Success Stories

Buffy, February, 2000

Buffy is a lucky 1 year old Labrador. As a young puppy she and her sister were purchased by a person who runs a puppy mill in the Midwest. During her first heat cycle the owner noticed "a large pink bubble protruding from her vulva". She contacted a vet who told her Buffy needed antibiotics and to be spayed ASAP as her uterus had prolapsed. The owner said she would "think about it". The next day the owner's adult daughter called the clinic asking for help as her mother intended to shoot Buffy since she couldn't be used for breeding. The vet tech who took the call does Lab rescue and offered to take Buffy and get her the medical attention she needed. The owner signed her over to the vet tech and Buffy was spayed. The surgery was not routine and Buffy lost a lot of blood but soon was able to go home with the vet tech who saved her life.

Unfortunately Buffy came with a lot of baggage due to living her whole life in an outdoors kennel with no human contact. She was not housebroken, suffered from separation anxiety and was extremely timid. These issues would obviously make her hard to place and her foster home already had 15 other dogs to care for. Another foster home became available, but they had their work cut out for them. When Buffy came to the new home, she still showed extreme timidness and fear of men. She did not know what a toy was nor how to play with either people or other dogs. She didn't even know what a dog biscuit was! The family worked hard to earn Buffy's trust and slowly she began to pick up toys, eat treats and accept petting. She was nick-named Buff-Puff because she was such a soft dog.

One day a kind woman named Alice came to meet Buffy. Buffy would not even go near Alice the first visit but Alice told Buffy she would be back to see her again. Ironically Alice had owned a dog named "Mr. Puff" and she felt it was fate that she adopt Buffy. Alice returned several times bringing treats and toys for Buffy. Finally Buffy went for a walk with Alice all by herself. After two weeks of getting to know her, Buffy went to her forever home with Alice. Sadly we heard at the same time that Buffy's sister Muffy had whelped a litter of puppies. At least Buffy was saved from the same fate!

UPDATE -- October 2000

Buffy has now been with Alice for 6 months. Alice writes: Buffy is a doll. When we're out and about, she gets a lot of compliments. People are always telling her how pretty she is. The foot of the bed is no longer good enough for her, she now needs the pillows to put her head on! Bless her little heart!

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