New Dog

Jesse and I have adopted a new dog. She is a Shiba Inu mix. We named her Isabella Erin Rudy Fisher-Draskovich. She was one of the Burns, Oregon dogs. If you never heard of them, they were about 200 dogs kept at this house and the guy would just throw out a bag of kibble and have the dogs fight over it. Most of the dogs lived on mud puddles, hay, and worm infested shit. A lot of the dogs had mange, mites, and other problems due to malnutrition and living outside. The guy got to keep 20 dogs, but the rest were taken to the Oregon Humane Society and other rescue centers in the area.

Isabella has never been on a leash before, has never been on stairs, carpet, nor has she slept in a kennel on towels let alone on a bed. She would not walk on leash that first day, nor would she go up or down stairs. She had no hair on her belly and had a bloody patch of mange on her face. She is only 18 pounds. We don't know how many puppies she may have had.

She now runs up and down the stairs, walks well on the leash, and her fur is growing back. She loves us as much as we love her, and it's only been one week. It is amazing what how loving dogs can be, no matter how hard their life has been up to that point. She has made our life a blessing.

I'm not one to get all moral on you, but if you're getting a dog, look at the pound first. Don't buy a dog from a pet store that buys from puppy mills, and for God's sake, make sure you're ready to have a dog. Time and money and patience. If you still like to go out all the time and party - get a cat.