We bought Dixie from a "breeder" who was supposedly a very respectable woman. Not. She may have been at one time, but she lied to us before, during and after our visit to pick up Dixie. I asked lots of different questions. "Dixie is perfectly healthy, Honey", I was always assured. Dixie, I found out later, was a puppy mill mama. She had lived in a cage her whole life, churning out puppies. I knew nothing about poodles besides what I had researched. This lady had been raising and showing for years. I believed her. Took her advice. When Dixie did not eat for 9 out of the first 12 days with us, I called the breeder. "Oh, honey, she's just manipulating you", the breeder said. (Insert angry eyebrows)
I took Dixie to the vet and her teeth were so rotten that one of them actually fell out during the cleaning process. The initial evaluation after we brought her home was that she was going to need hundreds of dollars of surgeries to get her even close to healthy. I hate being lied to.
So, we declined the surgeries, except for the teeth cleaning. We loved Dixie, bathed her, learned how to groom her and changed her food. Turns out that Dixie was not manipulating me, but she couldn't eat the dried dog food because the darn breeder had let her teeth get so bad that her mouth was infected with rotten teeth. It hurt to eat! So, we started her on a soft diet. The picture of her on the floral pillow is how she looked after being bathed and groomed when she came to our family. It's sad to look at her condition, but she looked good compared to when we picked her up. She's brown because she's allergic to the grass and the breeder kept her in a cage ... outside in the grass. She kept her in a cage for 7 years. Seven. Dixie was so weak when she came to us that she couldn't jump on the couch. Her knees both dislocated with any exertion. That's what living in a cage will do for you, among other things. You'd think she would have a horrible disposition. Au contraire. Dixie loves all things created. Especially humans. New humans are the best. She's going to die of a heart attack one day over meeting a new human, I swear.
This is Dixie with Princess yesterday before the "lion cut". Dixie is all white now as she is an inside doggy. No more brown allergy legs for her. She is plump and strong and can jump very high and run like crazy.
She does the typical poodle "twirly-twirls" when she is excited. Twirly-twirls are poodle-love expressed by spinning in circles when very excited. Adorable and ... hilarious.
Here is Dixie with the "lion cut" from this weekend. This is what YouTube will do for you. I learned completely how to groom my poodle from YouTube. YouTube and a lot of practice.
I took Dixie to the vet and her teeth were so rotten that one of them actually fell out during the cleaning process. The initial evaluation after we brought her home was that she was going to need hundreds of dollars of surgeries to get her even close to healthy. I hate being lied to.
So, we declined the surgeries, except for the teeth cleaning. We loved Dixie, bathed her, learned how to groom her and changed her food. Turns out that Dixie was not manipulating me, but she couldn't eat the dried dog food because the darn breeder had let her teeth get so bad that her mouth was infected with rotten teeth. It hurt to eat! So, we started her on a soft diet. The picture of her on the floral pillow is how she looked after being bathed and groomed when she came to our family. It's sad to look at her condition, but she looked good compared to when we picked her up. She's brown because she's allergic to the grass and the breeder kept her in a cage ... outside in the grass. She kept her in a cage for 7 years. Seven. Dixie was so weak when she came to us that she couldn't jump on the couch. Her knees both dislocated with any exertion. That's what living in a cage will do for you, among other things. You'd think she would have a horrible disposition. Au contraire. Dixie loves all things created. Especially humans. New humans are the best. She's going to die of a heart attack one day over meeting a new human, I swear.
This is Dixie with Princess yesterday before the "lion cut". Dixie is all white now as she is an inside doggy. No more brown allergy legs for her. She is plump and strong and can jump very high and run like crazy.
She does the typical poodle "twirly-twirls" when she is excited. Twirly-twirls are poodle-love expressed by spinning in circles when very excited. Adorable and ... hilarious.Here is Dixie with the "lion cut" from this weekend. This is what YouTube will do for you. I learned completely how to groom my poodle from YouTube. YouTube and a lot of practice.
1 comment:
what a lucky doggie to have been adopted by your family!
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