" Little Orphan Roxy "

This will be the final installment of my pet profiles. I swear. If you have read my profile titled " Ruby's Story " parts one and two, you know that it was a difficult decision for me to acquire another dog. I had never wanted more than one dog. Roxy changed my mind.


One day last spring as I was working in my yard, I noticed this very happy yet motley looking dog prancing up my driveway. She was a small dog, looking undernourished with her spine clearly visible under her red, brown and black hair. It appeared that something was wrong with her long tail as it had no hair and there were strange marks on it. Unnatural marks.

I have a difficult time saying no to or turning away from anyone or anything that is need. However I also have learned that I can only handle so much responsibility, physically, emotionally and financially anymore. So when I saw this little dog my first thought was "Shoo, Shoo." And I believe those are the words that came out of my mouth. Truthfully, I could feel my heart aching as she ran off and out of my sight.

After the first day that I saw her, she returned to my yard a few times. I didn't know where she was staying or where she was from for that matter since she had no tags let alone a collar. No one in our neighborhood was looking or asking about a lost dog and I was finding it difficult not to pet her. It was quite clear that she wanted love, I could have been blind and still felt her need. Yet again I tried so hard to not think with my heart, and shooed her off once again.

The house across the street from ours is a rental. The people living there were moving out and the little dog went over by them. They seemed to like her which was no surprise to me. They even fed her. I was praying that maybe they would love her enough to take her with them and she would have a home. She would follow them in and out of the house that day of their final move. As they left with their final truckload, I didn't see the little dog again. She had a new home! Or so I thought.

It seems that the older I get most of my days seem to meld into each other so I cannot honestly say how many days went by when again I was working in my yard and here she came, running up my driveway once again. This time I was happy to see her. She waited on my front porch as I went into the house and brought with me some food and water. She ate ravenously as my daughter Katie and I sat and watched. And yes of coarse Katie wanted to keep her. My resistance to bringing her in was wearing thin yet I was still standing my ground on no more pets. I did however notice that she had fleas which didn't surprise me, so I sent Katie into the house for flea drops thinking that it is the least we could do.

It was time for me to drive Katie to school so we left the little dog on the porch knowing that at least she had a full belly and the fleas would stop bothering her for awhile anyway. Katie and I got into the car and pulled out of the driveway to head towards school. As I started to drive down the street, I could see in my rear view mirror, the little dog was running as fast as she could to keep up with us behind the car down the middle of the street. As tears were streaming down my cheeks and she could no longer could keep up with the car, I needed to make a decision.

That same morning I had to go work at church. My pastor was there that morning and I explained my dilemma to him. It didn't take much of a push for me to decide that this was meant to be, which I had already started to suspect.

When I left church I went straight home to see if she was still there. She wasn't on the porch anymore. As I pulled my car around the back of the house, there she was laying next to the garage. I didn't want to bring her in the house until I knew the fleas were gone. I have five cats and a dog that were flea free and I didn't want to take any chances! I found Ruby's old collar that she had out grown and put it around the little dogs neck so that I could tie her out in the yard for the time being. She would need a trip to the vet before I would feel comfortable enough to bring her in the house.

I went to pick Katie up from school and told her that we had to take the little dog to the vet. When we got home we got out the dog carrier and put her in it for our visit to the vet. As usual we had to wait a bit to see the doctor and the little dog just kept shaking nervously. Several people said that she looked like a little fox, which she did. They also noticed that something was wrong with her tail. As we were standing, waiting our turn to see the doctor, Katie asked me " Does this mean we're going to keep her?". To that I replied " Well I guess so.".

Our new little dog left the vets office with a clean bill of health. They guessed her to be about two years old. About the same age as our Pug, Ruby. And her tail? Well it seems that for some reason unknown to us, someone had shaved her tail with a razor. The hair has since grown out and it's long and beautiful. She has a wonderful disposition, sweet and loving. She is always trying to please and listens very well. That day that we brought her into our home, her home, Katie named her Roxy.