Those much welcomed words from the head of another local rescue started Freda’s journey with APARN.

We had been watching her assigned number as it made its way through the shelter system, and had a volunteer on standby to pick up that afternoon. Hilary’s call saved us time and resource.

Once she arrived at my house, I winced when I saw the bright red eyes, untreated and obviously painful, I held my hand in front of her face, and realized she was blind. Her fur had a faint odor that was reminiscent of Frito’s corn chips, so I named her Freda. And then there was the breath…her teeth had probably never been cleaned and her breath was just atrocious.

I was able to get a vet appointment right away and took her over to be seen at Noe’s Ark Animal Hospital. Definitely blind, she also had a small mass on her lower abdomen, which was suspicious of a Mast Cell Tumor. We scheduled her for mass removal and a dental the following day. She lost a few teeth, but the rest cleaned up nicely. The mass was confirmed as a Mast Cell Tumor, but the doctor got good margins, so Freda’s foster/adopter would need to be on watch for any additional tumors that might spring up.

A compact little girl, she weighed in at 14.75 pounds, and probably should have been no more than 12 pounds. She had a hearty appetite, and didn’t miss a kibble when dinnertime rolled around. She bumped into a few things as she roamed around the house, but overall, did very well. I assumed she had been blind for awhile.

Freda went to her foster home later that evening, and over the following weeks she was able to lose a couple pounds. Despite the eye medication, her eyes continued to trouble her, and in September of 2013, the doctors felt both should come out, so surgery was done, and recovery was uneventful.

Freda became the sweetheart of adoption events; everyone knew this 11-pound, no-eyed pug, and she spent most of the event time cuddling with visitors. Yet there was no talk of adoption.

Until one fateful day…when Freda was 11 years old, and had been in rescue for 11 months. An adopter showed up and said the only thing they couldn’t deal with in a new dog was barking. Freda’s foster mom said she doesn’t bark. She is a happy girl. So papers were signed, and photo was taken, and everyone celebrated as Freda was whisked off to her Forever Home!

Except…it turned out that the new home did not allow dogs to sleep on the bed at night. And that was the one difference from her foster home that Freda didn’t like. And it upset her enough that she barked about it. All night long. Three nights in a row.

And so, Freda came back to APARN the fourth day after the failed adoption. And I emailed the APARN web team to have Freda listed on the website again. And it was then that the true miracle happened. I received an email that Jenn & Freddy had been watching Freda on the website and thinking about adopting her, and having lost her once, this was their sign she was meant to be with them!

The application was sent, and adoption fee paid. I was given the promise “Freda is so not coming back as a foster. She will live like a diva with us until she decides to move on over the rainbow bridge 😉 We plan on her going many, many, many more years with us :)”

At the time of this writing, it has been 18 months, and Freda has been through Mast Cell tumor surgery, she finished in 3rd place in the 2014 Cutest Pug Contest, and she was one of Nugget’s Bridesmaids when Nugget the APARN SpokesPug married her long time boyfriend Dexter, in a fun ceremony designed to raise awareness for rescue and the importance of spay/neuter.

From a blind pug on the euthanasia list, to an “A” list celebrity Diva, Freda has certainly had quite the journey!