"I have a very cute Bichon frish that needs a good home.I have only
had her for about a week and she has a great dispastion very sweet dog
she is about two or three years old. The women that gave her to me had
told me that she was house brooken but she is NOT she is going to need
someone who has plenty of time to work with her. She would be great
with a single person or someone with older kids.she was extremly matted
and hungry when i got her,i do not think she has had a very good life
up till now soshe needs alot of love.If anyone is interested in giving
her a good home call me at ....."
Eric was already asleep, so I didn't talk to him about it. The next afternoon, I checked, and there weren't any "Taken" notifications about her. So, I forwarded the email to Eric with the comment, "Gracy still needs a home" Eric called around 5 pm and asked, "Are you warning me to be ready for the new dog when I get home, or are you asking me if we should get her?" Eric is a good person. He gave me the number to call (lol), and I called to talk with the woman in the ad.
The woman in the ad, Sheila, was very nice, and said that so far only one person expressed any interest in Gracy. The person who did call didn't know about the breed, and thought they were the size of Chihuahuas. That person didn't seem interested when they found out that Bichons are larger. I asked a lot of questions about Gracy. I mainly questioned Sheila about Gracy's temperament and her ability to get along with other pets. Sheila has other pets, and Gracy has a good temperament too.
(Sad part in next paragraph)
We went to meet her right away. Sheila gave us more information about Gracy's background. Her husband works at a nursing home. Next door to the home is the home where Gracy lived. Sheila said that living wasn't the best description, because Gracy was chained to a BBQ grill with only about 1-2 feet of chain that allowed her to walk around. Sheila's husband approached the family to ask if they would be willing let him have her. They agreed. Sheila arrived to take Gracy home. Sheila said that there were kids there who said, "WATCH THIS!" and proceeded to take their foot as if to stomp on Gracy. They then said, "Look it makes her shake!"
I was horrified.
As it said in the email, Gracy was very dirty when Sheila took her in. She ended up having to shave her to get all the mats off of her. Gracy was very hungry too. Gracy was very afraid at first, but quickly began to warm up to Sheila and her family. The bad part was that it was apparent immediately that Gracy was not potty trained. Bichons are notoriously difficult to potty train, so I didn't doubt that. Add to the situation the fact that Gracy was chained to the grill and I'm fairly certain that going potty was a tough thing for her to figure out what to do. Sheila tried to deal with the potty training, but she just didn't have the time to devote to it. I explained to her that I do have the time, and I am familiar with the breed, due to Princess, and would love to have her. Sheila said that the people who she got Gracy from acquired her from another family who had originally paid $150 for her. She was delivered to the 1st family in a parking lot, and the money was exchanged. Sheila had no idea why the 1st family gave Gracy away to a new home.
Sheila did say that the other family called her "Bushy". She did NOT like that name, and had renamed her, Gracy. We have decided to change the spelling, and are now calling her "Gracie", with her full name being Graciela. We're still working on the middle name. LOL
We took Gracie home, and things went remarkably well! I was most concerned about the cats, because they have initially been rather non-friendly to the new pets in our home in the past. I don't know if they thought that Gracie was Princess, or what? Maybe Gracie's personality is such that she doesn't seem to pose a threat. I don't know. Nero did do a double take at one point when both Princess and Gracie were in the same room. LOL
I know I did one thing that was really, really bad. I didn't think about the fact that it was possible that Gracie might have something that could be passed to our other pets. I think I was so caught up in the whole situation that I didn't think about that part. It hit me when we got home. I called the vet first thing in the morning, and they got her in right away. The vet says she looks great. She is sunburned (sigh), she has had puppies at one point, he thinks she is around 2 or 3 years old. He gave her a complete round of vaccinations.
She has completely fit into our lives. She finds the beds quite comfy, and is getting along great with all the other animals. She warmed up to me first, then Eric but has taken a bit longer with Sam. She seems to like Sam, but she seems more timid with her. Sam is hurt and was taking it personally. Things went better last night with that, because Sam was able to have some longer one-on- one time with her.
Potty training is going ok. There have been 3 accidents so far. The times she has gone outside to go potty have by far exceeded the accidents.
Gracie has a hair appointment on Tuesday. I have a feeling that we're going to have a lot of trouble telling Princess and Gracie apart when Gracie's hair grows out. LOL
I needed to hurry and get this posted because I have a feeling that the PSM family might be making a decision soon, and I didn't want to take away from their joyful homecoming!
All in all, I feel blessed once again to have such a special gift given to us. Yeah, sounds corny, I know, but I really feel this way.
My friend Lori asked the same thing though. She asked if we had the same secret! (she's pregnant) 
