I was playing a video game one night. We already had a puppy and a cat. So it was not unusual to hear a scratching noise. It was unusual to hear a scratching noise at our back door. Mostly because my cat has never scratched on a glass door before. Our puppy is always glued to our side. The only way that she would be by our glass door would be if I was standing by the door too. I heard a scratching at our back glass door. That’s how I met my Uffie dog. His name is Mitchell “Wait for it”.
Mitchell. We call him Uffie
It’s a sad story to hear when people let their animals go. They can’t afford them, things happened or they just gave up. It’s not something that I like to talk about. It breaks my heart to hear. Why anyone would want to get rid of an animal is just mind boggling to say the least. I’ve always said that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. My Uffie, or Mitchell, is defiantly a treasure.
I was playing a video game and I heard a loud scratching noise on our back glass door. I ignored the noise. I thought it may have been something else. I heard the noise again. So I shouted “Luna bear, knock it off”. Luna Bear, known as LB, is our other puppy. I looked down and LB was sitting right next to me. I look over to see if my cat might have been scratching at the door. I look over and that’s when I first saw him. Uffie.
His off-white colored face was staring right into the house. There was this Yorkie puppy. It was a cold January night. He looked like he had not of had a hair cut in a long time. His fur had a few knots and he had some build up around his eyes. He had this sweet little face. The best part about him, his little nubby tail. His tail had been cropped. Apparently that’s what you do with Yorkie puppies. Regardless to say, he was giving me puppy dog eyes.
I put on my shoes, tossed on a sweater and headed outside. I wasn’t sure if this dog would be aggressive or not. I gently stepped out the back door and this Yorkie puppy stepped away from me. I give him a simple hand gesture. “Come here puppy” I called out to him. He looks at me and has an unsure look in his eye. I give him another gesture. He looks around and he runs back through the gate in our back yard. I now know how he got into our back yard. A couple minutes go by, and the dog comes back and gives a few more scratches at the door. This is the classic Uffie trick. We wouldn’t know this until much later in life.
After we go through this a few times, I finally got the Yorkie to hang out with me. I sat down on the ground. The Yorkie stands on my legs and puts his front paws on my chest. I first noticed that he had a collar, but no tags. Every animal should have a collar on them. Just in case. I start to feel around the puppies neck. Checking to see if he has a chip. I couldn’t feel anything. I picked up my cell phone and I snapped a picture. I sent a picture message to my girlfriend. A few minutes go by and I have no response. So I did what anyone else would do. I made a giant bonfire in the back yard.
You should never allow a wild, or loose animal into your home. Just in case, they are a carrier of something that other animals could catch. I didn’t want to just have this animal in the back yard. It was cold and dark. SO I made a bonfire in my back yard. I picked the puppy up and I held him. Just over an hour, the fire yet out. I finally get ahold of my girlfriend and she didn’t believe I had this dog in my possession.
What to do with lost animals
When a puppy, a cat or another animal that counts as a pet comes into your backyard, there are a few things you should do. You should always check to see if they are aggressive. You should then check to see if the animal has a tag of some kind. A phone number would be the ideal thing to find. If the dog has it’s shots, there could be a tag with a phone number to contact a vet. Hopefully, there is a red tag that indicates the animal has had their rabies shots. If anything, maybe a tag could help lead to where they came from. I check the Sweet Yorkie on my lap, and he has nothing. Just a blue collar. It’s heartbreaking. Who would allow this little guy to get away from them. I mean, he’s a sweet Uffie dog who loves to bark, a lot.
The next thing you should do, when you find a wild or loose animal is to take them to a vet. A vet can check to see if the animal has a microchip. A microchip has a unique number that will be on file in a national database. I head over to a vet that is a 24/7 rescue vet. They scan the puppy and he has a chip. I felt a sigh of relief. They run the chip number and the chip was never registered. There was a number attached to the chip, though. It was a dog breeder’s phone number. We call the number and they are out of business. We search online and there is nothing. My Uffie had been abandoned. He had been left to fend for himself. What’s even worse to think about is that we live close to a place that is inhabited by coyotes. He’s very lucky to say the least. I dont know where I’d be without my Uffie.
The next day, I took the puppy around my neighborhood. I knocked on every door. No one answered their door. No one wanted to help me out. So I did the next best thing. I took the picture that I had taken the night before, and I posted a Craiglist advertisement. I had a few hits. Nothing that indicated the person writing me had this puppy previously. What else am I supposed to do? I did everything that I could think of. I didn’t want this puppy to be abandoned, by another human, again. It’s heartbreaking to think about.
The day he became my Uffie
A few months later, we decided that we would keep the puppy. I looked up a few places online to register the microchip. I filled out the paperwork and a month later I had the certificate to prove that he was legally my dog. I was so happy. That day will forever be one of my favorite in my lifetime. I put his tag on his collar and it was official.
The name Uffie comes from how my Mitchell barks. He doesn’t really bark. He mostly uffs. Not like a woof. It sounds like there is a “U” in his woof. So we call him Uffie. Mitchell “Wait for it” Uffie Dog. He does have a last name. I don’t post my last name online. Since his last name is mine, I won’t post his either. We’ve called him a few thing over the last three years. “Barky Barker”, “Nubby Dog”, “Little Butt Boy” and “Captain Wet Beard” are among my favorites. Uffie, has always stayed with us. So we call him Uffie. I love this dog more than another thing in the world. He’s my life and I love him. I hate leaving his side and it saddens me to know that someone out there didn’t want him. I’ll take all the animals that I can. I’m an animal lover and I will do everything in my power to help them.
What a lucky boy!
Great story!