Willy's Story

Willy's Story…

Willie came to UMR when his elderly mom died. Her daughter, who lives in New York City, called and asked if we could help because her mom's husband was also quite elderly and couldn't take care of him. We had Willie in foster care for more than 6 months. Then his "real new mom" found him. She and Willie sent us the following story about how this all came about. Thanks, Willie (and Kimmie). We are all so happy that you two found each other.

Willy's New Beginning…

Hi, My name is Willie and I'm a 13 year old Maltese. I would like to tell you my life's story. I was born in a puppy mill. It was very crowded there. When I was barely 8 weeks old, I was shipped to a pet store to be sold. An older lady fell in love with me and took me home. Her name was Hazel. She was married and lived in an apartment. Hazel fed me and held me. It was a great life. Sometimes we went for walks. I only like the street, grass tickles my feet.

I lived with Hazel and her husband, Dick, for almost 12 years. Then one day Hazel got sick and the ambulance took her away. She never came back. I was miserable. Then Hazel's daughter came and got me. She took me to a place full of all kinds of dogs. I was scared and I missed my mommy, Hazel. After a few weeks there I was feeling even worse. My hair was falling out and my teeth hurt.

Then a nice lady named Barbara showed up. She drove me to her house. Barbara could tell I didn't feel well, so she took me to her doggie doctor. My gums were infected and I had eight bad teeth. So I got my teeth pulled and got some medicine for my gums. But my hair was really thin and I was still scared. You see, Barbara had four other Maltese dogs at her house. They were Bear--the girl boss, Baby Mouse--the Boy Boss, Freddie--the boy who pees on everything, and Irving--the chubby wimp dog. They barked a lot and I am pretty quiet.

On my next visit to the doggie doctor, we found that that I have a heart murmur. Now I take pills for that. Barbara hides them in meatballs to fool me, but I know what's in there.

I was really shy for almost 6 months of living with Barbara and all those other dogs. Sometimes there was even more dogs because Barbara rescues Maltese dogs like me who need a place to "chill" till they find a new home. She's a great person, so are Lee and Cathy--They are United Maltese Rescue.

Now I have to let Kimmie tell some of her story, OK?

I (Kimmie) was surfing the web on a quiet evening and visited a site call Petfinder.com. They have all kinds of animals listed that are in need of homes. When I clicked on the dog section, every breed imaginable came up. I checked out several breeds, when when I got to Maltese there were four dogs available. I looked at each photo and read each dog's story. I thought Willie was adorable. I wasn't planning on adopting another dog because I already had three others and two cats. But there was just something special about Willie. I e-mailed the rescue group. I wrote: "I live in Middletown, it's about 25 miles from your rescue group. I would like to visit with Willie." The next day I had a response. It read, "You won't have far to go. Willie is being fostered in Middletown. I have forwarded your information to Barbara and she will be calling you."

Barbara called me one afternoon and asked if I would like to come for a visit to meet Willie. While we talked, Willie started to bark really loudly and when Barbara told me that he had never acted that way before, I told her that it was because he knew that I was on the phone and he wanted his new mommy.

Kimmie and Willie

Back to Willie...

One Sunday afternoon, June 1, 2003, Barbara called someone on the phone. My ears don't work very well and like I told you...I am usually pretty quiet. But I had to talk. So I started to bark really loud! Barbara told the person on the phone that "Willie was barking and that he had never done that while she was on the phone before." About an hour later, we got a visitor. It was Kimmie! She asked Barbara if she could pick me up. When she did, I licked her face. I liked her. She held me and petted me. After a while she took me for a walk.

The next day Barbara took me to Kimmie's house to meet her Pappy and her other little dogs. There was Twinkie--a skinny little Chihuahua/Papillion mix Girl Dog, Smokey--a blind miniatures boy poodle, and Johnny--a fat boy Yorkie. Plus there was two cats. I had never seen a cat before. Shay Shay--a girl calico and Teety--a playful male tabby. I liked everybody here. Nobody was barking. It was calm and Kimmie held me some more. It felt Good. For the next two weeks Kimmie visited me or I came to see her. Then one day I got to have a sleep over. I slept with Kimmie and Kevin (her husband).

Kimmie took me for rides in the car. We went to the Home Improvement Store. She put me in a cart on a blanket. I got to see everything! She walked me on a leash till I learned the way. Then she left me follow along without one. I even learned to run.

Kimmie's husband wasn't too keen on a fourth dog living there. So we were moving slow.

Barbara was going to babysit some other dogs for 10 days and she asked Kimmie if she would keep me while she babysat. Kimmie said yes and so did Kevin. It was awesome! I met all of Kimmie's friends and family. I took walks every day. I met a new friend named Bubba--he's a yellow lab. We took walks together.

Then, on a Thursday night, I asked to get off the bed. I am too old to jump. I started to run in circles and then I ran down the hall. My feet were like spinning wheels. I ran back and forth. I was playing with Kimmie. I was really happy again. I knew I had found a mommy and a home.

I never went back to Barbara's house. My hair is coming back now and my new mommy says I'm beautiful. I kiss her every day to thank her for loving me.

I love you too Willie Bear.....You are home.

UMR 2001Š