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Molly Grace ~ Home and Loved |
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Most of us wait until our special furkids pass onto Rainbow Bridge
before we write a memorial to them. I wanted to share with you my
Molly’s story and honor her now, as I hope to have many more years
to come with her.
Molly Grace was known as Wendy in her previous life. Wendy was used
as a breeder dog. She was kept in a crate her first 4 ½ years of
life and made to breed every heat cycle. She was fed enough food to
keep her alive and she had to fight for every bite that she got to
eat. Her crate was not big enough for her to move around much, so
much of the time she had to lie in her own waste. She had fleas
crawling all over her and biting her all of the time. It hurt, and
she would scratch, but it didn’t do any good. She learned to
tolerate it. Her little mouth hurt from not having proper dental
care. She was left outside in the weather, suffering through the
heat of summer, cold of winter, and storms of spring.
When she went into labor with her puppies, she lay in pain for hours
with no comforting touch or soft voice to tell her that she was
going to be ok. She was left alone to birth her babies and tend to
them by herself. She would lovingly nurse her babies, bathe them and
care for them, until they got old enough to wean. Then suddenly, her
babies were taken away from her without a thought or care as to how
she loved them. She felt so alone. This was Wendy’s life for as long
as she could remember.
Wendy started developing health problems. She got a painful hernia
and a distended uterus. When she could no longer produce healthy
puppies, Wendy was taken to a humane society and abandoned, along
with two other female pugs that had also been used for breeder dogs
in the same manner as she had been.
Some kind people contacted KPR, who came and got Wendy and the other
two girls, and they were taken to a loving foster home. There, they
were bathed over and over again until all of the fleas were gone.
They were taken to the veterinarian and received medical attention.
It was learned that Wendy also had ear mites, which can be painful
when left untreated.
Wendy then began her new life. Her wonderful foster mom gave her the
name of Molly. Molly was shown her first sign of human compassion in
foster care. She was nurtured and loved, never knowing life outside
of the crate before this time. The world would soon open up to this
little pug.
When Molly’s new Momma saw her photo, she instantly was drawn to
those caramel colored eyes and how they called out to her. She had
recently lost a dear pug girl and her heart was still broken and
hurting from the loss. Her first thought upon seeing Molly is that
maybe Molly needed a home as much as she needed a puggy girl to love
and ease the heartache.
After overcoming unforeseen obstacles, a way was made for Molly to
go to her new family. She went home with a rag-bone to chew on,
medicine for her ears, and her name. Molly’s Mom added the name
‘Grace’ to her first name, thus a little puggy girl, formerly known
as Wendy, began a new life with her new family and a new name, Molly
Grace.
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Wendy/Molly, her first week at home
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The first two weeks were extremely challenging for everyone. Molly
had no idea that she was supposed to go outside to potty, so her new
Momma often got up several times a night to take her outside to do
her “business”. It was trial and error on both of their parts, but
they soon formed a routine together. Molly was scared and was
aggressive to her two brothers, as she had no idea what was
happening to her or why, or if she was going to get to stay at this
new place or be shuffled someplace else.
Molly Grace did not know how to play with toys…she had no idea what
they were. She would sit back and observe her new brothers play, but
she didn’t join in. She didn’t know how. She would watch the two
boys playing for hours on end.
After several weeks, Molly came to be more confident and secure that
she was finally home to stay. She soon learned what it meant when
Momma would ask “do you want to go for a walk” and she would trot as
fast as her little legs would carry her to try to keep up with her
brothers on their nightly walk around the neighborhood. Of course,
being with brothers is a challenge of it’s own when you’re a girl.
Boys often make ‘pit stops’ at every mailbox. Have you ever seen a
little girl lift her leg to pee? Molly can do!! It’s a funny sight
to see! J These evening walks helped her to start interacting with
her brothers, and soon, they were all getting along as true
siblings. At night, they sleep on the dog bed, one big pile all
snuggled in together in loving comfort.
