[LinsZooCrew]

With all the possible health issues, the care needed for the safety of such a wee dog and the usually high cost of one, how did you decide you wanted to be a Yorkie Mom or Dad?
I rarely picked anything that ended up with me. It was usually a rescue of some sort. Sometimes we fell in love, sometimes we just couldn't find a home for them. But they almost always came to us.
One day about 8 years ago my youngest daughter (she was about 17 then) arrived at the door with a tiny matted mess. She had found a yorkie running in the street! Running from car to car. Raised as she was, she immediately jumped out and grabbed her. We brought the little gal in, my immediate game plan was to see if we could find her home and if not either place her ourselves or call Yorkie rescue. As I began to dry her off I could not help but be heartbroken for her condition. She was so thin. That was not immediately apparent due to mats the size of my fists all over her. She was swarming with fleas! Her nails were so long they were curling into her pads. How could she even walk? Then we found 5 tumors on her! Good grief! She weighed in at 3.5 pounds. She was so malnourished her head was almost bald. We immediately began the grooming to make her comfortable, then I realized she was going deaf and blind! How could anyone be so mean to such a tiny thing! We made her comfortable for the night and gave her a hearty meal. My Shih Tzu (A puppy mill kid) who was a year old immediately took over loving her. The next morning I ran her over to my vet to have her checked out and to check for a chip. No chip. The vet said given her condition and age... Maybe 13? She should maybe have a year left. I decided if I could not find the owner.... Who better have a DAMN good story.... That I would just keep her for the last year. As time went on (Did I mention her first poop was candy wrappers and raisins?) we relized she had been abused. She was terrified of brooms shovels etc. She continually tried to hide under cars. Hmm.... Lived in the yard?
It didn't take long to become attached to something so tiny with so much spirit! After about 6 months we took her back to the vet.She now had a glistening coat, weighed 7 pounds (and not an ounce of that was fat!) Was gaining confidence and had won all of us over 100%. I asked the vet if she thought she could endure surgery to remove those tumors. She was amazed at Annies turnaround and said YES! (BTW~ We named her Annie as in Little Orphan Annie) Surgery was scheduled for later that week. The morning of surgery a new tumor popped up. Or should I say out?? It popped right out of her vagina!! Good gravy! That rathered freaked me out! We hopped in the car and off to the vet. My vet recommended a specialist and made the arraigements. Off we went for an hour drive.... Me having a tiny nervous breakdown all the way! She had her surgery, all the tumors came back benign. All hormonal, she had never been fixed. Could she have been a breeder that was tossed out? Anyway hubby and I took turns sleeping on the floor with her for the next week, so she wouldn't jump off the bed, She made a complete recovery and blossomed more. She still had a fear of brooms and shovels, she was still getting older but we were hooked. We had Annie another 2 years when old age became too much and we had to send her to the bridge. That was my first baby.... Stay tuned.... Or runaway for part 2.