My happy dog name became Trudy after I was rescued by some good people in the neighborhood where I was born. But first let me tell you how I found those people. This is my story.

There were other puppies and dogs where I grew up and they all looked a little like me. My brothers and sisters were playful and cuddly. We used to pile up together to take our naps and of course we stayed close to our mother. We all liked her warm milk and she licked us and told us how beautiful we were. I liked that feeling of being kissed and loved by my mother. Playing with my four legged family was also a lot of fun.

But there were also people in the house with us and they were not so nice. The smaller people called kids would occasionally play with us and that was fun but it did not last long.

When my brothers and sisters were still really small they would take all of us to a place on a busy highway and one by one my brothers and sisters were sold to people. The people that had my mother and us told the other people that we were each of us a black lab. It was hot and we were thirsty on those days and the big cars and trucks that went zooming by kind of scared us.

One by one my brothers and sisters did not get to come home. The people seemed excited when they would give one of my family away and get some paper in their hands in exchange. It did not make any sense to me or my mother but when no one wanted to give some paper for me the people seemed to get angry.

The man especially did not seem to like me!

I was getting bigger and had some white fur mixed in with my black fur which he also did not seem to like. It wasn't my fault and I don't think it was my mother's fault either that I had some white and black fur! My mother still reassured me that I was beautiful even if he did not agree.

He called me a "good for nothing dog." I thought that was my name.

That man not only yelled at me but he also hit me and kicked me when he got angry. I was scared and hurt and nothing my mother could do helped.

So one day I decided to run away.

My mother was sorry to see me go but understood why I had to get away from that evil man. He was hurting me and my mother couldn't kiss the hurts away any longer. I would be sore for days and even though I tried to hide from him, he always seemed to find me.

I was not so little anymore and couldn't hide as well I guess.

So one day I just left and tried to find a place where I wouldn't hurt all the time and be afraid all the time.

In chatting with some other dogs on the street I found out about some people that not only had dogs living with them, but they seemed to take other puppies and dogs into their home and then find good places for them to live. The word on the street was that these were really good people.

I followed the directions and decided to hide behind some shrubbery in their front yard and hope the bad man wouldn't see me and that the good people would.

My doggie prayers were answered!

They saw me and took me into their home. The man seemed OK but I did not want to take any chances. I would try and hide from him as much as I could.

These new people put up signs saying that they had found a dog and also called all the vet offices and animal shelters letting them know that I was in their house. This made me very afraid that the evil man would find me and come to take me back home. But as time passed, I started to relax.

I liked it in my new home. The other dogs were nice. One was older and her name was Kerri. She seemed to be the boss dog. The other dog's name was Reggie and he told me that he was taken into the people's home when he was a scared and abandoned puppy. They both seemed to be happy that I was there. They also assured me that the people were really nice and that they both loved them. They felt sure that I would grow to love them too.

The people tried to find me another home but since I was so afraid of men it just did not seem to work out. I heard them say that if I was put into an animal shelter that I would probably not be adopted. So after a while they just decided to keep me.

It was only a few days after the people found me hiding in their shrubbery that they named me Trudy. I heard them saying that they had to call me something besides Sweety or Baby. Trudy felt right and sounded good, so I liked my new name. It certainly sounded better than good for nothing dog.

About one month after I came to live with them they finally took down those signs saying that they had found me.Kerri and Reggie told me that it was a good sign that I would be staying with them.

Kerri had told Reggie the same thing when he had come to live there. When the signs came down...it was official that he would be joining the family. Kerri seemed to know all about these things. She was the oldest and wisest dog in the house. She was a bit bossy at times, but that was OK with me.

I was one happy dog!

I had a new family!

Being rescued by my new parents (yes...I now thought of them as my parents just like Kerri and Reggie did) changed my life!

I was still afraid of men but got to trusting my Daddy as he always seemed to love me. He gave me treats, petted me (once I was brave enough to first let him try it) and he even let me join them and sleep in their bed with the rest of the family.

But when they had company I still wanted to hide away from those other people because there could have been an evil man who would want to hurt me. My new parents just let me disappear into other rooms away from the visitors, but they always kept the doors open.

Eventually I was curious and would sneak out and just hide under a chair so that I could watch but still be partially hidden from view.

All of those people that came to my parents home seemed nice so I got braver and braver.

When my parents walked us on leashes on the sidewalk I was very afraid of people that we would meet and pull as far away from them as the leash would let me. But my parents kept telling me that it was OK and Reggie and Kerri also told me that my new parents would protect me so there was nothing to fear.

Eventually I liked walking with them.

As more time passed I would even look forward to parties in our home and I heard my parents say that I had turned into a regular "party girl." They seemed pleased about it. All I know is that I was happy and now liked all the people around me as well as my buddies Kerri and Reggie.

As I grew older I would sometimes dream about my real four-legged mother and wonder how she was doing. I hope those people never hit or kicked her like they did to me.

All those other people seemed to care about was that my mother would have more puppies and they could get more paper when they would give them away. I hope that her life was not too hard for her.

I knew that she would be happy for me that I found such a good home.

My parents had me spayed so that I could not have puppies and I was kind of glad that my only job was to love them and make them happy. I did my best especially after I had gotten to know and trust them.

I loved them with all of my heart!

So now you know my very own dog rescue story.

Signed,

Trudy