All this writing about Chelsea makes me remember back to when we adopted Charlotte. For those of you who may not have known us then, or may not know the story, I thought I'd post an entry entirely on how Charlotte came into our lives.
Charlotte in 2006, the day we adopted her, at only 6lbs.
As I mentioned in the "About Me" section of this blog, Charlotte was roughly 8 years old and found wandering on the street in NYC. I can't see how she would have run away because she is the kind of dog you put on a sidewalk without a leash and will just follow you no matter where you go. She definitely isn't the type of dog to just run away or walk away from her owner. So how she wound up on the streets of NYC completely baffles me.
She was picked up by the ASPCA of NYC and was placed in the shelter there. However, knowing Charlotte's personality she was probably terrified of the other dogs and being locked in a cage so that fear translated into aggression, in typical Charlotte fashion. So when it came time for her evaluation to see if she was adoptable, the verdict came in that she was definitely too aggressive as she was very quick to squirm and bite whoever handled her.
Every day we thank God in heaven for Robyn from Precious Paws Rescue Group. She came into the shelter and thought Charlotte was just too cute to be on doggie death row, so she brought her to a foster home in the Bronx, where Charlotte stayed for a little while until Robyn felt she could go to a good home. Then she put up an ad on Craigslist.org saying Charlotte was ready for adoption.
At that time, Rob and I had been contemplating getting a dog. We had gone to pet stores and checked out local adoption events. There was one dog that we really wanted to adopt but it just never worked out. One day, I checked Craigslist.org and happened to see the posting about Charlotte. No photos or anything, but I emailed anyway. Robyn told me she could bring Charlotte by our apartment to meet us, so I arranged a meeting.
Rob wasn't thrilled about the fact that Charlotte was a Chihuahua or that she was 8 years old. He had his heart set on a puppy, and hopefully something with a mix of cooler breed (he was set on trying to find a dog that looked like a miniature german shepherd).
So the entire morning I was nervous wreck, hiding wires in our apartment, making sure every spot and corner was completely clean incase Charlotte wanted to explore. Rob on the other hand would go out of his way to continue to remind me "it's not like we're getting this dog so I don't know why you are going through all of this". He was convinced Charlotte wasn't the one for us.
Finally, I looked out the window and saw the taxi pull up. Out of that yellow cab hops Miss Charlotte, the dainty 6 lb little girl that she was. Robyn followed her, holding her leash. With Robyn was her 10 year old daughter who had taken a liking to Charlotte a lot and wanted to make sure she went to a good home.
Excited I raced for the door. As soon as I opened it, there stood Charlotte looking at us like "now who the heck are YOU people??". She trotted right on in and sniffed us and all over the immediate area. I pet her, and while she seemed shy and nervous, she was definitely interested in us both and wondering what kind of food we had to offer her.
After a few minutes of talking to Robyn about Charlotte and the other foster dogs, we turned around and noticed Charlotte had peed on the bathroom floor. Robyn apologized and said "when she has accidents in the house, she goes in the bathroom". I couldn't get over how adorable she was and how good she was for peeing in the bathroom of all places. I looked at Rob who couldn't take his eyes off her and kept saying "aww". He finally looked back and me and said "I'll go get my check book".
After we gave Robyn the check and said goodbye to her, her daughter, and the best $150 we've ever spent, Rob looked at me and said "I gotta go to the store!" There were dog bowls, toys, food, and whatever else that needed to be purchased. We may have gone a little crazy on what we bought her, considering to this day she hasn't touched any of the dozen or so toys we bought her, but the rest was totally worth it.
By the time he came back she was sleeping in a blanket on the couch. Rob presented each toy to her like it was Christmas gifts. She watched him, completely not interested in any of it.
One thing we did learn was that she was sick. Originally they believed it was kennel cough, which is common in dogs that have been around other dogs in shelters or foster homes. But after a while it grew to become pneumonia. We took her to a vet my parents used in NJ, who we knew and trusted, and they prescribed her radioactive pills. We weren't allowed to touch them and had to wear gloves to feed them to her. But sure enough after a few weeks she was all better and Rob was happy she was done with the pills because every day he had to take his hour long lunch break to take the train up to the apartment, give her a pill, and come all the way back to work (an hour long commute) and forgo his lunch. Amazingly selfless considering he didn't want the dog until he met her. :)
Then she started to feel better. The positive part about it was she was better and she doubled her weight to 12 lbs which was normal for her mix of breed. The negative was that her attitude started to get worse. She'd bite every time someone would try to pick her up. She was afraid of Rob and took to me quickly and we thought maybe that was because she was abused by a man. We also noticed she had weird fears. For example, this is a list of things that caused (and some still cause) Charlotte to freak out:
-The vet's office
-Other dogs
-Brooms
-Pigeons
-Pulling the tape out of the tape measure (not sure why but the minute you pull it out she growls at you).
-Anyone getting out of a car before her.
Things like that cause her to either bark excessively; growl; bite; put her ears back; a line of hair on her back to stand up like a mohawk; and make this face...
So that is the story of how one tiny little dog trotted into our lives, peed on our floor, and stole our hearts. :)
Here are some of my favorite photos of our little girl.
Here she is with her "Uncle" Andy, my parent's dog.
These two are total opposites but mirror images.
And here she is taking a nap with Daddy,
when I woke them both up for dinner.
Taking a nap INSIDE the couch. Only Charlotte...
Smile! :)
On 4th of July after the parade (she hated me for this outfit)
Our little family together during a summer BBQ
Now Charlotte is 13 years old and has spent 5 wonderful years with us. She has lived in New York, New Jersey and Florida, gone to the beach, gone on long road trips, taken public transportation, stayed in hotels, ate filet minion for her birthday, and now that she has "retired" to FL she enjoys sleeping on the balcony, soaking up the sun, and living the last years of her life getting all the love and attention she can possibly get. I'm just so glad we were able to give her the life she deserved to live.
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