister kept me from pursuing that dream.
Our girl, Charlotte.
I had pretty much given up hope on getting a second dog. For months Rob wanted to get one and I didn't. Then for a few months after that, I started to want one but he wasn't interested in the idea anymore. So I was surprised when something told me to check Craigslist yesterday. Sure enough, there was the ad...
Foster Home Needed/Hillsborough-Pasco (Save A Life Rescue/Lutz)
Date: 2011-03-15, 9:39AM EDT
Reply to: _____ [Errors when replying to ads?]
Chelsea is a well behaved 1 year old, 12 LB, Min. Pin./Chi mix, who has been abused and neglected. She is still quite frightened of people, but absolutely loves other dogs. Save A Life Rescue is looking for a temporary foster home who has the patience and understanding to help her trust people again, and get her ready for adoption. Medical Care and Food provided.
Chelsea is chipped, spayed, up to date on vaccines and worming, and is house trained.
Please call ______ for more information, or to schedule a visit.
Chelsea is chipped, spayed, up to date on vaccines and worming, and is house trained.
Please call ______ for more information, or to schedule a visit.
- Location: Save A Life Rescue/Lutz
- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
 | |
What caught my attention first, wasn't the sad story, but the fact that she was identical to Charlotte in every way. A Min Pin/Chihuahua mix, 12 lbs, a girl... and all black. As if Charlotte had a baby and this was her. It was all too perfect. Like they were meant to be sisters.
So I called and spoke to a lovely woman named Cynthia. She told me how this puppy, Chelsea, had been abused and neglected and how she is terrified of people because of it. She said it would take a lot of work on our part to get her to trust us and get her used to being in a home with a loving family. I was up for the challenge though. Knowing that Chelsea's only options were a high kill shelter or living in a home with a bunch of other dogs and people where she would never be able to break her habits. She needed one-on-one attention and help.
I felt good about my chat with Cynthia. So I called Rob. I knew the hardest part of this whole thing was going to be convincing him to go along with this. The good part was, we were only fostering her. So if Charlotte reacted badly, we could call Cynthia and try to find Chelsea another foster home. Or if things went well and Chelsea warmed up and Charlotte learned to live with her, we always had the option of keeping her. It was a good situation for what we were, or weren't, looking for at the time.
So after much persuasion and begging, Rob agreed, and I called Cynthia. Within 2 hours of the time I saw the ad on Craigslist, Cynthia and Chelsea showed up at our apartment. I was AMAZED and how much Chelsea looked just like Charlotte when we first got her. Of course, now Charlotte was fully blind and was getting white hairs all over her face and feet. At 14 years old, she definitely looks more like Chelsea's grandma than her older sister. :)
Chelsea in her crate
After Cynthia left, I couldn't get Chelsea out of the crate for at least an hour. I tried everything.. food, leaving the door open, water, letting her sniff my hand. She was just terrified. So I took the top off of the crate. Immediately she jumped out and ran around the house in a panic. So I ignored her and let her run, and sniff, and explore. When she noticed I wasn't going to hurt her, she started to watch me. She'd run from behind the couch and look at me, and as soon as I looked over at her she'd run away. So I stopped looking at her.
First time out of her crate.
After a little while I noticed she was watching Charlotte who was sleeping soundly on the couch next to me. A few moments later, she climbed up on the other couch and laid down just like Charlotte and tried to sleep too.
Chelsea trying to sleep.
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