This week’s Pomeranian rescue story is about a senior Pom named Leo as told by his human, Josilynne Shifflett… One evening while lying in bed with my fiancé, I was browsing through Facebook… what else was there to do? I just happen to be Facebook friends with local shelters and rescues and like any wanna be Pommy Mommy, I’m always looking through their photos, wishing I could take them everyone of the shelter animals home! Well, when I was scrolling through a local rescue’s page, I saw a picture of a Pomeranian that was in desperate need of a home.
Usually, I see pictures all the time of dogs who need homes, but I know my fiancé would always say no. (we already had 1 dog, a rat terrier at the time) But this little guy was different. He had the saddest look in his eyes that pierced through my smartphone into my heart… it was love at first sight. Cupid’s arrow and it wasn’t even Valentines Day. Just looking at him made my chest hurt. I got to thinking how sad this poor Pomeranian must be. He was 10 seemed scared to death and probably didn’t even know what was going on. Pomeranian Rescue Story
I couldn’t take the emotional pain… and at that point didn’t care what my fiance’ said. I had to call the Rescue. When I called PAWS, a local rescue here in Clarksville, TN… it didn’t look good for this furry baby… the staff member at the shelter said that because he was a senior and appeared ill, they would be putting him down the next day if no one stepped up to adopt/foster him. I almost threw up… there was no way I was going to let that happen. No Way!
I turned on the waterfalls of tears crying to my fiancé that “we must do something”… it worked, and we both agreed to at least “foster” him. That way, he has somewhere to go and when a good home came up, he could spend the rest of his years happy. Well, it wasn’t easy for him when he came home. He was very sad and anti social. He didn’t want to be held, didn’t want to play or cuddle, he just laid in a corner… like a bump on a log. Pomeranian Rescue Story
The next day we decided to get him de-fleaed and groomed, but he still wasn’t happy. Upon further inspection…we noticed he had a runny nose and a little cough which seemed to only be getting worse. He would have horrible wheezing attacks that looked like it made him miserable. We contacted the rescue, and was advised to take him to the Vet, so we did. The Vet didn’t really give us a diagnosis for Leo, but gave us some meds and assured they would help. Well after 4 days of being on these meds, he showed no signs of getting better.
We called the Vet back and they advised us to bring him back to run some more tests. He wasn’t happy as it was and I just didn’t want to put him through that again unless it was absolutely necessary, so I started doing some research. I took to some Pomeranian forums, then searched for other people who had similar problems with their dogs and what they did about it. Everything I was reading pointed to allergies. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. He looked just like my fiancé Michael when its allergy season. The watery eyes, running nose, raspy wheeze.
We had read human allergy pills work for dogs, so that night we cut an allergy pill in half and put it in some peanut butter for him. The next morning… We had a whole new dog. I could tell by just after one night, the medication gave him so much relief. After that, we started giving him an allergy pill daily and noticed him being more are more mobile and curious about his new home. He still didn’t want to cuddle or play, but he was coming around more and more… after 3 weeks of fostering, we get a call. Someone is interested and wanted to meet him.
Foster Failure to Pomeranian Rescue Story
I wasn’t ready for what happened… a wave of sadness came over me… and it just hurt. I felt we set up a special routine to get him better, and this new person probably wouldn’t do that for him… I didn’t know this for a fact but nobody was me. Reluctantly, I had set up a meet and greet for that Thursday. Well Thursday morning came, and we were woke up to a fluffy Pomeranian in our bed! The Pom who hated to be cuddled and be loved on, got in bed all by himself to come and cuddle. Not only did he feel like cuddling, he crawled up to Michael and began licking his face. Pomeranian Rescue Story
Michael looked at me and I instantly knew we were “foster failures”. We had to keep him. We called the rescue and told them what transpired and ran down to fill out all the paperwork to become his forever Pommy Parents. We had never had a fluffy dog or for that matter a senior dog, but he’s one of the best things to happen to us. He’s opened up completely and loves giving kisses and cuddling. He became best friends with our rat terrier who together are a comedy act we should take on the road. For some reason Leo hates being fluffy (the heat really gets to him and his allergies) so we decided to keep him shaved down most the summer so he stays cool. Now he smiles all the time. One of his favorite things is to sit on the front porch and people watch… he’s hilarious! I have never known any dog to love baths… but Leo, loves baths. Something I’m not to happy about but wound up tolerating… is he loves peeing all over my green bathroom rug, I guess just to show he’s boss.
I’ve never seen a dog with such a big heart and an even bigger personality. Sometimes, he can be a grumpy old man, but most the time no one believes he 12 because he has the energy of a puppy! I am so glad to be a very proud “foster failure” and Pommy Mommy to my furry baby Leo.