We could learn a lot from a dog...

Her name is "Momma".

Actually, that's her new name.

You ask, "But what's her real name...the name she was given by the people who had her? The name she's heard all of her life? The name that makes her tail wag when she hears her master call her name?"

We don't have a clue.

She was dumped at a shelter when her litter from an unknown daddy was just a day or two old. Her coat was in poor condition and she has scars on her face from God-only-knows-what.

Unfortunately, at that shelter, they are unable to take up cage space and care for a momma and her babies for another 7+ weeks, until they are old enough to go to a home. So she and her 6 babies were set to be euthanized.

We got a last-minute call, asking if we were interested.

We committed to her and her babies and made the 45 minute trip to get her and her litter. She was SO afraid of us, that when we got her and her babies home (to The Perky Puppy kitchen), she just cowered in the corner of her huge crate. We had to lift her out of her cage to take her outside and then carry her back into her babies. She wouldn't even walk, because she cowered every time we were around.

Then, to make matters worse, we started losing babies.

5 died in less than 24 hours. They would stop eating, she would nudge them away, and we would jump in and do everything humanly possible to save them. (I think we now own every baby/baby animal bottle & nipple known to man.) We even tried tube-feeding and incubating the babies. No luck. It was AWFUL! We cried A LOT!!! (FYI-There are many reasons that neonatal puppies fail and die. The most likely culprit here is stress...dumped, sheltered, set to die, shuffled again...strangers, car rides, shuffled from one place to another...it was just too much.)

Now-let me say, that if all that happened to me, I'd be an emotional wreck for a VERY LONG TIME.

I'd probably still be feeling sorry for myself.

But not this girl!!! She is amazingly and beautifully resilient!! Just look at her...

Seriously...go back up to the pictures and look at her. (I'll wait.)

OK...welcome back.

Fast forward-7+weeks.

Let me tell you about "Momma" (She came to the name naturally. If you had a no-name dog nursing in your kitchen, I'm guessing you'd call her something similar.)-

She's all done being a momma. Her only surviving baby ("Chipmunk") is now weaned and ready to go to a home. (You can see him HERE.) So, momma's "off the hook" and she concentrate fully on just being a dog. AND, BOY, DOES SHE LOVE BEING A DOG!!!

She plays and runs and skips and jumps! She wags and cuddles and is just happy, happy, happy!

She loves her food, loves her toys, and loves attention. She loves jumping up on my bed and stretching out for a nice nap. And she LOVES her new name!!

She will be scheduled for spay/rabies shot at Dr. Steed's office this week. (If you would like to donate towards that, please email me at jessica@theperkypuppy.com ) She is hanging out with us until we find her the perfect home.

HERE'S WHAT I LOVE- Dogs don't hold grudges, and they don't feel sorry for themselves.

Dogs take every day and treat it like a gift. Most of them are appreciative and loving, no matter what they've survived or what they've struggled through.

Wow! Don't we all know people who could stand to set down their baggage and just be HAPPY???

I wanna be like Momma when I grow up.

How about you?