Introductions, Introductions!

Hi, my name is Callie.

I don't think I'll be very good at this, but my mom wants me to share my story.

You see, she tells me I came from a very bad place. I try not to remember much of it if I can help it, but she keeps telling me that people will realize how special I am if I tell the story as best as I can.

I just met my new mom three days ago. She is tall and loud and sometimes she trips when she is taking me out to pee, but I like her okay.

Three days ago, I woke up like normal, in my run. The man who kept me in my run got me out of my bed and put me in a big crate on the back of his truck. I didn't know where we were going, and he had never taken me anywhere before, so I didn't know what was happening. It was pretty cold on the ride, but I got to snuggle up with Blackie, my friend, the cocker spaniel on the way there. I really like other dogs and Blackie was nice to me.

When we got where we were going, the man who kept me made me stay on the back of my truck. I didn't know it then, but my new mom and her sister walked by me a couple of times. Mom's sister thought I was really cute and was really impressed that I didn't make a noise when they walked by. She said something about someone named "Bella" not being very good like I was.

I waited and waited a long time for the man who kept me to come back and when he finally did, he left Blackie in the crate and let me get down. My leg that bothers me was really sore after staying cooped up in that crate for so long, but he wanted me to walk, so I walked. We went up a hill through some leaves and I noticed there were a lot of kids screaming and running around, but it didn't bother me... nope, not at all.

The man who kept me stopped to talk to some other men and while we were standing there, my new mom's sister came over to visit me. The man who kept me wanted her to take me for a walk but she said no thank you, she just wanted to pet me. She was very soft and gentle and she looked like she wanted to cry. She left, talked to my mom (even though I didn't know that she was my new mom yet!), and then came back and her eyes were red. She asked the man who kept me if I was for sale (what does 'for sale' mean?) and what he 'wanted' for me. He said 'Fifty dollars.' (whatever that means!) and then my mom's sister got upset again and went away. I saw her talking to my mom again, but then the man who kept me made me move... boy was my leg sore. I really needed to run around a little bit but he kept me on a short rope by his side. I didn't want to make him mad, so I did what he told me to do.

The man who kept me leaned up against a car and all of a sudden, there were at least eleventy one thousand people surrounding me, but they weren't looking at me. A man was talking fast into a thing that made his voice louder and he kept saying numbers. Finally, the man talking into the thing that made his voice louder stopped and talked to the man who kept me. He said, into the thing that made his voice louder, that I was a 'purebred german shepherd dog', and that I was eight years old (at least he got that part right!), he said I had been 'lame' for five years, but I can't count really well so I don't know if it was that long or not. My mom told me later that I would go and see someone called "The Good Doctor" as soon as she gets her paycheck, whatever that is. I have lived with this sore leg for a long time so I think I can hold out until whenever that is.

Anyways... the man talking into the thing that made his voice louder said 'Let's start the bidding at twenty-five dollars.' No one said anything. I could see that my-soon-to-be-new-mom was looking at me like she might throw up. The man said 'How about ten dollars?'. I saw my new mom raise an orange card she had in her hand and then the man said 'Going once, going twice, SOLD to number twenty seven!'. Then my new mom cut through the big group of people and took the rope the man who kept me was holding. I didn't really want to leave the man who kept me because I thought he might get mad if I went away. My new mom was shaking really hard and she looked like she might throw up and cry all at the same time. She talked really nice to me in a very good sounding voice and I finally walked away from the man who kept me.

Then my new mom's sister walked up to us and she said 'Is she ours?'. She talked to my new mom for a little while but I was a little bit distracted by the delicious smelling sandwich she had in her hand. Finally my mom said something about something called 'treats'. Pretty soon, she shared her sandwich with me and it tasted SO good! I think that is what treats are. Since I got home, she started taking something out of a big white box full of good smelling things and telling me that THAT was 'treats' too... so I guess treats is whatever I get to eat out of mom's hand! My new mom and her sister talked to me really nicely and fed me some treats, and then we walked around. I met some funny looking little animals that made weird noises like 'baaa' and 'gobble gobble' and one that went 'eeee - oooooonnnn! eeee - ooooonnn!'. I think my new mom and her sister thought I would be scared but I wasn't, I wanted to find out what was making those funny noises!

Soon, it was time to go back to what my mom called 'the farm'. We walked by the man who kept me's truck, and I thought I should get in so he wouldn't be mad, but my mom and her sister took me to another car and I got to ride in the back seat! My mom's sister and me and another old lady went for a drive and went where my mom's sister called 'home'.

My mom wasn't there, but my mom's sister set up a little bed in a nice crate that didn't have walls, just bars, so I could see everything around me. She put it in what she called a 'barn'. Get this, they had other great big dogs in the 'barn', too! They're funny colours and they're way bigger than me, and they don't bark, but I am positive that these are dogs. Mom and her sister and the old man that lives here all lead them around on ropes, just like dogs, and they stay in big kennels at night and in the day, they get to go out in runs.

Anyways, my new mom came to visit me and played with me a little. She said that my old name was 'Senta' (news to me!) and that because I got a new beginning, I got a new name, too. Mom's sister picked out 'Calypso' and they call me 'Callie' for short. We played in the 'barn' for a little while, then my mom and her sister left.

It was pretty dark, and it was pretty cold, and all the big dogs were outside, so I started to howl, because I wanted my new mom to come back and play with me for a while. The old man that lives at the farm came to the barn and told me to stop making such a rukus! Then his eyes got really soft and he got out my rope and took me to the big house. He kind of walked around and got the attention of my mom who was inside. He told her I was 'crying' and she needed to do something, so she came outside, and oh my goodness!

MORE DOGS! I can't believe how many dogs mom and her sister already have. They have big dogs and little dogs - I am an 'in between' sized dog here. There was one that looked a lot like me, except bigger, and skinnier. My mom's sister tried to put her on a rope and bring her over to meet me except she pulled my mom's sister and almost knocked her over. Finally, my mom took her (she is bigger than her sister, I think she is older, but I could be wrong!), and she kept saying 'Bella, be nice!' - I think this is the bad dog I heard mom and her sister talking about before.

Bella was okay, but she was really interested in me. I like to take the time to get to know someone before they smell me in my private parts! It was a little bit overwhelming but I played nice because I knew my mom wanted me to. Finally, mom took Bella off her rope and took my rope. They stayed close to me in case Bella got too friendly again. I think mom was worried because I am old and Bella is young and I heard her say she 'plays too rough' with the boy dog that my mom also has.

His name is Morrie and I really like him! He's friendly and he's a little playful, and he's not too much to handle, like Bella and the other big, black dog are. He's smaller than me, but he's not afraid. He really likes mom and he keeps me company when mom takes me to the barn while she takes care of the really big dogs.

My mom says she doesn't think I can stay here. She has too many dogs and not enough money to get an operation she says I need so that my girl parts won't make more puppies. She told me she really likes me and she wants to make sure that I find the right 'forever home', but sometimes when she doesn't think I (or the old man and lady that live here) are listening, she and her sister talk about letting me stay here forever. I understand if I have to live somewhere else, and I think mom will help me find the best home, ever. I bet she will even visit me... she'll really miss me, and I know it's true, because she already starts to cry a little when she talks about me going to live at a new home, and I've only been here three days!

Okay, okay... mom says I have to get my rest tonight. She is going to be home tomorrow and she wants me to tell you all about my brothers and sisters!

Peace and Tail Wags,
Callie