Scared Puppy Mill Mama Becomes Therapy Dog

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I was walking at a dog event with one of my basset hounds, and a rescue group approached me to comment on my Barney (also a rescue). I always rescue my dogs. But this day, I was told the story of a basset hound that needed someone to give her a home.

She had been in a puppy mill for four years and was a puppy mill mama. The place she was in had 100 cages of dogs, stacked five high in a barn.

The day the place was raided, there was an auction going on, and my beautiful girl was on the auction block. She was being purchased for $8.00 by a person with a dog-fighting ring that would use her for bait. My Lola had never walked on grass, was beaten and battered, and her x-rays showed many healed broken bones.

The rescue was looking for someone that knew the breed and would be able to work with her. I have had bassets for over 30 years, including three male bassets (all rescues) who where trained as therapy dogs, so I decided this lady needed to be with me. I worked with my trainer who helped me help her get over her fear. She was such a scared little girl.

But with love and training, she came out of her shell. Now four years later, my Lola is a therapy dog, and we work with special needs children. She, like my other three bassets, loves children. Lola became such a fixture at the training center that we now help with all the training classes for the perspective therapy dogs. Lola demonstrates how to do the behaviors they will need to do to pass the test.

I am so proud of my girl and all my dogs. Mo, Reba and Andy love having Lola in the family. There is nothing like the loyalty you get from a rescued dog.

Story submitted by an anonymous user from Lakewood, New Jersey.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!