My Madison is a rescue. Someone thought he was disposeable
I was sort of thinking about adding a female Yorkie to our family but was struggling with the "Will it make Max happier or not" dilemma when I got a call from a friend who said someone had just called her asking if she knew anyone who would want a little Yorkie that his daughter had found wandering around alone in the desert.
She couldn't take him, but she called me. I didn't really want another male dog, and even though the girl had found him alone, I just couldn't believe that the dog had no home and no owners frantically searching for him! I mean, who would abandon (at the time, that word never even entered my mind!) a darling, sweet little Yorkie? I knew all too well how devastated members here were whenever their Yorkie went missing or anything happened to them, and I knew that they were often stolen; but being abandoned was the furthest possibility from my mind!
Anyway, I said I would find it's owners because I was sure they were out there somewhere, and if my Max had been stolen or lost, I'd hope that somene would try to find ME.
So before I ever even laid eyes on this dog, I had called every vet in the county of Riverside, asking if they had any clients or any flyers up in their office for a missing male Yorkie. Nobody did. Then I checked online at every lost pet site I could find; I contacted ANYONE who sounded anywhere nearly matching this dog's description, got a few responses, and one who looked SO MUCH like him, but it wasn't him. I told the girl who'd found him before she brought him to me to take him to a vet or a shelter and have him scanned for a microchip. Of course, he had none. So I figured I'd eventually find his owner and I told her I"d keep him until we did.
When I met her in a parking lot, Madison leapt from her arms right into mine. He was starving to death, weighed only 2 1/2 lbs and was matted and sick, but you could tell immediately how loving he was!
I got him home and got him unmatted and bathed, started feeding him but he would either vomit or had diarrhea. I was a little concerned about transmitting something to Max, but I knew I had to help this little dog.
He was so sweet; stayed with me all the time, but at bedtime, he wouldn't stay in the bedroom with us; he went and slept on the floor just outside the bedroom. He didn't know how to play at all and had NO idea what a toy was for or how to play with one.
He lifted his leg on EVERYTHING (I've gotten really good at making bellybands that are really cute on him!) and my husband works out of town and is only home on the weekends. When he got home, he was F U R I O U S with me.
It got to the point where he said "it's either me or that dog" (or something to that effect) and I had to stand my ground. He told me that I absolutely could NOT spend money on him taking him to the vet, and I knew if I didn't, the little guy would die. I was so scared for him and agonizing over what to do and how to do it.
I finally DID take him (like as soon as my dh went back to work on Monday
) and we did the least invasive and expensive physical and tests on him that we could. He was basically healthy, but has some stomach issues which have cleared up for the most part with a good diet (which turned out to be the same thing my Max was on anyway, so it was perfect!) and some Pepcid. I got all his shots, got him neutered and microchipped all through our local shelter (the county even sent me a voucher for the neuter so I only ended up paying a fraction of the fee).
That was just a little over a year ago. Madison now is about 8 lbs (he was always taller than Max anyhow), he bounces instead of walks, he is the king of all the toys (much to Max's annoyance), sleeps as close to me in the bed as possible and is my little shadow. Wherever I go, there he is.
I don't know that I've ever seen such a joyful, loving and funny dog. He's a little clown and wants to play all the time. He picks up a toy and takes it over to Max, standing in front of him, taunting him until Max can no longer ignore him and chases after him. It's so cute and so funny.
It's hard to think back to not so long ago when he was such a sick little guy. And nobody ever was looking for him. The vet and several shelters told me he was either a reject from a puppy mill near where he was found or just abandoned. It hurts to think of what he must have gone through out in a desert filled with hungry coyotes and other abandoned dogs, all fighting over the same food, water and shelter from the wind and/or sun and he being such a tiny little guy. And how long he had to experience that.
I'm so thankful that I stood up for him and made sure that he knew he was worth saving and knows that he is loved. Everytime I look at him, it makes me feel good about myself because I feel like it's the best and most important thing I've ever done.
If I'm ever having a bad day, all I have to do is look over at him and I feel so blessed; there's nothing like rescuing an animal to make you feel like a hero. And I think that's how they view us; they KNOW and are so grateful.
Oh...and no, the husband did not leave and has grown to love Madison almost as much as I do!