Winston's Story
Winston with his new proud owners Eileen and Bruce!
One afternoon at our adoption fair a young woman came in and said she had a six year old schanuzer that needed rescuing. Her father-in-law who had passed away almost a year ago had owned the dog. She explained that he had Winston for three years and before that he had been owned by elderly friend who had also passed away. The more she explained, the sadder Winston's story became. She went on to say that her father-in-law's wife wanted nothing to do with Winston and had banished him to the backyard when finally the daughter-in-law took him in. She was in an apartment and the only place she was able to keep Winston was in a horse stable that she rented for her horse. Winston had been living in the barn for the past six months and she knew needed to find to a home where he would be cared for and loved, and so she contacted us.
The next morning we went to see the little fellow. Out of the stall comes a shy little fellow who smelled like horse manure. His back was mostly bald from skin problems (due to flea allergies and bad nutrition), his teeth were very much decayed and he looked more like ten years old than six. He was turned over to us with just a string of bailing twine that was used a collar and leash. One of the volunteers remarked how sad it was that some dogs came with a bag of toys and this little guy came with only a string. Winston indeed was a sadly neglected dog, but we could see in his eyes that he had at one time been very much loved because he was very affectionate and grateful to be in a home again. We found that he knew some basic obedience, loved to go for walks and craved affection.
His first day got him groomed, deflea-ed, dewormed and then we gave him a couple of days of rest before taking him off to the vet for examination, neutering and teeth cleaning. The vet said he was in pretty good shape and estimated his age to be 8+. We also found that because his teeth were so bad most had to be pulled. Winston was in foster care for several weeks and was being given food supplements for his coat along with homemade chicken meals and a short refresh course in housebreaking 101 (essential for a dog that spent the past year outdoors)! Before long his coat was growing in and it actually started to shine a bit! Winston was playing with his foster homes dogs... romping around. He was ready to find a home!
At the same time we had Winston we had a 2 year old miniature schnauzer... we got dozens of inquiries on the 2 year old.... but there wasn't much interested in our bit of an older fellow. But good things are worth waiting for because Winston found the perfect home too... with Eileen and Bruce who just fell in love with Winston thinking he was the handsomest and most loving dog!!
Eileen emailed us about their new family member "We're having so much fun with Winston. We're already attached and vice versa. He's spunky and full of beans. Thank you so much for making all three of us so happy."
Thank you Eileen and Bruce for opening up your hearts and home to an older fellow, we hope sharing Winston's story will encourage others to give the senior dogs a second look... they make WONDERFUL pets and are eternally grateful!!
