Hi Everyone!
I have been hanging out in the background for almost a year and have never posted~but today I have decided to post for the first time. I would like to introduce my furbabies and tell you their stories as they relate to the puppymill post from earlier today. This is going to be long so please hold on.....
We had lost our beloved Abby who was a 100 lb Lab to cancer the previous year and it broke my heart. I swore that I would never go through such pain again~she was one of my kids and I still miss her soooo much.
It was my daughter who started puppy fever and was pushing HARD. She started looking online at all the really cute yorkie puppies. Boy, she was killing me~she would take the pictures and save them to my background on my laptop and add captions about how she REALLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYY wanted this yorkie with little sad faces. I was hooked but still had no idea that most online breeders were bad news. I do now thanks to YT forums.
This is when we ADOPTED a 6 month old Yorkie who we renamed Pebbles. Pebbles has a sad story~she was given to a coworkers
BABY for a 1st birhtday present
this did not work out so well. Not only was she not housetrained but she was not socialized having spent most of her time crated. She was very cute and loving @ first but things got ugly fast. She started acting aggressive and our cute little baby was now terrorizing our entire house. She growled and tried to bite everyone in the house but I was determined to give this puppy every chance that I could. We hired a behaviorist that came to our home to help with her training since she was very submissive with people outside our family. This is when I learned about backyard breeders. What reputable breeder would sell a puppy as a "gift" for a one year old! After a ruff start with Pebbles things were looking pretty good. She has come a long way and we love her unconditionally.
I learned a lot from reading posts on YT about puppymills and backyard breeders and wanted to make a difference. I started to look on Petfinder for a brother or sister for Pebbles. Three weeks ago we brought home Doodles. His mother was rescued from an Amish Puppymill auction while pregnant with 6puppies. She had her puppies at the rescue and the entire family was up for adoption. Our Doodlebug is a puppymill rescue Yorkie/Maltese "designer puppy" and the most loveable furbaby. So far he is healthy and so smart he amazes me!
After hanging out in the background at YT I have learn about backyard breeders and puppymills over the past year. Prior to my exposure here I had NO IDEA these things even existed. I would have purchased online like so many others.
I love both my babies! One is from a backyard breeder and the other from a puppymill. Pebbles is AKC registered but what really does that mean? She's an 11.5 lbs teapot with a crooked front tooth and still a little nutty. But we love her unconditinally.
I proudly tell people that my Doodlebug is a rescue from a puppymill, it allows me to bring awareness to the cause! I would do it again to help make a difference. It is my plan to make a donation to his rescue each year for his birthday.
I hope that I have do not upset anyone with my "introduction" but felt after reading a few of the earlier post today that I finally wanted to introduce myself.
Yorkies are contagious~we plan to add a third sooner than later and it will be a rescue too!
Pebbles and Doodlebug