After a suitable
period of time in which I was fostered and treated for worms and neutered I
was ready for my "forever home." 

I was adopted by Mom who drove from Palm Beach, Fl. to TN to get me.  I was
so scared.  I rode the whole way home without making a sound.  Mom was so
patient when I cringed when she tried to pick me up or got scared and ran
away or when I went to the bathroom in the house or when I chewed almost
anything I could get my teeth into.  She realized that I had never been in a
home before -- just a wire cage - and that I needed time to learn how to be a
dog.  Sometimes when she sits and holds me and I just cuddle close to her and
sigh she cries - I think she is so happy that I am free and perhaps she is
thinking of all my "cousins" who are still trapped in the mills.

My family (consisting of Teddie, a schipperke and Windy, a Pekingese and Mom)
go to New Hampshire on a lake in the summer.  I have discovered that I love
the feel of earth beneath my feet, chasing chipmunks and running as fast as I
can through the woods. 

When I arrived at my new home I weighed six pounds and am now a healthy seven
pounds. 

My Mom hopes to teach me obedience and agility and that we can compete in
competitions in the future.  I am still very scared but if we go slowly I
think I will do all right. 

I really love Teddie and he is my "security blanket."  If Mom and Teddie
leave I will howl until they come back. 

I have come from a life of despair and suffering to a life of wonder and
love.  I feel grass underneath my feet instead of wire, I eat wholesome food
instead of maggot-infested puppy mill food and I now know that hands are for
petting and not for hurting.

I pray to the God of all living creatures that someday soon there will be no
puppy mills and that all the dogs trapped in them will have loving caring
homes like mine. 

Love, Elliot the hairless Chinese Crested