The Story of Noodle

As with any rescue, Noodle has some baggage.  We were fortunate that Noodle only came a carry-on.  It is also very fortunate that I know her entire history, unlike most rescues.

Noodle was purchased as a gift for an older couple.  ALWAYS a bad idea.  She was handed to these people without any discussion.  Surprise!  Here's a crazy-ass puppy!  Enjoy!

They never really wanted Noodle.  The staff at the vet clinic told me it was pretty obvious from the beginning.  Around 9 months of age, it was discovered that Noodle has severe hip dysplasia.  Severe enough to need a full hip replacement, probably around the age of 5-7 years.  If you hold her foot, you can feel the creaking from her hips travel all the way down her legs.  The surgery she needs requires a minimum of 6 weeks crate rest, probably some physical therapy and cost $7000 last time I looked into it.

The solution?  Euthanasia.  At least that's the solution these people chose.

Dr. McBroom, the vet treating her, told them, essentially, to bugger off and that they better never come back with a new dog.  And then Stella (her name at the time, which totally does NOT suit her) lived at the clinic.

Around the same time, my cousin Kate was doing some work with the vet on a pet resort they were building and, on Easter Sunday of 2010, Dr. Turner guilted Kate into taking Noodle home because, "It's Easter and she'll be here allllllll alone."  Kate agreed to take Noodle home on a foster basis and, a month later, I moved in.

Now, in Kate's house, Noodle was a bit of a monster.  Towards the end of her tenure there, Kate added up the dollar amount in damages caused by the little blonde doggy, and it totaled into the thousands.  Noodle's last big hurrah at Kate's house was to eat a pair of her glasses.  The lenses weren't too damaged, so she was able to get them repaired.  Within a couple days of the repaired glasses coming home, she ate them again.  Then Noodle went to live at Pet Resort in the Gardens, which had recently opened for business.

(And, for the record, Noodle's wasn't kicked out of Kate's house.  There was also a much bigger problem brewing of some disagreements between Noodle and Weezie, one of her dogs.)

Anyway, Noodle went to live at Pet Resort, where she got to play in daycare every day, made tons of friends, and had lots of fun.  She also went kennel crazy.  It's not unusual for a dog that spends lots of time in a kennel.  It was becoming more and more evident that she needed a HOME, but ho wants to adopt a dog that will need very expensive surgery a few years down the line?

Well, that would be me.

But there was this pesky pet deposit that I couldn't afford.  And finding out that that was the only thing keeping me from taking Noodle home, Dr. Turner paid it.  And on that day, October 16, Noodle was mine.  And she became Noodle.

So, here we are, a year and a half later, and Noodle is part of our little family.

Of course this family also includes Rommel, but we don't have any pictures of that yet.  : )

And, for the record, that man right there, Noodle's daddy (as he calls himself), is the one that insists that everything Noodle owns is PINK.  And he makes sure everyone knows that she's the princess.