My dog is the coolest because...
In January of this year, Hilda was in rough shape. This tiny old lady was only a few pounds, filthy, and alone on the streets of Houston. She looked like a dirty little rat! Rescuers snapped her up and got her critical medical care she needed. Hilda was then whisked to Wisconsin where she met her loving and patient foster mom through Misfit Mutts. Hilda’s alert foster mom, along with local veterinary centers, saved Hilda’s life a second time in May when Hilda endured a life threatening medical crisis. This little fighter wasn’t going to give up though! In July, Hilda had her final medical appointment for some eye issues and was ready to be adopted!

As her prospective parents, we had a lot of concerns about Hilda’s short but intense medical history given our experience with super seniors. But tears, soul searching, and a conversation with our saint of a vet, we knew she was ours. The weekend of July 4th, Hilda made one last trek to her forever home where she gained lots of snuggly beds and smooches.

But the surprises weren’t over! During her new patient visit with her forever vet, a chest xray showed that Hilda had been shot with a BB gun at some point. Shot! How could this tiny nugget have had the will to fight through all she had?! But on the flipside, we were all shocked and surprised that the rest of her check up was so good! She had been on the brink and battled back.

As this 12-ish year old gal has come out of her shell, we soon found out that she LOVES to play with toys! She doesn’t have teeth and her lower jaw is pretty weak so she just needs someone to do the squeaking for her and she will toss and attack her toys with a vengeance! Full size tennis ball? No problem! She’ll give it the business!

And food? Don’t even get between this gal and her food or snacks. She rarely makes a peep except when it’s feeding time. She wants to make sure you know what time it is and will bounce, prance, and dance her way to her spot with her tail going like crazy. The no teeth thing causes a bit of a mess so when she sees the wet wipes come out for a face cleaning, she blasts off to the living room, up the ramp, and onto the couch to avoid having her face wiped just like a little kid.

Hilda can only see out of one eye. She is a curious little thing so is always perked up, checking things out with her head cocked so she can absorb all the excitement with her good eye. You can’t help but laugh at her tiny 6 pounds, head tilted, looking like she’s giving the stink eye. Add her wild hair that loves to stick up wildly on top of her head and her tongue hanging out and you just have to laugh.

Hilda is an ornery wallflower when she meets new people. Who could blame her? But once she lets you in, she could not give and accept more love. If you don’t notice her offered belly, she will flop around until you notice and give her some rubs. When you pet her gently, her face is one of pure bliss with eyes closed, jaw loose, just taking it in.

Math is math so Hilda probably doesn’t have a long life ahead of her. She does have some medical conditions that will likely progress as she ages and she has some necessary but risky (for her age) procedures coming up. For as long as we have her, we know we are blessed and she will keep being brave, fighting on, and enjoying life (well, until it snows!).

Hilda and all her rescue pals thank you!

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