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Casey Ann "O'Schnauzey"
Rescue Girl Extraordinaire!
My name is Casey O'Schnauzey. I am almost 11 years old and I am a Miniature Schnauzer. At least that's what my foster mom says!!
In January 2002, I was out walking on highway 30 in Blair, Nebraska. It was freezing cold and snowy and a nice man named Rick picked me up and took me to the animal shelter there. It was warm and he gave me food and water. My feet hurt so badly from walking on the icy roads, and my fur was all in mats with big ice balls everywhere. The man named Rick took me to someone who shaved off all my fur and then although I was really shivery for awhile, it still felt better.
Some people came and adopted me in February. They were nice and I wish I could have stayed but they said they were already tired of taking care of an older dog, so back to the shelter I went. The nice man named Rick took me outside every now and then but most of the time I stayed in the cage outside in the weather.
One day, Rick put me in the truck in a cage and we went for a ride. In a parking lot at a Burger King (man that place smelled GOOD) this strange lady came up to my cage in the truck and petted me. Next thing I knew, she put me in her car!
I was really scared. I shook so hard. She kept petting my ears and talking to me but I had no idea where I was going and the Rick man was gone. We drove for a long, long time in the car.
We came to a house and went inside. There were animals everywhere! Three big cats running around, and oh my goodness there were three dogs just like me too! They seemed pretty nice but the little baby dog boy barked an awful lot at me. My foster mom gave me food and put me in a big kennel so I would feel safe for awhile and rest. I figured it was safe to sleep so I took a long nap.
The next morning, I got to eat in my kennel and then we all went outside in the yard. Man they have a big yard here! And so many flowers! I love flowers but I never told anybody that. I went and sniffed every single one but I didn't eat any because that would be rude, being a guest and all.
It was a beautiful sunny day and this was the first time I had walked around free, out of the cage, no leash, in four months. I even found a little pond where a froggy lives and I spent a lot of time exploring that! There is a nice bowl with what my foster mom calls "drinky water" and it is always full and clean! Wow. I drank all I wanted, then I laid down on the sunny deck for a little nap.
Next thing I knew, mom picked me up and put me up on the table on the deck! She had those buzzy things... she calls them "flippers," and I knew what was coming next! She shaved me down to nothing and she kept petting me the whole time, talking nice to me. I don't really like the "flippers" but I do like the attention! So I sat as still as I could and acted like a good girl. At least that's what the lady kept saying I was. She used scissors on my ears and face, that was not fun!
It got a little tricky when she looked in my ears! Oh no, now she knows no one has looked in there for a long, long time. She took these things and started pulling hair out of my ears! She kept saying "Oh my God you poor baby" the whole time, so I don't know what she found in there. I think she said something about wads of black goo and ticks. Yuck. Those things bite! She pulled a bunch of them off of my tummy and back.
I let her pull all the hair out of my ears. It hurt really bad and I wanted to cry but I tried to be brave. I only whimpered twice and both times she stopped and hugged me and I think she was crying too.
When we got all done with that, she took me inside and gave me a bubble bath. Man that felt GOOD. I got wrapped in a warm towel and rubbed dry and then she put me out on the warm deck to shake it off. That was fun!
I was really tired after all this so Mom gave me a treat and put me in my kennel to rest. I slept for a long time!
Later that night we had something called "company." It was the foster mom's stepson and his wife and they brought a DOG named Smokey. It's a little fluffball Maltese, nothing to worry about. It left me pretty much alone and I just ignored it.
I showed the foster mom how I could tell her I wanted to go outside so she would know I was a polite housebroken girl. I wouldn't want to make a mess in this place, I want them to like me!
By the end of the second night, I decided I liked this foster mom. I walked up to her and put my paw up to shake hands. She thought that was really cool so I do that a lot. I let her pick me up and hold me in her lap. Boy is that nice and soft. I haven't been in a lap for a long time. This could be pretty cool!
The third day, Mom put me in the car with Sparky and I was afraid I was going back to the pound! I was really nervous but instead of the pound we went to a place called the lake, and I got to go and walk in the water! It has been years since I have seen a lake. I remember when I was a little kid I used to play in one.
Mom says I have fit right in to the family. I go in and out all the time, I eat my breakfast every morning and get supper at night. Two days ago I couldn't eat my breakfast because my teeth hurt so bad. I tried to tell Mom but she didn't understand at first. When I couldn't eat breakfast the second day, she went and got some baby food and fed me with a spoon. I've never eaten with a spoon before. Her other three dogs eat their treats with spoons so I just watched them and figured it out. I was really hungry so I was relieved that I could eat the baby food.
Mom doesn't understand why I don't play with any toys. I keep trying to tell her it's because my teeth hurt too bad to put them in my mouth. I think she will figure that out pretty soon.
Mom took me to see someone named Dr. Ray. He checked me all over and gave me shots (ow!) and he told Mom that I have infection in my gums and gingivitis and I needed my front teeth pulled so I won't get sick all over my body. So I had all my front teeth pulled out. The nice people at Helping Hands for Animals paid for the rest of my vet visit so that was really nice.
Well, now it is winter - there is snow everywhere but I am very brave and go up and down the stairs like a Big Girl!! Mom says that to me all the time. She says soon we are going to have to have all of my tumors checked out - I have seven of them. Mom says two of them worry her. So she says she is going to sell the stuff she makes and raise money for my surgery.
Mom is
really proud of me - I shake hands, I carry my green bear around
in my mouth all the time now since I learned how to play with
toys! I try to sneak them outside too! I have a very happy life.
My hair is even grown all out now so I look like a schnauzer,
and I have lost about 12 pounds!! I feel much better now.
I don't know why these people are being so nice to me, I didn't do anything. I'm just a good old girl and I want to love people. I'm going to try very hard to be good and sweet so they will keep liking me and maybe let me stay. I got "promoted" the other night, now I get to sleep on Mom's bed with the other dogs! Wow this is neat. It is a nice soft bed.
I'm just glad they didn't put me down at the pound like they said they might do if I didn't get adopted.
I hope you liked my story, and I hope someday if you have a chance to save another dog like me, you will.
Love,
Casey
O'Schnauzey
bravenet.com