Joy, the rescue who rescued us..

My life started the day I was rescued. You see, I was in a kill shelter in North Carolina for 30 days with very bad teeth and an old broken leg, it was my last day in there.. I had 1 hour of life left until a rescue group (MAMA’s) came in to rescue me. This group was wonderful, but I still wasn’t home. What they do is transport rescues all over the country to no kill shelters. The volunteers work together, driving a bit and meeting with another volunteer, until all of us get to the shelters. Boy, did I meet some wonderful people!!

Little did I know, my forever family was dealing with the sudden death of their last of 3 Bichon’s they had. You see Bailey just couldn’t live without her sister who recently passed. Her sister Emmi was a 3.5 year breast cancer survivor with a full mastectomy! They were never separated since birth, except for Emmi’s surgery. Their house was quiet for the first time ever, they refused to buy a dog from a store and knew a dog would come find them. Little did they know I was at a sleepover in my last part of the trip in Baltimore, and I was going to be arriving in Pa the following afternoon!

The next day my family was crying in the living room, unable to deal with the quietness, the house without a dog did not feel like home. Suddenly, 2 friends of the family who volunteer for Blue Chip a no kill animal shelter texted and said they were going to pick up a 1 year old Yorkie/Bichon mix. (They didn’t find out until they saw me that they messed up, they estimate I’m close to 7 and all Yorkie!) To this day, they believe Bailey sent me to them. You see Bailey was always the one who made sure everyone was okay, and they felt it was a sign from Bailey.. She had to go take of her sissy now, but she’ll send me to take care of them. They rushed up to the shelter, and got me in their arms. I knew I was in the arms of my forever mom then! Everyone said I shaked, but they never felt me shake. I snuggled up to them, and gave only them kisses. Then, they found out another family went to get their dog to see if I would get along with them. We waited 3 hours, it felt like days! The other family never came back and MY FAMILY was crying again, this time they were happy tears! My mom named me Joy, she said that’s what I brought into their life.

I walked into my new home after we went shopping. I went to everyone and kissed them, got one of my new toys and immediately brought it to my new bed. I never had an accident (only 1 accident in 7 months) and I fell asleep that night on my mom’s bed.

After being rescued, my family took me to some doctors. My leg is an old dislocation but a very big orthopedic surgeon said he is confident it will not cause me any problems, and was shocked at how well I use it! I also had to get dental surgery, including have a bone removed in my mouth! I also went from 6 pounds to a healthy 10 pounds, I was all skin and bones.

I never knew what family was, I don’t have to wait for food or wonder when it will come next, and I sleep in a bed with my Mom every night. The best part is when I get scared with the thunder my mom will hold me and sing to me. I have a million squeaker toys, and the neighbors in my neighborhood give me treats, hugs, and kisses. I snort when I’m comfortable and just about ready to fall asleep, and burp like a man after each meal! I even bark when I need to go outside to the bathroom.

They don’t know what happened to me in my past life, and I blocked it from my own memory so I can’t tell them. They said that the past doesn’t matter, they have me now and they will always love me, protect me, and never leave me- that’s all that matters now.