Yorkshire Terrier - My Yorkie, "Bailey Jane", was given a second chance.

Yorkshire Terrier - My Yorkie, "Bailey Jane", was given a second chance.

By: Jennifer Romer - Clayton, Indiana

In July of 2005, my neighbor visited the local animal shelter and saw a yorkie. He took a picture of it with his phone to show me whenever he got back. When I saw the picture, I immediately knew I wanted the dog. I love Yorkies and I've had 2 in the past so I already knew how fun and loving they are. I went to the shelter the next day to find out that somebody had already taken her. The shelter employees told me that the dog was a stray and that they found her on the side of the road. I was so upset but I left my number with them incase they get another Yorkie.

A couple of days later, I got a phone call from the Animal shelter telling me that the lady who took the Yorkie brought her back. So I went to the shelter that afternoon to take a look at the dog. When I saw the dog, I was a bit disappointed because I didn’t expect a Yorkie to look the way this one did. She was so sick and so skinny and I felt really bad for her. It had an ugly haircut, and also had a tail. (Most yorkies have little nubs) They told me that the lady who had adopted her didn't want to pay for the vet bills and had said that the dog lounged around the whole time and wouldn't play. I was furious to find out that there was such a person out there that wouldn't pay a few bucks for the care of a sick dog. I then adopted the dog, set up an appointment, and took the dog home in that same week.

When we took the dog home, we stuck her in a cage, but we left the door open. She was a full-grown dog, but was so skinny that she couldn’t keep her head up without shaking. It hurt me to watch her go up 2 steps because she had trouble keeping herself up. It was so sad. She wouldn’t eat anything that I gave her and she wouldn’t even drink. I made a vet appointment for her sickness and I found out that she had two hernias, an ear infection in both of her ears, she did indeed have a sickness (I forget what sickness she had) she had swelling in her kidneys of some sort. I also found out that she was only 7 lbs and by looking at her teeth she was only a year and a half.

I was so upset to find all of this out and I was angry to know that nobody at the shelter, or the lady who adopted her before would even help this poor dog that was in such pain. After a week of caring for her, she fattened up and became peppier. She now weighs a healthy 11 lbs and can jump on anything that she wants. We got the hernias removed and got her spayed.

Everybody who meets my dog tells me that she is the sweetest dog they have ever met. She is a lover for sure and loves attention. She is not, however, annoying like most yorkies. She does have some unique tricks that I’ve never seen other dogs do. For example, when you pet her belly, she takes her front paws and puts them together and does a fast back and forth motion (telling you she wants more petting). Also if you’re sleeping, she will take a paw and put it on our mouth to wake you up, and if that doesn’t work, she will growl and jump on you.

My dogs name is Bailey Jane and I would not trade her for anything. I truly believe that I am her hero, and she is my little angel. People always say that the greatest dogs to have are the ones that come from animal shelters, and I agree with that 100%.

Jennifer Romer - Clayton, Indiana