Read Ruby’s Rescue … as seen through her eyes.  

My name is Ruby and I’m a three-year-old Min Pin.  I weigh about 11 pounds and have very short red hair.  I look just like a big pincher only I’m really little.  Until now, I haven’t had a very happy life.  When I was little, I barely got to know my mom when I was taken away and sold to people who didn’t really know how to love or care for a puppy.  I was kept in a cage either in the back hall of the house or in a drafty barn.  Because I was very tiny, and I don’t have a lot of hair, I was cold all the time.   

There was nothing to compare my life to so I just lived it the way it came.  There weren’t any hugs or much food, and I never even knew what a treat or a toy was.  I lived with big humans and younger ones.  The younger ones were loud and noisy. They scared me because they would yell at me and thought I understood everything they were saying, but I didn’t.  I just looked at them with my big brown eyes and tried to figure out what they wanted, but I usually got it wrong and they would just yell louder.  So I curled up in a ball and tried to hide.   

Many meal times went by when they would forget me.  Sometimes I would go two or three days without much food.  I always felt hungry, but I thought that was just the way it was supposed to be.  Then they brought another dog home and I thought I had a friend, but he was only there a few hours and when he left I was all-alone again.  Several weeks later I ended up having puppies, they were so very tiny, but I was so happy because I had someone to care for and be with.  But one by one, my tiny little puppies left me.  They weren’t strong enough to last and I was so tired and thin and malnourished I didn’t have enough milk to keep them alive.   

My owners were very unhappy with me when my puppies died because they wanted to sell them and make some money.  I wasn’t any use to them anymore, so they called someone to come and take me away.  I was so scared, so lonely and so sad.  My beautiful little puppies were gone and I was once again all-alone with no one to love and no one to love me. 

A nice lady came to pick me up.  I was terrified and so cold.  But she spoke softly and kindly to me and wrapped me up in a blanket and carried me to her house.  What a surprise, when I got there.  There were so many other puppies who looked just like me.  Some were different colors, but they were about the same size as I was and they were all running and jumping and barking.  I was very shy.  I didn’t know what to do and it took me a few days to figure everything out.  But the lady and man were kind, they didn’t yell at me and they gave me food and water every day and hugs and treats.  I’d never had treats before.  I decided this was a pretty nice place to be, especially since I didn’t have to stay in a cage all the time.

The lady took me to the doctor.  The doctor wasn’t very happy with how I looked, or what had happened to me.  She didn’t have anything nice to say about the place I lived before.  She said she knew I had not had a good life or enough food or love.  I needed to get healthier and she hoped I would find a happy place for my forever home. 

A few weeks later Vicki, that’s the name of the lady who was taking care of me, brought me to visit another house.  I was really, really scared.  The lady who lived there picked me up and snuggled and kissed me, gave me lots of treats and told me I was pretty.  I got to play with her other puppy, Lucky.  Lucky seemed pretty nice and the lady and man were nice but I was still scared.  I was afraid to leave Vicki.   I had to go to the doctor again and a few days later Vicki brought me back to the man and lady we had visited.  I was going to stay with them.  I didn’t know them, and I was frightened. But they kept picking me up and snuggling me and kissing me and giving me treats.  They even bought me a new sparkly collar and lots of little shirts so I wouldn't be cold any more. Lucky tried to play with me, but I didn’t really know how to play. I’d never done it before.  We even had a heated bed to snuggle in for afternoon naps. All and all things were definitely looking up. 

I decided I liked it there pretty well.  My people were really happy when I would wag my tail when they fed me my breakfast and dinner and twirl in circles when they gave me treats.  After a while I would jump up on their laps and snuggle.  It was getting pretty nice to be around everyone.  Even the girl who lived there was nice to me, although I was afraid of her because she reminded me of the people in the other place I lived.  She never hurt me and always gave me kisses but she was the same size and sounded a lot like the other people where I used to live. 

My home, this is the first time I really felt like I had a home, was really nice.  They let me sit on the couch and snuggle in their laps and jump around. It was always fun when they came home from being away because that meant another treat.  I was feeling happy, loved, well fed, and good about everything.   

Then my mom and dad had to go away on business.  I got really nervous because the girl was taking care of Lucky and me.  She was nice, but I wanted my mom.   When she tried to put me outside in the morning before she went to school, I panicked when I heard a noise and ran from her.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  I hadn’t even had breakfast yet.  At first it seemed like a great adventure.  I went wherever I wanted, sniffed everything in sight and had a pretty good time.  It was kind of cold but the sun was out and I was feeling pretty good.  I heard the girl call me but I was afraid she would be mad at me so I decided to keep on sniffing around and checking everything out.  Besides going wherever I wanted was pretty cool. 

My adventures went on for hours, then I started to get hungry and I didn’t know where to get food.  I looked everywhere, but nothing I found even looked or smelled good.  Then I realized I was thirsty too and I didn’t know where to lay down and rest, and I was getting pretty tired.  I noticed it was getting dark and cold, but I didn’t know where I was or how to find my way home.  My adventure was not turning out the way I thought it would.  It wasn’t fun anymore. 

