The Extraordinary Life of CoCo: From Puppy Mill to Paris - Part 1

    Almost twelve years ago I decided to adopt a little white fluffy dog from our local humane society.  I had always had big dogs, but I was looking to "downsize" my life in many ways having just retired.  This little white fluffy dog was about to teach me many things about life and resilience and overcoming a rough beginning.

   I had seen a report on our local news station about a puppy mill raid in Missouri.  The report said that 30 of those small breed dogs would be taken in by our local humane society and once they had passed quarantine they would be available for adoption. I had two large, older dogs at the time, both rescues.  Asha was a shepherd mix who was about 14 and Huck was a husky/lab mix and was about 6.  

   When I first saw CoCo, she was lying in a ball on a rug in her kennel at the humane society.  She was a pitiful looking tiny little filthy miniature poodle and something tugged at my heart.  I asked if I could meet her and they had me go into a little room where, in just a few minutes, they brought in this little dog.  She immediately became really interested in the room and was exploring everything in it - except me!  I was sitting on the floor and she would come to my arms' length, but no closer.  I'd reach out and she would back up.  (That reaction would continue off and on for her entire life.)  I will never forget the volunteer's words: "Her interest in things around her shows that she is not defeated."  I was to learn many things about puppy mills from that day on.

 

CoCo when I first brought her home

   She let me pick her up and I held her against my heart and talked softly to her.  She allowed this from me, but I could tell she would rather be on the floor so I put her back down and watched her continue to explore the room.  After about 15 minutes the volunteer put her back in her kennel and said I had one hour to decide before they would start showing her to other people.  I watched her put CoCo back in that kennel and she immediately went back into a little ball and just laid there.  I decided then and there that she would never spend another night in a cage and she came home with me at that moment!

   They had spayed her a few days earlier and she had a slight infection so they gave me an antibiotic ointment to use on her and said to limit her activity until the stitches were fully healed.  I remember asking them if they were sure she was a WHITE miniature poodle as she was so discolored that she looked like champagne or ivory with splotches of yellow.  They assured me that with a few groomings she would be white.  Puppy mill dogs live in their own filth for years.

   I had prepared my house to introduce my larger dogs to a little one.  I had an area of my bedroom blocked off with a dog arena pen.  There were towels and puppy pads covering the carpet and she had a bed and food and water.  Of course the older dogs were fascinated with this little one, and CoCo showed no fear of them.  That first day I just held her on my lap and massaged her little skinny body with some lavender essential oils.  She smelled as bad as she looked, poor little thing!  She seemed to enjoy the touch and was quite content to just lay on my lap and let me do that.  

   That night I put her in her arena where she settled into her little bed without any encouragement from me.  The big dogs settled down on their beds on the floor of my bedroom and all was well that first night.  The next morning CoCo was ready to get out of the pen and do some exploring.  Since I wasn't sure yet how my big dogs would react to her being in their "territory" (although neither of them had ever shown any aggression towards any dogs) I wanted to take things slowly.  I opened the arena gate just enough that CoCo could get out, but the big dogs couldn't go in.  That way, if she was overwhelmed with them she could retreat to the safety of the arena.  But once she was out, there was no going back!  She was ready for freedom and all the dogs got along great. 

Asha, Huck and CoCo after a few weeks (and a grooming!)

 

   CoCo had never learned to play (and never had any interest in playing).  She had no problem "telling" the big dogs to back off.  In fact, she quickly became the alpha of the pack.  At 8 pounds she could put Asha and Huck in their places!  She never showed any fear of anyone of anything or other dogs.  She was spunky!!  And I loved it!  It didn't take long for all the dogs to be fine all together.  

   This was the end of February in 2009.  We had some really nice sunny days and I took CoCo into the backyard to explore the outdoors.  This was all new to her!  As a puppy mill breeder for the first 2+ years of her life, she had never been outside.  She had never seen the sun (she came to be quite the sun goddess!), or felt grass or dirt.  She had never seen birds or squirrels or heard any of the outdoors sounds.  I was amazed watching her.  She would lie in the grass for hours and just take it all in.  She eventually realized that dirt was a really fun thing to dig!

   That first week with her was an eye-opener for me.  I had heard of puppy mills and knew they were bad, but I really didn't know that much about the horrors that these dogs experience.  Watching CoCo and seeing how different she was from other rescues that I had adopted over the years, I could see the scars - some of which stayed with her for the rest of her life.  Also, physical scars.  Her front legs showed signs of having been dislocated at some point in her life.  This probably happened when she was being pulled out of her cage.  Her front shoulders were much lower than her back hips.

