Little Roo

Little Roo was a complete surprise to me.  One day in January 2012 I logged onto Facebook and there was this little chihuahua posted on my page with the headline “this dog has you written all over him”.  My friend Michael put it there.  Michael Honer is a vet tech at an animal shelter in Tampa and has a soft spot for the little angels that come through. Roo is not the first angel I’ve adopted due to Michael’s love for animals.

Roo was apparently dumped in Tampa and found by a compassionate person that brought him to the shelter.  Roo was born without arms and it was estimated that he was only about 5 months old.  How could anyone dump a handicapped baby in a city and not worry about him?  Poor little Roo was petrified but soon found love at the shelter.  All of the shelter workers were so sweet and kind to this little angel.  I’m sure that he got a lot of love and attention and returned just as much as he received.  He loves to kiss and snuggle.

Roo was in a foster home for a short time and I told Michael I would love to adopt the little guy if he didn’t already have any offers.  Luckily I got to be his new mom!!  Little Roo was neutered and chipped and his next adventure began.  Since I live in Ohio and he was in Florida we had a little transporting to arrange.  The previous year we had been in Florida to meet people from the rescue that originally had our little Chance that also came from the same shelter.  There was a picnic and Cheri and Todd’s house where we got to meet all the doxie people and Michael.  Cheri was kind enough to drive the two hours to Tampa and back to pick up Roo and he lived with her for a few weeks.

The next leg of his trip was another three hour trip further north to Tim and Judy’s house.  Judy picked him up and he stayed with them for several weeks.  Lucky for me between his two interim homes I learned a lot about him.  He was sort of potty trained but not quite.  You can always tell when he’s the one that went potty in the house because he stands and turns around like a sprinkler.  Funny but also a little messy!

The new North Florida Animal Rescue was just getting ready to open and they held a fundraiser for a cart for Roo.  They raised all the money they needed in 7 hours and the cart was ordered from Eddie’s Wheels.  He practiced rolling around and he was an honorary dachshund at the North Florida Dachshund Races in March of 2012.  They had his picture in the local paper and he was on the news.

He’s in Ohio now and would much rather hop than roll.  We have to be careful with his little hips and joints and sometime you can hear little cracks and pops when he overdoes it.  He loves life and plays with his dachshund siblings constantly.  He’s so active that I have a small pack n play in the corner of the living room for when he needs a time out.  Just like a little boy, he has no idea when to slow down and rest.   He sits on his haunches in the crib and just looks at me through the screen.  Too funny!

Roo turned a year old in July.  We picked July 4th as his birthday so everyone can celebrate this little boy’s second chance at life thanks to all of the people that helped him come to his furever home.