It might not be visible to the naked eye, but the word SUCKER is written across my forehead.

In actuality, this OOPS IS all the Coach’s fault. Let me explain. A few weeks ago he arrived home in the morning, coming back from his workout. I was still in bed because I love my bed in the morning and he proceeded to bring me a cup of coffee. I sat in my comfy bed, drinking my coffee and perusing the FB on my phone. Our community in GA shared a post from a local animal rescue and there was this little girl who caught my eye; Lillie. Had I not been lounging in bed, drinking coffee, I might not have seen her.

I saw her sweet face and immediately thought of Lolo’s dog Max, a rat terrier mix, who I adore even though he’s outrageously weird.

Ok, before I get too far ahead, I know I’ve said 499 times over the past two years that Callie would be our last dog…no more dogs for us because we love to travel SO much and it’s a pain finding someone to stay with our dogs. But you know what? We ain’t going anywhere aside from GA now. And having a small dog that I can toss in the car seemed easy.

You know, I don’t really TOSS my dogs, right?

I inquired about her via email and asked if she was good with other dogs. This started a very long string of emails back and forth and obviously it was hook.line.sinker.sucker.

So a few weeks ago Callie and I made the long drive to our GA house to meet Lillie. Who drives almost 10 hours to fetch a dog with one ear? I do, that’s who. BTW: The Coach was on board; he’s almost always on board with my ideas and that’s why I keep him around. Plus, he brings me all the coffee in bed.

Callie and I met Lillie at the rescue office. Lillie seemed apprehensive and not super thrilled about big ole’ Callie. But we forged on. I DID ask if there was a return policy, just in case Lillie hated Callie. The goal was really for Callie to have a friend as she seems lonely at times. I brought Lillie to the GA house on a Thursday. My plan was to stay there with both dogs until Saturday or Sunday, then drive back to Florida. Y’all, it was a precarious few days getting acclimated. I ended up staying until the following Wednesday knowing that if I brought her all the way back to FL there was no going back. Plus, I really wanted her to get comfortable with Callie and I before we moved her to another location.

{Lillie’s back story: Her person, an older gentleman passed away in his sleep Jan 3rd. His stepdaughter found him at his apartment. Lillie had been living with him, for how long I don’t know. She (the daughter) then surrendered Lillie to the local animal shelter. The shelter then reached out to the rescue (a non- kill) group to see if they could place her in a home. And then Suzanne the Sucker enters the picture.}

She was so nervous for the first few days. I’m talking shaking so much that she could hardly walk; she was stiff and kept her head down. Peeing.all.the.time inside and out. She would sit on my lap and when Callie approached, Lillie would stiffen up, growl and snap at Callie. Like the kind of dog snapping that scares the beJesus out of you. The shaking thing really got me though; I honestly thought she was ill; possibly sepsis because she’d just recovered from spaying and having a hernia removed. I just knew she was dying…I was going back and forth with the rescue group via phone and the vet who did her surgery. They reassured me that she wasn’t ill, but she’s been through hell.

• She was a wreck because she’d been moved from her home and away from her ‘person’.
• She spent a few days at the pound.
• She was then sent to a vet for spaying and hernia removal.
• She stayed at a foster home while recovering from surgery.
• She was then moved to the rescue group.
• She then found the best thing ever: Me.

All of that happened in just over three weeks.

After three days she seemed to warm up a bit to Callie, but not while she was on my lap. If Callie was laying down on a bed, Lillie would walk over, sniff her and lay with her. IT made me so happy. Then, she started shaking less. I put her in a bed at bedtime, but she would wake up and whine next to the bed asking to get in with me…and of course I obliged. She’s been sleeping in the bed with me/us every night now.

She’s stopped growling at Callie when she sits on my/our lap now. She’s great on a leash and listens pretty darn good. Today (Sunday) marks 10 days that I’ve had her.

On the trip home, I put her small bed in the backseat of my car. She hopped out in a hot minute and before I was out of the driveway, Callie stuffed her 70lb self in it. Before long, they were both in/on the bed and slept together for 99% of the long car trip home.

Once back in Florida, she settled in nicely; she burrows in the bed in between us at night and hardly takes any space. She loves the Coach, which isn’t surprising at all. We’ve never had a dog this small before, so I’m constantly looking down and behind me as she follows me everywhere I go. Can you blame her?

OMG. It was SO cold while we were in GA. I hated, hated taking the dogs out for potty breaks and with a new dog that has bladder control issues, we were outside for walks A LOT. It was 25* when we left for Florida. She’s probably really digging the warmer weather.

I was told that she despite her loving being outside, her person, the older gentlemen wasn’t able to take her out much and she spent a lot of time in their apartment. She used a pee pad for potty time.

Oh, the Elephant in the room: Lillie’s ear. I was told (I called the step-daughter who surrendered her) that when she was a puppy, she walked into an electric fence and it singed her ear off. Not 100% sure it’s accurate because Lillie was passed off to her from someone else; so I’m getting the story third person. But, if you look at the scarring on her head, it mades sense. Funny though, Callie has part of one ear chopped from her ranch/cow herding days and our rescue boxer Ozzie had both ears botched from a home breeder; we have a thing for dogs and weird ears. She also has this ‘collapsing trachea’ that I read about in her vet paperwork; apparently that is a thing with certain breeds. She makes this little sound on her exhales, but its not like a snoring sound. I’ll refrain from dressing her in turtleneck sweaters.

This was a very long post, but I needed to document as much as I could here because I might forget it all next week. Wish us luck that Lillie continues to jive well here with us.

Did anyone else have an exciting week that included growling, shaking and lots of pee?

XOXO