Autumn 07-180 [1]

Sponsored by: Susan S-C.

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Debra S. and Gerald N. 

We are pleased to introduce Autumn, an absolute jewel and survivor of the Bismarck puppy mill.  She is living proof that so much beauty can come from such deplorable conditions.  Even while scared, confused, and sitting in a dirty crate in a strange parking lot awaiting medical  attention, Autumn still managed a smile and a happy wag of the tail for her new foster mom.  Autumn arrived at her foster home in seriously rough physical condition.  Her body is covered with scabs, wounds, and open sores.  Her coat was matted with material we'd rather not think about.  Her enlarged nipples tell of a litter of pups in the recent past.  A chain collar had grown embedded into her neck.  It was removed,  but left behind an ugly throat wound and abscess about the size of a superball.  Most of the inside of one ear is covered by a large fresh scab.  And she has a large fresh wound under her left elbow.

Despite all this, Autumn continues to amaze us.  I doubt that anyone would have blamed her for shutting down and hating humans because of her  ordeal in the past.  Quite the opposite, she can best be described as a ball of love in a fur coat.  The very next morning after coming to her new home, she simply couldn't get enough love.  She follows her humans around like we have always been there for her.  She rolled over  for us (on her own!) and received her first-ever tummy rub.  Rather than cowering and retreating from us, as we would have expected a puppy mill rescue, Autumn breaks into a huge smile and comes running when she sees us.  She loves to be hugged, and in fact has started jumping on us to get them (so she is now petted only with all 4 feet on the ground!)  This is simply astounding for a dog that has known only fear and uncertainty for her whole life.  Her forever home will need to provide her obedience training as she is a counter-surfer and jumps up on people.  Due to her inexperience with house life, she is also not housetrained.  We hope to get this resolved very soon!

Her social skills are quite remarkable.  She instantly bonded with our resident dogs, and has befriended our 8-month-old pup, who is roughly the same size. They are inseparable. She was bathed and tolerated it very well.  A thorough bath left a river of brown sludge running down our drain, and a stunning champagne-colored girl standing smiling in the tub.

Autumn will need some attention from a vet before she is ready to join her new forever family so at this time she is not available for adoption.  She is taking antibiotics to control  infection in her wounds.  Her large throat wound prevents her from wearing a collar, so she instead wears a body harness.  She needs a  thorough checkup and a full course of immunizations.  And she will need to be spayed.  These, however, are all superficial things that can be fixed over time.  Her golden soul is intact, and she will make an incredible addition to someone's lucky household.