Small Breed Rescue of East Tennessee

Hello, my name is Sweetness. I am one of the five dogs that were recently rescued from the puppy mill in Missouri . My two "sisters" (Candy and Luci) and I are all living in the same foster home. The lady there knows how to work with puppy mill dogs and she is helping us to be like normal dogs instead of being so afraid all of the time. I am the most outgoing of the five dogs that were removed from that horrible place, and in the past few weeks I have now learned to enjoy being petted. It is going to take a lot more work and patience before I can go for walks at a park even on a leash, but we are trying our best to catch up and begin living life like a real dog.

They say my birthday is February 3, 2009 so I am only three years old. Aren’t I the prettiest dog you have ever seen? Everyone stops by my crate and tells me that I am beautiful. I like that a lot. They say that I do not look like a Chihuahua , but I am, I am just a long-haired Chihuahua , and a very unusual color called brindle. I am a small girl, only about 6 1/2 pounds.

My foster mother took me to a few of the pet supply stores to see what the other SBRET dogs are like, and to meet people. I am not quite ready to be just handed to lots of different new people, but I do like to meet people in more quiet places. Loud, busy places make me a bit nervous, so my foster mother has been very careful with me to be sure that I don’t get too frightened when we go out.

When I can’t see my other puppy mill sisters it worries me and I bark. At the puppy mill, all we had around us were other dogs, and very rarely a person would come out and put some food in the bottom of our cage, but they never petted or even tried to touch us, so I have to get used to hands coming at me. I like the food that the foster mother puts in my bowl, and sometimes I don’t want to share that with my sisters. It worries me that we might not get any more food for several days, so I try to guard the bowl so I won’t starve. But this new lady keeps bringing more food several times a day. Where we used to live, in our puppy mill, we had to live in our own waste, so keeping clean is something else that is a mystery to me. Housetraining is confusing, but I am working on it. I guess I have a lot to learn about this new world.

My forever home needs to have someone home at least part of the day, a fenced yard, and children over 13. I will need someone with time and patience to continue my rehab that my foster mom has started. So, if you would like to have an adorable little friend to keep you company, and you don’t mind working with a little girl who is going to take some time to adjust to this new world, please consider putting a little Sweetness in your life. My adoption fee is $175.

For more information about caring for puppy mill dogs, go to http://aspcabehavior.org/articles/185/Adopting-a-Puppy-Mill-Dog.aspx