She didn't look much like a poodle when I brought her home

    The second night she was home was a completely different story from the first.  I mentioned that the first night she stayed in her little bed in the arena in my bedroom all night.  I never heard a peep out of her and I assumed that would be her little "home" every night.  Nope!!  The next night started out the same way as the first.  I put her in her little area.  Asha and Huck settled into their beds and I thought all was well - until CoCo started jumping up and down trying to get out of her arena.  I was afraid she would tear the stitches from her spay so I opened up the gate to let her out into the rest of the bedroom.  I thought she'd be happy with that.  Nope!!

   She tried to jump up on the bed with me!  I had never let my big dogs get on the furniture or sleep on my bed.  I had a waterbed for years which was not the best place for 100+ pound dogs to be!  So I had no dogs sleeping in bed with me.  Or so I thought!  I really was worried that she would do herself some harm by the continuous jumping so I finally picked her up and placed her on the side of my bed.  At which point she settled in as though she had been waiting for that spot her entire life!  She kept scooting closer and closer to me and I kept scooting over further and before I knew it she was in the very middle of the bed and I had a small corner!  I put her little bed on top of my bed next to me and she was perfectly happy to sleep there!  A win for both of us.

   Our little family got along so well.  CoCo was a great addition.  Throughout the month of March CoCo taught me many more things about life in a puppy mill.  When I took her to my vet for her surgery follow-up he said the stitches were healing well, the infection was gone and she seemed very healthy other than being underweight which is a definite puppy-mill thing as they are fed the least amount of the cheapest food possible.  I said she seemed pretty small for a miniature poodle and he said she was a "tweener"!  Meaning she was between the size of a miniature and a toy.  The most likely reason for this is that the puppy mill started breeding her before she was full grown.  And so all of the hormones that should have been going to her to help her grow were now going to her pups.  So her growth was stunted at the time of her first pregnancy.

   Another thing I learned about her is that she had no depth perception.  She would try to jump up on the couch or chair where I was sitting and she would miss it by about 6 inches.  At first I thought maybe she was just a klutz, but then I realized she had never jumped up on anything in her life and so had no idea how she was supposed to do that.  She just knew that she wanted to be wherever I was and so she was willing to try.  She figured it out within a dozen tries, but those first few were rather comical if not heartbreaking.  

   And, she had never been groomed!  Once her stitches were completely healed I decided to take her to get her bathed and clipped.  I had never had a dog who needed to be groomed so I didn't have groomer that I knew.  There was a grooming facility not far from my house so I called them and made an appointment.  I explained that she was a puppy mill rescue and had spent all of her life in a cage so I was concerned about them caging her before and after her grooming.  I'm sure they were good with her, but I had to drop her off for almost the entire day!  I was so happy when a few months later I found Trish!!  She works out of her home and was always so loving - and quick!- with getting CoCo beautiful.  And  now she grooms Max, too. It did take about 4 grooming sessions for her to be completely white and silky.  I always told her that she must have had beautiful babies!  

Now she looks like an actual poodle!

 

   The next lesson, for her and for me, was signing her up for some training.  I knew she was smart and I probably could have done the training myself, but I also knew that the socialization for her being in a group of other dogs and around other people would be good for her.  So I signed her up for puppy classes at a nearby PetSmart.  She was not amused!  She did not like being with other dogs or other people.  She tolerated the classes for my sake (she tolerated a lot of things during her life to please me!).  She surprised us all by her lack of interest in treats.  She responded to the commands by my praising her.  The trainer had never had a dog who refused treats.  She started bringing all kids of wonderful treats to try on her, but nothing worked.  CoCo just wanted me to tell her how good she was.  (She eventually realized that treats were a wonderful thing!)

   There were many things that she was able to overcome as she lived with me.  But some things remained with her for most of her life.  She saw it as her duty to protect me, our house, our car, our yard.  She did not let anyone but me touch her.  She hated men and especially men who wore ball caps.  She finally got to where she would tolerate Andy, but she would not let him near her.  At least she stopped trying to bite his ankles!  That was big step! ha!  

   If I was sitting outside in the sunshine she wanted to be in my lap.  That continued her entire life.  Although if I wasn't sitting in the sunshine she would go lie where the sunshine was.  If I was on the couch she would lie next to me.  She just needed to know where I was at all times.

   Asha died in her sleep a few months after I adopted CoCo.  At that point she and Huck started enjoying each other's company.  They would even try to play which was rather comical since Huck was abut 100 pounds and CoCo was 8.  She did gain some weight after a few months of being on good dog food.  She and Huck remained close for the rest of his life.

Huck and CoCo the Couch Princess

 

   In my next installment of "CoCo Goes to Paris", I'll talk about the changes in my own life, moving to Kansas to care for my mom and then moving Mom back to Colorado where she lived with me and the 2 dogs.  I hope you don't mind reading about my sweet CoCo.  I find that it is really helping me with my grief to be able to write about her.  She may have been only 8 pounds, but she took up a Great Dane sized place in my heart.  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.