Happy Tail: Dumped by a backyard breeder, a Yorkie gets a second chance

by Joan, staff writer

When Lulu went into labor distress, the backyard breeders who kept her refused to pay for a Cesarean birth. Instead, they called Shih Tzu and Furbaby Rescue to take the dog off their hands. Her pups didn’t make it, but at least Lulu was going to get a second chance at a good life. Lulu went into foster care in Connecticut, and her description was posted on Petfinder.

“Here’s Lulu after her first salon visit,” says her adoptive mom, Lisa.

Lisa Scolaro of Wilmington, DE, was interested in three Yorkies in the rescue’s care — including Lulu — but she couldn’t make up her mind without seeing the dogs. She credits two foster moms with being patient with her.

“Finally, they decided to take a road trip down to meet me, right after the big blizzard in January,” she says. “They brought all three dogs. My neighborhood friend, Traci, who is an integral part of Shih Tzu and Furbaby Rescue, hosted a meet-and-greet.”

It must have been some trip. “Lulu was miserable, car sick and frightened,” Lisa says. “The other two Yorkie girls were totally gregarious and were bulldozing my dog, Lucky Oliver, around too much for his gentle soul.”

So although Lulu was “a wreck,” Lisa opted to adopt her rather than one of the others. “She was unsocialized, deathly afraid of humans and very sad,” Lisa says of Lulu’s early days in her new home. “I didn’t know she had a tail for two months because she kept it tucked under her.”

Still, Lulu was very sweet to Lucky Oliver, an Australian Silky, and he helped her blossom. And blossom she has.

“Lulu gets more trusting every day,” Lisa says. Once unwilling to walk on a leash, now she loves her walks, and perhaps best of all, she races around greeting Lisa when she comes home. Nothing feels better than a hearty dog-welcome from a once-sad little thing.

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