Chaya and Polly - the story continues

Perlina shortly after arriving from Mexico

The next day, no surprise to me, my clients, Deborah and Paul, call. "The dogs are not right for us," they explain. "They need dental work, they need grooming and Perlina is mean." I tell them, I will take the dogs back right away. I thank them for keeping them overnight and let them know I will find them new homes quickly. It won't be a problem, I hear myself saying. But really, I am thinking, what an idiot I am to take them sight unseen. They will be so hard to adopt out and Tom's going to kill me when I walk in with two little street urchins and tell him they will be our new house guests for a while.

Paul meets up with me a few hours later and before he unloads the dogs I wait while he carefully dons a pair of oven gloves. He sees my surprise and explains that he uses the oven gloves to handle the dogs in case they bite him. He passes the dogs to me, one at a time, holding them gingerly at arms length. and I can sense his utter relief as I load them into my car and slam the door.

Soul Mates - Kim and Chaya

I take the dogs home and put them in my laundry shed. They are just too unstable to bring into the house with my dogs. I make a bed for them inside a dog crate. They huddle together, afraid and confused; Chapis in the back and Perlina, her daughter, in the front.

I feed them and watch them for a while. Chapis will be the easiest to home, I decide, she is the cuter of the pair and has the sweetest nature. I manage to untangle her from Perlina and bathe her in the kitchen sink.

Tom comes home from work, sees my new project and gives me the "look." Poor guy, even I know I screwed up with these two. Luckily, as I am out of options, he doesn't turn us all out on the street. I promise him I will find homes, and as quickly as possible, but we both know this will not be easy.

Happy Chaya in her new life.

The next day I take Chapis to the office and she sits behind me on my office chair while I work, she is quiet and well mannered. Wherever I go, I take her with me and ask everyone I meet if they want a sweet little terrier. Just one day later, this strategy pays off. Right outside my office I ask a woman I have never met before, Kim, if she wants Chapis and she answers one incredible word - maybe. A few days later Chapis is miraculously homed, and not just any home. Chapis, (now called Chaya) and Kim are soul mates. Seeing them now, it is very hard for anyone to say who has rescued whom.

Polly in her new life, running in the snow!

Perlina on the other hand fears for her life and this make her mean and unpredictable. She is in no condition to be re-homed so we decide to simply ignore her. Without Chaya for companionship, surely she will seek out the company of people. I move her dog crate bed into a corner of the living room and for the next three months that is her home of choice. She ventures out of the crate only when it is quiet and safe.

Living with her like this, tucked away in her crate while life goes on around her, is like having our very own Mrs Rochester in the house. Everyone knows she is there but nobody mentions her or gives her any attention. She is so little trouble, in fact that it is easy to forget her entirely. Slowly she begins to trust, first with Tom and then me and our dogs and lastly with our family and friends. It takes about six months before I finally move the dog crate back to the shed for storage, and Polly, as she is now known, becomes a happy, loving member of our pack.