Ruby

RUBY THE RESCUE

Author: Leslie French
Frenchies Groomery

I received an email about Ruby from a local part-time breeder and felt I had to respond.  When my husband Lee and I went to see the dog, I was shocked by her condition. I wasn’t looking for another Poodle; however, I felt compelled to rescue this beautiful girl.  Then we found she also had a sister who was “available.”  I mentioned taking the sister too but Lee said, “Honey, you can’t save every Standard Poodle you see.”

We were Ruby’s third “owners.”  (I put owners in quotations as I actually think our Standards own us.)  It broke my heart to see the awful condition she was in.  I have groomed dogs for 20 years and owned my own salon for 16, so I know that a Poodle does not get in this bad of condition over night.  After bathing and drying her, I began the combing out process, taking breaks periodically to reassure Ruby that her life would be better from now on.  After hours of combing, I finally admitted defeat and shaved her down, saving what I could of her once beautiful coat.  In all my years of grooming, I have seldom seen a dog’s coat in such bad shape, especially a Standard Poodle’s.

Ruby before grooming

Part of what I took off

She's beautiful!

During her first few weeks with us, Ruby seemed very shy and frightened; however, I kept her with me at all times, and she soon warmed up to us and the rest of our gang.  Ruby’s first owner had purchased her and her sister to “show” (probably not realizing the huge amount of work that goes into maintaining a Poodle in show coat) and, most likely, to eventually breed.  I don’t know if he didn’t have the time or just didn’t care to maintain the sisters, but he ultimately sold them to the part-time breeder I acquired her from.  Given the matted and dirty condition of Ruby’s coat and from the way she acted, I suspected that she had not been groomed in a very long time . . . and that she had not been treated very well.

With our loving care and attention, Ruby begin to thrive; however, I could not get her sister out of my mind and wondered what had happened to her.  I checked the local free on-line ads and, sure enough, there she was.  I called and found she was still “available.”  When we went to get her, we found she had been shaved down, topknot and all.  We took her home with us and called her Skye.  Once again, being a groomer, I knew she had been kept in very sad conditions as her elbows were sore, stained, and scabbed over like she had spent too much time on a hard surface in an undersized crate.

Ruby and our gang

Ruby's sister Skye

We spent money, as well as our time and energy, to save these two beautiful sisters so we could find them new homes where they could have a better life.

I found Ruby a great home! She is now living in Idaho with Jenny at Jentad Standard Poodles and is looking forward to her first show in February 2008. I will be able to follow her progress . . . which delights me as she took a piece of my heart with her when she went to her forever home.  I will be able to follow her progress . . . which delights me as she took a piece of my heart with her when she went to her forever home.  She is just stunning and is so enjoying her new life.  

Beautiful Ruby

I also found a good home for her sister Skye who needed more Tender Loving Care than I could give her: she needed a lot of individual attention as perhaps it was the first time in her life that she felt secure and loved.

She and her sister are doing great in their new homes where they both will be taken care of.  Ruby has come a long way . . . she is now offering her paw to complete strangers! She has decided she likes all the attention. People think it’s funny when they stop petting her and she swats at them with her paw, wanting more.

So, the story goes on, “Honey, you can’t save every Standard you see.”  “Maybe not,” I reply, “but at least I can try.”   With that, my husband winks, shakes his head, and smiles.