Stories > Small Dogs at Windhorse
The last few years have brought the first small dogs to Windhorse Sanctuary. Small dogs usually find adoptable homes easily, but these little ones have come to Windhorse for a variety of reasons.
Teenie, Arlo , June Bug and Flossie were “rescued” by a friend from another rescue that was not caring for them properly. The rescue had too many dogs to look after and conditions there were not good. These dogs lived in small crates and confined areas that they never left. Their crates were filthy with no clean water and pool of urine on the floor of the crate. Teenie, Arlo and June Bug, all elderly Chihuahuas had painful urinary tract infections, urine scald on their legs and feet and their toenails were so long from not walking and lack of trimming that they were actually imbedded in the pads of their paws making walking painful. Flossie, a senior Corgi mix was partially blind. We understand that she had been living alone in a filthy, abandoned trailer on the property. Put simply, they were a mess.
All four dogs were underweight, infested with fleas and internal parasites and two were heartworm positive. The Chihuahuas were not well-socialized, but after months of being by herself, Flossie was thrilled to have someone to play with and pay attention to her.
After we cleaned them up and treated them for fleas, our vet came out to the farm and evaluated all four dogs at once. She trimmed their toenails, pulling the nails from their pads, vaccinated them and provided medication for their urinary tract infections and internal parasites.
We didn’t quite know what to do with such little dogs, so into the house they came with our senior Corgi, Daisy to supervise. They soon took over and although they were frightened of people they didn’t know, they became more trusting with us. They seemed very depressed, and it was a great day when Teenie, Arlo and June Bug finally chased each other through the grass and trees in the front yard, playing and barking like normal dogs. Exhausted, they laid on the grass in the sunshine and I wondered when the last time was that they had seen the sun where they were living before.
Flossie loved to play, despite her partial blindness and would chase after a ball and make an attempt at the squirrels that were smart enough to know that they could not be caught if they came down out of the trees. At night, Flossie had a tough time settling down, and she nervously paced through the house. One night I picked her up and put her on the bed with me and she went to the bottom of the bed and grabbed onto my ankle, put her head down and went right to sleep. She slept like this for most of her life at the Sanctuary. She could not bear to be alone after what had happened to her.
June Bug had a heart attack and passed away in her sleep and in late 2011, Flossie passed away after two years of dementia and increasing blindness.
Teenie and Arlo are in their early teens and continue to play and thrive with the other small dogs at Windhorse Sanctuary. Since their arrival we have added Chihuahuas, Auggie and Sugar, whose elderly owners had Alzheimers and could not care for her, Chihuahua pug mixes Zoe and Rosie, a sweet senior whose owners are incarcerated and Shih Tzu, Bandita who has a spinal injury. They rule the house, but they love to run and play in the pastures like the big dogs they think they are.
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