My little female had just had her first litter at just over a year old. She and I were traveling up and down the eastern seaboard shoeing horses when we came across the opportunity to be a part owner of a tavern in Tennessee. One of my employees had put D.C. (Mother's Darling Corgi) and I up in she and her boyfriend's mobile home when we all had a huge falling out and she changed the locks on the house and took my dog and her 6 pups to a shelter two townships over.
By the time I figured out where my life's companion was, I was in my truck making tracks to Putnam county Humane Society to get them. When I got there (the day after they had been left in drop off boxes) only 3 pups were there and new management had taken over. There was no paper work on D.C. and the new manager assumed that she had been put down with over 20 other animals the day she was brought in. I was devastated. When I was finally able to think, I started screaming about how anyone in their right mind could put down a healthy, nursing, pure-bred dog. The poor girl offered to let me go through the plastic bags containing the bodies of the uthanized animals to identify her body.
I had stopped eating. Two days after my experience with the humane society, I called the manager to inform her of where I was staying and asked her if she had heard anything. She said no, but promised to call if she did. The next day she called and informed me that a girl who had worked there under the previous management called and when asked, she remembered a car stopping to use the restroom, seeing the female and took her. She remembered the county name on her license plates and that her car was red.
I was shaking. I called every vet in Jackson county - to no avail. The manager of the humane society also called vets and got me the name of several breeders. By this time, almost 2 weeks had gone by, no one was returning any of my phone calls and I had given up hope. I had dropped 15 pounds and was no longer sleeping at night and couldn't work. On a Sunday afternoon, one of the breeders I had called returned my phone call asking me why I had called. I informed her that I guess I wanted to purchase one of her pups. She asked me if I had ever owned a Corgi before. I explained that I had actually just lost my best friend two Thursdays before. She asked me where she had been lost and what she looked like.
I thought this woman was being overly sensitive to my depression, but explained to her that she and her pups had been stolen, I had recovered 3 pups from the Putnam County Humane Society, but my petite baby girl who is a tri was gone. She asked me if she had any identifying marks or characteristics (I pictured her writing all this down to take to shows or to vets' offices to help me out). I told her about D.C.'s white half collar, the mole under her chin, she has 5 teats on one side and 6 on the other, a nursing bitch, and she answered to a little song I had made up for her. The woman chuckled on the phone and asked me about the song. I told her that D.C. was my second Corgi and I loved her little butt - when she is walking (sauntering) or trotting, her little butt is just so cute and being so petite (pick of the litter) I called her "Itty Bitty". Her song goes like this..."Itty Bitty, Itty Bitty, Itty Bitty, etc, etc. (to the tune of 'Hello Mudder, Hello Fader, here I am at, camp Granada...).
Out of the blue, I hear my little dog start whining and howling over the phone. This wonderful woman had my little girl! Within 45 minutes through a torrential rain storm, my best friend and I were reunited. She had lost a considerable amount of weight and the woman had taken D.C. to the vet to have her teeth cleaned, shots and to be groomed (they even shaved all her wiskers and eyebrows off - looked pretty funny!). When D.C. saw her mommy, she piddled on the floor and whined and whined until I bent over to snatch her into my arms. I have never been so elated before in my life.
I'm teared up now writing this and it happened 3 years ago. Loosing a dog (daughter) is like loosing a part of yourself. My Darling Corgi is never out of my sight and I love on her every day like it were our last together.
Story by: Amy Stallings
