Yellow Lab #1150:

       Hi, I am yellow lab #1150.

       Earlier this year, I was rescued from a puppy mill in eastern Wisconsin. I'm not quite sure what a puppy mill is, but I spent the first seven years of my life there. I had lots of puppies and very little human contact. What I did know of humans I didn't like very much.

       Then I went to a place where there were a lot of other dogs. I like dogs. There were people there who were very nice to me, but I didn't understand. I had never had a name and no one had ever talked to me so when the nice people talked to me I had no idea what they wanted. It was all very scary.

       They had a lot of dogs from the puppy mill so they sent me to another scary place with nice people. Again, they had a lot of dogs so that made it a little better. Again, they were very nice to me but I was very scared. There was a lady there who talked to me and tried to get me used to being around people.

       Then, some people came and saw me and talked about taking me Home? I had no idea what was going on. They brought me a bed so I could get used to it and have something familiar when I went to this new place called Home.

       Well, I went to this place called Home. There were two yellow labs that lived there. They were very nice and tried to show me the ropes. I liked following them around but the people still scared me.

       They kept talking to me, I still didn't get it. I was, however, always very hungry, something I always was at the puppy mill. Every time the new people showed me food, they said Lilly. Pretty soon, every time I heard "Lilly", I would look up and, sure enough, they would have some food for me. I watched the other dogs a lot and soon I saw that when they said "Sam", my big yellow friend came up and got a treat. When they said "Tucker", my other yellow friend stepped up and got a treat and, sure enough, when they said "Lilly", they had one for me. I really like being Lilly.

       I am so glad I have Sam and Tucker because this place called Home is very big and it's called a farm. There are cats in the house and in the barn and guess what, they all like me. There are some other animals, but they are very big and they are not the least bit afraid of me. I bark and give them my meanest growl and they just look at me. I think I heard someone say they were called horses.

       Every morning, the people take Sam, Tucker and me to the barn to feed the horses. At first, I did not like going to the barn, I had to be on a leash and gently pulled along until we got to the barn. Then I learned there were treats in the barn, too! I'm starting to like this place called Home.

       I have learned a lot in the 8 short weeks I have lived at this place called Home. Sam, Tucker and I all have our own dog beds. Sam is the biggest, so he has the biggest bed. I like Sam's bed best. I have learned if Sam is on his bed and if I stare at him long enough, he will move over and make room for me or get up and give me his bed. He is really nice to me.

       My people say I am a very good girl and they are happy they brought me Home. Some days I am still afraid and I don't know why, but they say it's ok and then I feel a little better.

       I know I have a lot more to learn about Home. I heard them talking about something called swimming and Tucker was very excited about that. Then, they said when it dried up a bit we could go for walks in the woods. This must be a lot of fun because Sam got excited about this and he doesn't get excited very easily.

       The other night, the people had some friends over for dinner. They always have enough for everyone. Sam, Tucker and I always get a little something. I am not very fussy; I'll eat just about everything, I even like bananas!!!! Well, back to the other night and dinner, I was a little scared with all the people around, but they were pretty quiet and it was OK. After dinner, they were talking and I found it boring. They had put all the food away so I went into the living room where my bed is. One of my people asked if anyone could see where Lilly was and somebody said they could see her and she was sleeping all stretched out on the sofa with her head on a pillow. My people thought he was kidding but when they checked, sure enough, that is just what I was doing, sound asleep!!!

       I really like this place called Home.

Lilly

       NOTE: Yellow lab #1150 had been a breeder dog at Pretty Penny Kennel, a Wisconsin puppy mill, all her life. For some reason she stopped producing puppies, and was lucky enough to be surrendered to the shelter. For more about her rescue, please see: Sugar's Bakers: How Two Elementary School Students Made a Difference for a Puppy Mill Survivor