Robbie's Story
by the Canadian Dachshund Rescue

Look at those eyes, if they could talk, the stories they could tell.

Robbie arrived in foster care on a cold, Sunday night in January.  He and 6 other dachshunds had just completed a 72 hour journey from a puppy mill in Missouri, to their new lives in their foster homes in Toronto. 

Life in a Puppy Mill is a sad, lonely and unhealthy place to be.  He was a puppy mill breeding dog, which meant being confined to a cage for all of his  9  years .  When these dogs no longer breed , they are sentenced to death, unless the miller is agreeable to releasing them to rescues.  Robbie was one of the lucky ones.   He was released to a contact in Missouri and transported to Toronto by numerous volunteers who would drive their committed few hours and then pass them onto the next volunteer. All at carefully arranged times and meeting places along the journey.

When he first arrived in foster care – his beautiful red long hair coat was matted in feces…..his ears were so full of wax, it took his foster mom many weeks to carefully work at cleaning the delicate tissue without irritating it.  His mouth had a terrible odour and a trip to the vet revealed a severely infected mouth. He had been so neglected it is a wonder he could wag his tail at all, with all the pain he was in.  This is typical of puppy mill dogs.  Money is not spent on caring for the health of these dogs. He had all teeth removed except for 2 canines and was on a heavy course of antibiotics to ensure the infection did not spread to the rest of his body. 

Robbie didn’t understand what it was like to be a pet.  He didn’t know how to eat treats out of his foster Mom’s hand and preferred to lay on the newspapers and the cold floor instead of his nice new, comfy yet strangely foreign bed.  He was afraid of squeaky toys, afraid to go outside, and was petrified of walking on a leash.  He barked in anxiety for  many  nights…crying out in fear of where he was, away from his unhealthy, yet still familiar surroundings back in the puppy mill.  Life had turned upside down. Despite all of this, there was a still a twinkle and a sparkle of life in his beautiful brown eyes. 

A few weeks after his arrival, Canadian Dachshund Rescue had a spot on morning talk show in Toronto, called Breakfast Television.  He was up for adoption and was being profiled along with 3 other dogs. While all this was happening, Robbie’s foster mom and dachshund sister had fallen in love with him.  He was meant to be part of their family.  The adoption was finalized and he now has a forever home.  He has recently passed his certification with Therapeutic Paws of Canada to become a Pet Therapy dog.  This means visiting hospitals and nursing homes, helping others.  He has truly come full circle.