Pumpkin

It was round and brown, at first glance I thought some lucky pup had an elegant fur pillow. Then she slowly managed to get turned around and I met Pumpkin, a sweet "little" Miniature Dachshund who is 3 years old and approximately 17 pounds overweight - wow!

This is her first day at the shelter. Her former owner is elderly, has mobility problems and did not have access to dog food so he shared his food with her. His children found out the extent of the problem and brought her in.

As I opened her back door to put on the collar and leash, she looked friendly and interested but backed up when I held the collar near her. I held out my hand to pet her and this was fine but the collar and leash were clearly not. After about five minutes of this, I was close to giving up and getting some staff assistance but as I turned and was walking out of her kennel, I saw that she was following me. Her waddle makes her pretty easy to catch, so I got her leashed and we were off - kind of. She weaved around walking down the corridor and out the door; I felt like I was walking a giant June bug. Once outside, I thought it best to let her set the pace and wander wherever she wanted to go. She seemed to prefer the smooth ground of the sidewalk and parking lot, at least at first. It could be that her weight puts a lot of extra pressure on her feet and smooth is better than rough. I did get her into the yard surrounding the building and she seemed to like sniffing around as a hound should. About this time I began to wonder if this could possibly be her first ever walk on a leash.

The exercise yard was our next stop, lots of good smells there and Pumpkin could wander freely. I showed her a tennis ball and rolled it a few feet but she paid no attention. She seemed to enjoy sniffing around but mostly she followed me everywhere I walked. Once we started back toward the shelter I noted that she could not get up a curb so I lifted her - what a load.

Once back at her kennel she was much braver; I had no problems removing her collar, etc. I know inside is a typical fun loving little Dachshund ( I grew up with one) and hopefully she will soon be herself again.