Ginger's Story

Skin allergies in dogs

Ginger's
Story

Hello, I'm Ginger. If you're on this page, more than likely, you are thinking about
buying a lhasa apso or shih tzu puppy from a little back yard breeder. Just like my
little friend, Cherie, I'm going to try to persuade you not to do it by telling you my
story. I came from one of those little "hobby" breeders.

There are other dogs still in need.
Check them out!

The Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue (LSSTLAR) is an all volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue,
rehabilitation and re-homing of abused, abandoned and neglected Shih Tzus and Lhasa Apsos. We are a 501(c)(3)
charitable organization which means your donations may be tax deductible.

Copyright 2004, Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue
all rights reserved

In mid December 1999, I was found running, along with my friend Snap, along the feeder road of
one of the major Houston freeways. Luckily, a really nice lady named Kathryn was driving to
work that morning and saw us running in and out of traffic. She stopped to pick us up. At that
point in time, we were relatively feral since we had been living outside in the breeder's back
yard for our entire lives. Kathryn had to chase us down the feeder. Finally she caught up with
us and grabbed us by the scruff of our necks. We were terribly matted, covered with fleas and
stunk like we had never had a bath. Of course, we had never had a bath. Kathryn had a
wonderful heart and just knew if she left us on the feeder, we would most likely be hit by a car
and killed. So she shoved us in the back seat of her car and drove on to work. Luckily for us,
Kathryn's boss was also a animal lover and allowed her to keep two very nasty-smelling dogs in
her office all day. That evening, Kathryn took us to a veterinarian.

When the vet saw us, he was appalled. He said he had never seen two dogs in such bad shape. He
shaved off our matted, flea-infested, stinking hair. In many places the mats were so tight and
close to the skin, it had created big infected sores - much like bed sores. Open wounds that can
easily become filled with maggots. We both had heart worms, hook works and intestinal worms.
It looked like I had delivered maybe two or three litters of puppies in the past - my nipples
were huge - about the size of a thumb and . . . . I was pregnant again and within days of whelping
another litter. I weighed only 13 pounds which included the seven puppies I would soon whelp. I
was terribly thin - my bones were sticking out everywhere. My foster mom was very worried
about me. I had so many strikes against me - I had not been taken care of, was way too thin
(today, as a healthy dog with NO puppies inside of me, I weight 14 pounds), I had heart worms
which made my heart work less than efficiently, and I had SEVEN puppies ready to be born.
The vet warned my foster mom that I might not make it through the birth - or that I'd have to
have a c-section - or that some of the puppies might be still-born.

I was only two years old at the time.


On Christmas Eve, I gave birth to seven tiny little fluff balls.
This is me just after I gave birth. You can see that I was a total mess. My hair looks so bad
because they had to chop out all of the mats. You can see the brown reddish spot in my tail area
- that's where the open sores were. At this point, they had started to heal.

My foster mom was terribly worried about me. It's very hard on one's body to give birth,
particularly when a dog has had many litters so close together.

Today, I'm heart worm-free and there wasn't much long-term damage to my heart. My mom
keeps me on a good diet and lots of supplements though, just to be sure I stay healthy.

My message is just like Cherie's - please do not continue to pay people to torture little dogs like
me. Think of your own little dog - would you like it if someone left your little dog in a back
yard - totally without human companionship? Left to fight over what little food might be thrown
out at them each day. Left with infected sores all over their body? Left without veterinary
care - these breeders really don't care if we get heart worms - it takes several years to die of
heart worms and the way they breed their females, two or three times a year, the uterus will be
totally worn out before we die the very painful death from the heart worms.

If you buy a puppy from one of these breeders, you are literally paying those people to continue
torturing little dogs like me.   You are paying them to make us live without human companionship
and without basic care. You are paying them to leave us outside in the scorching summer sun and
the frigid winter snow.

The only reason they do it is because people like you continue to pay them for doing it - by
buying the puppies. STOP THEM. DO NOT give them money. If you are a true dog lover, you
WILL NOT let your desire to have a cute little fluff ball overcome your responsibility as a
human to help stop this abuse. If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Thank you for reading my story,
Ginger

If you have any questions about finding a good breeder, or just any in general, Email Ginger here.

If you are still determined to buy a puppy, read
Cherie's Story and look at the checklist for choosing a GOOD breeder.

Lone Star Shih Tzu &Lhasa Apso Rescue