Have you ever met a doggy who wanted to be a "real dog"? And have a real family with real love and real attention?

Meet Brittany.

Brittany is my neighbors dog...kinda. She eats, sleeps, and lives outside. I've never seen her "mom" or any of the children in the family pay any attention to her. They don't feed her dog food; she gets leftover table scraps if there are any and goes without if there aren't. She is about four years old. How do they know? ...because she's had eight litters of puppies. The last ones were HUGE - grew up to be nearly 80 pound dogs and poor Brittany is no more than 35! How she made it through that labor/delivery; I have no idea. She'd never been vaccinated or to the vet when I met her....

Last night she was at my front door and it was COLD so I brought her inside. She was TERRIFIED mainly because she's never been allowed inside her own house before...she was SHAKING so badly, I felt horrible. But it was much too cold to leave her out all alone. With lots of hugs and praise (she refused to eat my healthy Canidae Snap-Biscuit cookies), she quickly started the best night of her life...

Dacia and I camped out on the living room floor with our dogs and Brittany. She slept under the covers with me, jumped up and off the furniture, played with the doggie-girls, everything. She had a WONDERFUL night and got to experience life as a REAL DOG.

I can't keep her as much as I'd love to give her a REAL forever-home, but I think I'm going to try and talk my neighbor into letting me find her a forever-home....

(Oh, and I had her spayed, microchipped, vaccinated, and licensed after the last litter of puppies...)

Two Weeks Later...

Brittany has been living a double life, spending her days outdoors and her nights indoors with me at my home. She recently came over with a bump on her foot so I took her back home and asked the neighbor when it happened, etc. My neighbor hadn't bothered to notice so I took Brittany to the vet. It was just a hot spot, thankfully, but she has to be on oral and topical antibiotics for two weeks. Since I paid the $100 vet visit, I wasn't going to risk my neighbor not treating her and so I've kept Brittany at my house while under treatment. She's such a sweet little girl and has thoroughly enjoyed her two weeks of being a "real dog"!

mmmm, you're petting me!! thank you thank you thank you!

treats? I get a treat!?

i get to live inside? are you serious!?

please can you rub my belly again?? it feels so good!

i LOVE being a "real dog"!

Two Months Later...

I think Brittany is a "real dog" now and knows she's loved.  Brittany has really blossomed. After my neighbor refused to provide vet care, I took Brittany to my own vet and then kept her in my home to provide antibiotics for two weeks. Well, my neighbor never asked to have Brittany back. I think she expects me to just turn her loose out my front door since Brittany hasn't been confined to a backyard or inside a home for a day in her life. (She lived loose in the unfenced front yard and wandered the neighborhood when she wanted..)

Anyway, Brittany has now been living with me for three or four months and she's changed so much. I even brought her to Pet Extreme yesterday and she did wonderful! (She had been completely unsocialized and growly at all new people.) She only grumbled at two people yesterday and let everyone else pet her and even planted herself in Michelle's neice's lap for the majority of the day!

Six Months Later...

Miss Brittany has been adopted! She has changed so much in the time I've had her. She plays now whereas before she didn't know what to do with a toy or ball. She also plays with other dogs instead of sitting in a corner watching the others. She is so well socialized now after weekly trips to Pet Extreme. She no longer snaps at strangers or gets scared when they pet her, however, she still much prefers the companionship of an innocent child to an adult! Brittany is a wonderful little girl and has finally found a wonderful home deserving of her unconditional love!