Molly first appeared on a thread on the “Bullie Bar” as an unnamed desperate appeal for a fosterer. She was in a dog pound/kennel in Doncaster and was due to be put to sleep on the Monday but could be saved if BIN stepped in. I read the thread and offered my home to her. All I knew was she was a 7 year old female bullie.
BIN then started a thread for transport for this girl to get her from Doncaster to my home in Fife. This went very slowly so to speed things up I offered to go down to collect her. Bullystu decided he would come with me to keep me company. This would be the journey from hell but not due to Molly. We managed to arrange another 2 dogs to be transported down to Doncaster to be collect by fellow volunteers and new owners and one of these dogs was a nightmare!!!
We arrived at the dog kennel and advised who we were and why we were there.
“Oh great you’re here for Molly” the lady who worked there said.
“Molly?” I asked “we didn’t realise she had a name”
“Oh yes” replied the lady “she is chipped so we scanned her when she came in. She was registered to a breeder so we contacted him but he didn’t want her. Said that he’d sold her a while a go.
When Molly was brought out I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing. I couldn’t get her out of there and in the car quickly enough. We drove off and straight away I phoned my vets to make an appointment for the next day. The stench was unbelievable. In fact I was almost sick when she first got in the car. I pulled the “magic tree” right out of it’s plastic cover to try and disguise the smell. Then we drove along to the nearest services and stopped there to have a good look at her.
This was a poor neglected lady. Her left eye was so filled with green gunk that you couldn’t see her eye at all and the right eye had traces of the gunk. Her coat was nicotine white. Her claws were so over grown that they were actually curled round in growing back into her pads. Her breathe about knocked Stu out when she kissed him and prompted us to venture a look in her mouth. There was a large infection site at the top front of her mouth and in general her teeth were covered in plaque. Her tummy was so baggy that it hung down like a cows udder and we could see that she had definitely been used for breeding and probable been over breed judging by how bad her tummy was.
I had to fight back the tears as we checked her over. I kept thinking that an old lady like this deserved a better life than she obviously had had up til now.
It was a long journey home but Molly sat in the boot of my car and not a sound came from her. You could sense the fear from her. We spoke calm and reassuringly to her all the way home.
Once home I brought the cage that I borrowed from Stu in and set it up. I hadn’t even managed to get the new big padded cushion in , that I’d bought for her, when she dived into the cage and lay down. She was definitely crate trained.
That night I let her settle in before I brought Lenny and Lucy in to see her. I wasn’t sure if she was friendly with other dogs or not. They all had a sniff in turns at each other through crates and tails wagged. We then put leads in and went for a wee walk in the garden. Molly wasn’t use to walking and the over grown claws made it very painful for her so the walk was short.
The first night went well and she had her dinner and went to bed with not a peep out of her. The next day I was suppose to be going to the Falkirk BIN walk but had the appointment at the vets so didn’t make it. I gave Molly a shower as the smell was really getting to be too much. I didn’t want to do it the night before with it being her first night and frightening enough. She stood well for the wash though and I was struggling to find any fault with this lady at all.
The trip to the vet was long and tiring. Molly was in a bad way. She had an ulcer on each eye but her left eye (the one with all the gunk) was badly inflamed and needed steroid treatment. Her claws had to be cut out of her paws and this was very painful and bloody although the relief seemed instantaneous to her. These paws needed bathed in salt water for 7 days to stop infection. She had started coughing that day and had kennel cough which required antibiotics. Her teeth would require to be removed but at a later date as there was just so many other things to fix first.
So began my nurse career. There was 2 types of eye drops – one for each eye. Antibiotics for the kennel cough. Salt water bathing for the paws. I felt it was never ending. She liked to bark at me after getting her eye drops though. I think it was her way of letting me know she didn’t like it.
The hardest part of all this treatment was getting Molly out of her crate. Molly hasn’t got much muscle in her wee body and we believe this is due to the fact that she has spent most of her life sitting in a crate. She is stiff to walk up even one step and struggles to actually stand up sometimes. This also resulted in psychological issues where she was frightened to come out of the crate and would spend all day in her crate coming out only for a walk.
We resorted to bribery with mini scotch eggs. Molly hadn’t had much human contact. She was shy and withdrawn but I did notice that she would come out the crate to spend time with my daughter Robi. Robi and I worked as a team, building Molly’s confidence up and spending time getting her out the crate. Soon we had her up on the couch for “Bullie Lovin” for short periods of time. It’s funny how kids and dogs have a way of bonding with each other. She loves going for a walk. Although only short walks to begin with due to her sore paws and kennel cough but these lengthened as she got better and have even developed into off the lead exercise. I have worked with her and trained her to walk to heel but have to admit she has typical Bullie recall – i.e. I will when I want to!!!
Molly has been with me for about 6 weeks now. She has been given a clean bill of health for her paws, kennel cough and eyes. This week she will get spayed and her 2 top front teeth removed and the infection clean out. She is now so confident that she never goes in her crate at all. She has claimed Lenny’s bed for her own. She still barks at me though and I think that is her way of saying “I’m here”.
She still has a lot of work to be done with her. She is still nervous of going anywhere new. Still a bit timid even wandering around the house. She is now starting to show some Bullie traits which is nice to see.
My daughter Robi has decided that Molly is staying right here with us. To be honest I felt the same. It’s hard to look at her and not fall hopelessly in love with her. She is such a great dog. Good with kids, good with other dogs and house trained.
I keep asking myself “how could such a wonderful lady end up on death row?” and then thanking my lucky stars that BIN stepped in and saved MY MOLLY.
