Brownie, is a Special Delivery wire fox terrier, who was found by Greg H., a UPS Driver, while on his route. She was wandering in front of a car dealership on a busy street in New Bern, NC. Being a wonderful and caring dog-lover, Greg picked her up and took her to the shelter where she would at least be safe from all the dangers in the world to a dog running loose.
American Fox Terrier Rescue received an e-mail directly from the shelter when she was found, and we were told of the poor condition she was in. The shelter would hold her, and when the stray hold expired, she could go into rescue. Nobody claimed her, so American Fox Terrier Rescue stepped in and arranged for transport.The closest we could get her was Smithfield. Thankfully, I remembered I had an applicant in that area. I worked in the home visit to Laura's house on the way home, figuring I could get it completed and have the home pre-approved for a dog when one came available. I was met at the pickup spot by Kathryn of "Land Shark Express", a lovely lady that not only transports dogs, but is into Bichon Frise rescue. Brownie was cute, thin, stinky, but brave and eager to explore her surroundings. I popped her into the carrier and we proceeded to Laura's home.
Fate has a way of stepping in sometimes, and lucky for Brownie, as they say, "that's all she wrote"! I was met at the door by a lovely lady eager to meet Brownie. After a preliminary walk through of her home, complete with a doggie door out to the deck and a large fenced in yard, we brought Brownie in to meet the family. That cute little face must have touched a heartstring immediately, and I think Laura fell for her before we even got her into the house. Laura agreed to take her as is - skinny, stinky, with bad skin and all!
As soon as Brownie came into the house, she began to explore, bravely checking every room. Once she ascertained this was a pretty cool home, the toy basket came out! So many choices and so many great smelling toys! The squeaky brain got a good work out, so much so that it had to be put up before it got squeaked to death. Then a look at the back yard. And as soon as she spotted the doggie door she was out and down the stairs after a SQUIRREL! Once the danger of a squirrel invasion was averted, Brownie did a thorough exploration the yard. She came back to Laura to report all was safe from squirrels. Obviously Brownie knew that they needed someone to keep the squirrels at bay, and since she didn't have any big plans her calendar, she figured she could think about staying there.
We went inside for a snack and I was most impressed with Laura's knowledge of dog behavior. She showed Brownie the snack, told her to wait. When Brownie patiently sat down, Laura gave her the treat. Model behavior from a lovely little stinky bedraggled imp of a dog.
We decided everyone would be much happier if Brownie was clean so we gave her a bath together to wash the smells of the shelter off of her forever. She stood patiently through two very thorough latherings of shampoo and a good rinse by four hands at once. Drying off was much more fun and she gave the mat in the closet a good mopping. All clean she perked up even more and was a sweet smelling girl when her new Dad, Alan, got home. Alan brought food for her and enjoyed meeting the beautiful Brownie.
After seeing that she would be cherished, challenged, loved and safe, I returned home exhausted, but giddy with the joy of watching a new family form. So many thanks go out on behalf of Brownie to Trinity, Kathryn, and especially the UPS driver for helping Brownie find her new perfect home! She will be known as Parson Brown which is the name Laura had already chosen for her next dog.
Our latest update from Brownie's new family is:
Parson Brown is healing. Her eyes are almost completely better and her skin infection is nearly gone. The skin was very bad. She had two rounds of antibiotics and two sets of steroids, and now after a modified diet we’ve concluded that she also has environmental allergies that give her skin dermatitis. So, I’ve just started her on new meds for that. Once her itchiness is all gone, we can try to taper her back some. Unfortunately, as the skin infection healed, her beautiful pinkish-white skin turned black from the damage done to it. So she has black blotchy skin now—especially on her legs. The vet said this is the normal way the skin heals from an infection like hers. Fortunately some hair is starting to reappear.
PBJ is absolutely adorable and a delight to have in our family. She loves all people, and really any lap will do—she’ll climb up on anyone and turn upside down in the lap for a belly rub. She despises squirrels, cats, and nail clipping. We have no problems on walks, and even on quick trips, she knows exactly what to do. She goes in and out the dog door, and has not attempted to escape the fence. When we pick up the dog brush, she will literally follow us around wanting to be brushed. The vet adores her.
She’s a great dog, and I still cannot believe that someone didn’t look under every bush in New Bern trying to find her.
Have a blessed weekend,
Laura