I walked around most of the night, and only lay down when I was so tired and cold I couldn’t keep going.  I was so hungry, it reminded me of when I lived at that other house and they would forget to feed me.  I was afraid to cry because I could hear big, scary sounding animals and some of them made some pretty loud noises, I didn’t want them to find me.  It was scary and cold and I was so afraid.  I just wanted to find my people and my home.  The temperatures were almost freezing and I didn’t have my snuggly warm bed or Lucky to cuddle with.  What had I done? 

For three days I tried to find my way back home, wandering everywhere, trying to find something that smelled familiar.  I searched for anything that would lead me back home, but nothing worked.  A couple of times I thought I heard someone call me, but by the time I got to where I heard them, there wasn’t anyone there. 

By the end of the third day, I had pretty much given up hope.  I was confused, sad, hungry, thirsty, and so very cold and tired.   I didn’t know what to do.  I was wandering in a direction I hadn’t been in before and then I thought I heard someone singing and calling my name.  I wasn’t sure, because when that happened before there wasn’t anyone there, but I perked my ears up and climbed up on the old railroad tracks to see if I could find anyone.  Then I heard someone yell, I found her, I found her and I got really scared.  I hunched down, afraid to move.  Then I smelled something really good and because I was so hungry, I started to inch towards the person.  I gobbled up the little pieces of sausage she tossed to me.  They tasted so good.  She knew my name and when she got closer to me I remembered her, it was Vicki the lady who rescued me before.  I was still frightened because I thought she might be mad at me, but she came close to me very slowly and kept telling me she was so happy to find me and she kept giving me food.  Then I heard a terrible noise, it was so loud and getting closer and closer, I was getting ready to run again.  Vicki put her hands up and waved at kids coming down the tracks in a funny little thing that looked like a little car but was very, very noisy.  When the noise finally stopped, Vicki came closer, she let me see the food she had and I was so hungry that I let her pick me up.  She was so happy to find me.  She snuggled me and gave me all the food she had.  Then people came from everywhere.  Including my mom’s friend Julie who had Lucky with her.  Even the little boy Tyler, who was the one who called my mom and told her he had seen me. Then the girl who lives at my home came running to me and I thought she would be mad but she took me from Vicki and kissed me and snuggled me and kept telling me how glad she was to see me.   

Then everyone said thank you to Tyler for being so smart and calling my mom because he recognized me from the flyer he had seen.  After a million kisses, my girl brought me back to my house.  By then Lucky, Julie, and Vicki were already there.  It was so wonderful to be back home.  I was so excited that I ran to every room and sniffed and sniffed and then ran in circles all over the house.  There was more food and water and my nice warm bed and all my toys and blankets.  I jumped up on the furniture to make sure that no one had taken it away while I was gone and I even jumped all over Lucky and he didn’t even bark at me. 

I was sooooo happy to be home.  My mom and dad came home the next day and when they saw me, they scooped me up and hugged and kissed me.  I thought my mom would never put me down.  I was so happy and so was my family.   

I wish I could say that I’ll never leave again but sometimes I just can’t help but run when I get the chance.  I don’t think I’ll ever go that far away again or be afraid to go back home, but I’m a dog, and dogs like to wander.  It’s just part of who we are, so please keep a good eye on us when we’re outside and don’t let us get too far away.  After all we are just dogs and we’re only doing what comes naturally … that’s why we need you humans to help us remember what we’re supposed to do and how to do it.  We love our people and nothing makes us happier than pleasing them, but sometimes we just end up acting naturally … like dogs and cats.  Just please remember, we love you and we want to be with you so if we do something stupid, please do everything you can to find us so we can come back home to you.  Thanks for listening.

Licks & Nuzzles,

Ruby Begonia        

P.S. Please support our Mom at www.womenlivingbeautifully.com , her sponsor Cossidia USA at www.cossidia.com , and Enriching Gifts Products at www.enzymes4life.net for helping with this web site.

We hope Ruby’s story will help you understand your dog or cat a little better.  It was written from all the facts we could gather along with input from her vet, Vicki our Min Pin rescue friend and our new friend and Animal Communicator Annette Betcher. (watch for Annette's Podcast with my mom at www.womenlivingbeautifully.com coming soon.)

Your pet doesn’t want to leave you and they don’t understand what they are doing when they do.  They are just curious, which is normal for them.  They naturally love exploring, sniffing and wandering.  The more you do to keep them safe ahead of time, the better off they are and so are you.  If they do get away from you, please follow the suggestions and help you will find on the "Lost Pet Info Sheet".  You can print it for free, or purchase a laminated copy and support Pet Rescue. But whatever you do make sure to keep this information handy. And most importantly, keep the feeling in your heart that you will find your pet and they will be home licking and snuggling you again, right where they belong. 

Thank you for taking the time to read Ruby’s story.  We hope it will give you a little insight into how your pet thinks and why they depend on you so much. It is our hope that if enough people share and utilize this information, it will help reunite many lost pets with their families.   

Heart Hugs,

Ruby and Lucky's Mom, Susan Marie

www.womenlivingbeautifully.com

A special thank you to the web master from www.cossidia.com and shopping cart services from www.enzymes4life.net for their  assistance putting this web site together.  Ruby's outfit for her video debut came from www.forfurbabies.com