Our 14 (at the time) year old daughter and I wanted a dog.  I wanted a beagle.  Perusing Petfinder.com, we stumbled across Penelope Charles, a senior girl who'd lived a hard life.  Her story was so sad that she just captivated us.  Over protests from my husband (motto: "Do we really want to do this?  This is going to be a lifestyle change..."), we brought her home in May of 2004.  My husband was right.  It WAS a lifestyle change.  This little one had been a breeder in an Amish puppymill.  After breeding her nearly to death, removing her teeth (most likely with pliers), feeding her garbage, when they had used her up, they turned her out to fend for herself.  Because she had been kept in a small pen for most of her life, her hind leg muscles had atrophied and she had little strength.  Afraid of EVERYTHING, her remaining teeth rotting and infected, she came home with us to live.  A month later, I took her to a veterinary dentist and when handing her over, she was resigned and showed no resistance.  I guess there was no use fighting what yet another human wanted to do to her.  We insisted that the vet call us the MINUTE she was available to be brought home.  My husband answered the call and within minutes was at the vet's office.  The technician brought out a very limp, very sad beagle.  At the sound of my husband's voice, the tail began to slowly, almost imperceptively wag.  Her mouth must have brought her much discomfort before her dental appointment, as her disposition brightened considerably with the passing weeks.  She went for brief walks daily building strength in her legs.  Eventually, she stopped dropping to her belly at every passing car.  It took a year and a half to house train her (How do you housetrain a dog who's had to relieve herself and sleep in her own waste?  Puppymill owners keep their dogs in small pens 24/7.)

Nearly three years later, Penny is a different dog.  Happy, healthy, enthusiastic about life.  She is a joy. 

Penny has been the best lifestyle change we could possibly imagine.  Because of her, we eventually opened our home to three other dogs, and will probably foster yet another.

I write this long-winded passage so that others might see an elderly dog in need and look past the sometimes rough exterior to the gem inside.  None of us would part with this little dog for all the tea in China!                                                                                

                                                                                     1-1-07