Poor little Snowflake has had an incredibly rough start to her short life. At just 5 weeks old she was found abandoned behind a dumpster in Bakersfield, California.
The person who found her attempted to sell her on Craiglist for $10, but was only offered $5, so he or she dumped little Snowflake, soaking wet and freezing cold, on a stranger’s doorstep.
The homeowner contacted Amanda Brooks, an adoption coordinator with the rescue group, Marley’s Mutts. She rushed over to meet Snowflake that very night – and it’s a good thing she did! The tiny, wrinkly puppy was in very bad shape. At 5 weeks she was far too young to have been taken from her mother, let alone abandoned in the cold.
Little Snowflake is staying warm and dry and is absolutely loving her life now as a Mutt. She’s slowly putting on weight…
Posted by Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue on Monday, January 9, 2017
Andrea Bertolucci, a veterinary advisor for Marley’s Mutts, opened up the clinic and examine Snowflake right away. She found that she was undernourished, dehydrated and had a dangerously low body temperature of 94 degrees – pups tend to run around 101 degrees. Luckily, she was negative for Parvovirus, but she did have strange circular sores on her tail that resembled cigarette burns.
Snowflake proved her resilience by responding to fluids and a nutrient-packed gruel of puppy formula and canned food. Soon she was well enough to move into a Marley’s Mutts foster home to begin vital training on how to be a puppy. With no mama and no littermates to teach her, poor Snowflake had no idea what to do with all her energy now that she was feeling better.
“That’s actually one of the problems when you get single puppies that don’t have littermates or don’t have a mom,” Brooks told The Dodo. “They don’t learn how to be a dog. They don’t learn not to bite too hard. They don’t know when they’ve had enough playtime.”
A resident pooch named Massie has grudgingly taken on the role of foster mom to little Snowflake. She has shown endless patience and understanding with the exuberant little pup!
Meanwhile, the once frail Snowflake is growing like a weed. Her friends at Marley’s Mutts expected her silly wrinkles to fill out as she grew, but it turns out quite the opposite is happening – she just keeps getting wrinklier (and more adorable)!
Little squishy Snowflake is having a stay in bed day. As she’s filled out since being rescued we expect her wrinkles to…
Posted by Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue on Monday, January 30, 2017
At 10-weeks-old she is strong and healthy enough to be placed for adoption. Marley’s Mutts plans to begin taking applications for her soon, but for now, the more time she spends learning from foster mom, Massie, the better pet she will be to her future family.
H/T to The Dodo
Featured Image via Facebook/Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue
