[dogbert]

My sister had a friend who lived a few blocks from us, she spent the night once and her PeekaPom followed her to our house. My mom and I drove her home. We learned that the friend's nephew was living there too and was abusing the dog. They also would lock her in the garage and she'd have to eat her own poop because they'd forget to feed her and she had plenty of ticks. This dog showed up on her own a couple times, we'd hear the ting ting ting of her dog tags coming up the driveway. Once she came over just before a bad thunder storm let loose so my mom locked her in the utility room off the the kitchen that had a half door. Once again we returned her after the storm. This time my mom saw no improvement in the dog and she clearly kept running away to come to our house. So my mom called them and was afraid of getting yelled at by them but took the chance in hopes of helping the dog. She told them if they weren't going to keep her home (she'd bolt every time the garage opened if she could) that they should just let us keep her. The lady said we're moving and can't take her with us so you can keep her. Just like someone would say gee the sky is blue today. No emotion no further explanation. Just yep keep her. So Pumpkin became our little dog, we had to housebreak her and she had to tolerate me as I wasn't much older than the nephew who used to swing her around by her tail and let her hit the garage wall. She nipped at me a few times but never really bit me. I loved dogs and just couldn't leave her alone, but she learned to trust me and as I got older we bonded well. I used to even put a small pillow in the basket of my bike and ride her around the neighborhood. lol