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Bianca Zilinski
Bianca was a dog I met the day I returned to the shelter to tell them my recently adopted puppy, Thor, had passed away due to parvo. To be honest, I thought she looked absolutely hideous. She had long white matty fur, dirt all over her legs, and when I approached her briefly (before quickly moving on to the next dog), she growled at me and backed away.
I was still teary from the passing of our puppy, and the folks at the shelter suggested that perhaps what I really needed was a good companion dog, a dog that was already trained, was loving and lovable. Why, such a dog had come in just yesterday, they said. Her owners had loved her to pieces and taught her lots of tricks and commands, but they were an elder couple who could no longer give her the energetic playfulness she needed.
Well, imagine my surprise when they brought out "Blanca" (later renamed Bianca), who continued to growl at me. I pointed out this not-so-loving affect of hers, and they said that there was a breed-specific distrust: she had to be introduced. They gave me her leash, told her to sit, told her that I was a friend, shook my hand, and told me to pet her. That was all it took. Now, we were buddies. I told them I'd give her a try.
I took her home, and was delighted that she was car trained, potty trained, leash-trained, responded to stay, sit, come, up, down, lay down, go...yes, she was clearly well-loved and well-trained. I took her to my vet, and they said that she looked awfully familiar. They had her on file! She had a grooming appointment a month ago, but wasn't brought in. I had them groom her, and they shaved her fur down and put bows in her tail and she looked like a million bucks!
I introduced her to my beau the same way she'd been introduced to me, and tada! She was friends with him now, too. We decided to keep her. That night, when we lay down to go to bed, she jumped up on the mattress and curled herself around our feet like she'd lived with us her whole life. I could not imagine a life without Bianca in it. She is one of my greatest friends, and she is a dog.
- ♥
- Bianca
- Zilinski
