Everyone and everything scared Alix and Kelly. When someone tried to get close, they would run to the farthest corner of their kennel and hide under their dog beds.
The National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) team saved two Shih Tzu sisters named Alix and Kelly. They had been used as breeding dogs at a puppy mill in the Midwest. Even though the team can’t say much about this particular puppy mill, Kim Lehmann, who is in charge of kennel operations at the NMDR, said that the 3-year-old dogs had lived in very bad conditions.
“They had minimal handling,” Lehmann told The Dodo. “It’s likely that they did not have good food. No exercise. And that’s very typical of puppy mills.”
Alix and Kelly’s lives got much better when the NMDR team took them to their shelter. They now share a large kennel with comfortable beds and plenty of food and water. But their time at the puppy mill had left them pretty scared, so they spent most of their time hiding under their bed.
“Years of confinement in a cage takes its toll,” Lehmann said. “They were completely sheltered, they didn’t have human contact and they didn’t know the sights and sounds and smells of the world. So when they’re removed from that environment, everything is brand-new … and sometimes, they just don’t know how to handle that.”
“We often see dogs hiding in the corner or under the bed, which was the case with both these little girls,” Lehmann added. “We just give them love and time and patience, and watch how they blossom when they realize that we’re not going to hurt them, and they’re in a really good place.”
This went on for about two weeks, but the volunteers never gave up on Alix and Kelly. They kept going to visit them in their kennel, and Alix and Kelly became more comfortable around people. Eventually, they stopped hiding beneath their beds, and even allowed the shelter volunteers to pick them up and cuddle them.
“They started to relax, and it just kind of went from there to the point where they were comfortable meeting new people,” Lehmann said.
The dogs’ newfound confidence made it easier for them to find permanent homes. The dogs weren’t very close, so they were adopted separately. Kelly was adopted in June, and Alix was adopted in August. The rest of the NMDR team and Lehmann could not be happier.
“They’re socializing, they’re playing with toys, they’re living the dream with their own beds, their special families, and they’re loved very much,” Lehmann said. “They’re both thriving. They’re both doing really well. The past is behind them.”
Sad to say, many dogs go through what Alix and Kelly did. There are probably more than 10,000 licensed and unlicensed puppy mills in the U.S., and each year, more than 2 million dogs are born there. In these places, dogs are usually crammed into small, dirty cages and get little or no vet care if they get sick or hurt.
Female dogs are often bred over and over again until their bodies break down. Because of bad breeding practices and poor care, puppies often have problems with their bodies and minds.
Many groups, including NMDR, are working hard to save dogs from puppy mills and teach the public about the harsh truths of the puppy mill industry. Over 13,000 dogs have been saved by NMDR from puppy mills in the Midwest over the past 11 years.
