• last year
Senior dog kept waiting for owner who never returned
Transcript
00:00 Mila was found tied to a burned down house.
00:02 I assume she had been there for at least a few weeks.
00:05 She was really skinny.
00:06 And this is the sad part.
00:07 She could have easily slipped out of her collar
00:08 because it was so loose at that point.
00:10 But she was so obedient and such a good girl.
00:14 She just stayed there, thinking someone
00:15 would come back for her.
00:16 She was just waiting for someone that tied her there,
00:19 and nobody ever did.
00:20 A Good Samaritan was passing by.
00:22 They brought her home.
00:23 The family held on to her for a week or two,
00:25 and then she came to me.
00:26 I do local senior rescue work, and I wanted to help her.
00:31 When I got her, she was closer to 14, 15.
00:34 We had to carry her out of the van.
00:35 She was very fragile.
00:36 Thank you.
00:38 But she was immediately such a sweetheart, wanted to live,
00:41 wanted to be loved.
00:41 That was the first thing that I noticed about her.
00:44 I have elderly seniors in my home.
00:47 She was in quarantine for a few weeks
00:49 in a separate part of the house, so that way I could
00:52 get her cleared and healthy.
00:54 The first few weeks, she was definitely timid,
00:58 kept to herself.
00:59 And then as she started to feel better,
01:01 she came out of her shelf with my other hospice senior,
01:03 Noodle.
01:04 I love you, too.
01:06 He gave her the courage to feel comfortable
01:09 and make the home her home.
01:10 Then she started to get comfortable with me.
01:12 You want your dinner?
01:14 Hi.
01:15 She's very vocal in telling us what she wants.
01:18 She barks for breakfast, and she barks for her lunch,
01:20 and she barks for her dinner.
01:21 And she barks if she wants cuddles.
01:23 She's like a little duckling.
01:25 She's curious to be near us, but she's
01:27 definitely an independent girly.
01:28 She does have some food attachments or food
01:31 insecurities still.
01:32 I think because she didn't know when her next meal would be,
01:35 so I feed her separately.
01:36 And I slow feed her because she'll just devour
01:38 everything in front of her.
01:39 She doesn't stand out as any breed to me.
01:42 I would love to know what she is because it's a mystery.
01:44 She's just a little old lady that
01:45 wants to drink tea and knit and snuggle and just
01:49 have a relaxing evening.
01:51 They gave her days to weeks to live,
01:54 and this was about three months ago.
01:55 So she's doing way better than any of us anticipated.
01:59 And I'm doing palliative care.
02:02 Every morning, every night, every waking moment
02:06 has been just doting on her and loving on her.
02:08 I leave the room, and I kiss her forehead.
02:10 I go to work for the day, and I tuck her in,
02:12 and I give her her snacks, and I tell her I love her.
02:14 I'm sweet.
02:16 I was just like, I love you.
02:17 I love you.
02:18 I love you.
02:19 I love you.
02:20 I always cry.
02:21 And I hope that she's happy.
02:26 And, you know, I hope when I come home,
02:30 she's still here with us.
02:33 But she's here.
02:35 She's happy.
02:36 It's just such a gift each day that she's still here with us.
02:39 I'm very intentional, I would say,
02:40 every waking moment with Mila to make sure
02:42 that she feels that love and support from us,
02:45 but also just to make sure that if there was a bad past
02:48 and bad memories, we could wash those away,
02:51 create a new story in this final chapter of her life
02:54 so that she can at least go out feeling loved.
02:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:01 (music fades)
03:04 you