In the mornings, after her “good morning” routine of following me to
the bathroom and raising up for her back scratch and to give me a
kiss, she will often be the first one out the door and down the
steps to go potty. You can almost hear her saying “out of my way,
I’ve got business to attend to…clear a path”. She’ll even go out in
the rain, under duress, but she has learned the quicker she gets
‘business’ taken care of, the quicker she gets to go back inside and
get a treat. We often do the “Happy Dance” at these times!
Molly was enjoying her newfound freedom, no longer kept in a crate
all of the time, but allowed the freedom to explore and get to know
“her” house, now called ‘home’. She had developed a habit of gnawing
on her crate out of boredom when she was at the ‘bad place’. She had
had to have several of her teeth removed due to decay and problems
from this habit. She will still occasionally chew on something, but
after gentle reminders, most of the time it is now a toy of some
sort! There is no sweeter sound than to hear “squeak, squeak,
squeak” from her favorite hotdog dog and know it’s Molly Grace,
finally, after almost two years, playing with toys.
Molly hates to get her toenails cut, but most pugs do. She will,
however, let her Momma paint them a pretty color. She wears pretty
collars, specially made by her adopted Aunt Joan. She wears
necklaces that her Momma or her adopted cousin, Libby, makes for
her. She wears harness dresses, sweaters, and pretty clothes…often
under duress…but when Momma laughs and tells her what a pretty girl
she is, she knows it makes her Momma happy, so she tolerates it. I
am hoping she will eventually get to where she enjoys it.
Molly loves to go for rides in the car. She especially loves her
doggy car seat that her Aunt Sissy gave to her, and will sit up
pretty and as tall as she can when she’s in it. That lasts until she
starts getting sleepy from the car ride, then she will stretch out
for a nap. She also loves her stroller and seemed to know that it
was hers from the first time that she saw it. She will hop right in
and is ready to go for a ride at a moment’s notice. She doesn’t try
to get out neither.
In the mornings, Molly will wait, sometimes patiently, sometimes not
so patiently, for her Momma to fix her breakfast. It’s so delicious;
she can hardly wait to taste it! Such a big difference from when she
was in the ‘bad place’. Her Momma cooks oatmeal with bananas or some
kind of treat in it that’s good for her. She gets healthy snacks of
mini-marshmallows, carrots, strawberries, yogurt, or apples…and
occasionally a popsicle! Her little girlish figure has filled out
somewhat since she arrived home. Her fur is now soft to the touch.
Molly loves to meet people and is often invited to her local schools
to see the students and explain what rescue is all about. She is now
so happy in her new life. We are hoping that any bad memories she
may have are being replaced with new, happier ones of a family who
loves her, just because she is herself. I often wonder if she thinks
about her puppies. I know she is terrified of thunderstorms, and the
only comfort she gets is being on my pillow when there is a storm
outside. She loves to snuggle on the people bed with her Momma and
Daddy, or with them in their recliners. I think it gives her a
feeling of security to be close to us.
Her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year and
a half. I often compare her to a little rosebud that has finally
opened up into full bloom. She is enjoying her life to the fullest.
Being her Momma, I am truly proud of this little girl and how far
she has come in such a short time. She has accomplished so much and
overcome many challenges. Nothing brings me greater joy than coming
home in the afternoons and seeing her on the back porch watching and
waiting for me…and hearing that little “welcome home, come hug me”
bark that she gives me everyday…rain or shine.
Molly Grace has become a true inspiration to me. She has such
forgiving, loving little soul…she has taught me, as I have taught
her, and we continue to learn from each other.
Some of this is pure speculation on my part, as we have no way of
truly knowing what Wendy/Molly endured before coming to rescue. But,
it just goes to show what love, patience, kindness, and
understanding can accomplish in the life of a little pug. I have
also found that people either understand and they “get it” or else
they just don’t. There is rarely an in-between. I feel sorry for
those who don’t understand, as they have no idea of what they are
missing out on.
We continue to pray for those that are not as lucky as Molly Grace
to find homes with a family to care for and love them. We will
continue to go to the schools when invited in hopes of educating the
future generation of rescuers. We continue to work hard for the
helpless.
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