Steemit Monthly Author Challenge - Day 9: 🎂 Happy Birthday Old Girl - 9 Today! 🎂

Hello!

This is my 9th post for the Steemit Monthly Author Challenge, an initiative by @future24.

Day 9: Happy Birthday Old Girl - 9 Today!

Today our Golden Retriever, Pixie Dust, aka “Pixie the Pie” turns 9 yrs old. Please join me in wishing her a very Happy Birthday.

She’s a super sweet girl with not a mean bone in her body. She had a very hard start in life and was in a terrible way when I rescued her at 10 months old - Story below...

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I’d been looking for a dog for our family and whilst perusing Craigslist came across an ad for a 10-month-old Golden Retriever. Her previous owner and I exchanged emails and arranged for me to go and meet her.

My 4-hour drive brought us to a trailer park and upon arrival was met by her previous owner, wife and their small children. When we entered the trailer, the smell was overwhelming of feces, and huddled down in a steel crate in a dark corner was “Pixie”.

The husband explained that he’d bought her from a local pet shop, that she was a pedigree and was named by their daughter after “Tinkerbelle”.

He opened her crate door and she slunk along the ground to meet me, flinching if the husband so as much moved a muscle. I decided then and there that even if she wasn’t the right dog for us, she was coming home with me regardless.

The poor girl had been kept in her crate 24/7 and the shape of her body was etched in the rust of the bottom of it, where she’d been defecating and then laying in it. Her collar was zip-tied on, she had severe ear infections, overgrown nails, was riddled with fleas and had sores on her belly. She’d obviously been beaten on numerous occasions and was particularly scared of men but was the sweetest and gentlest of souls.

It took some time for her to adjust to her freedom and even teach her to play with toys and that she wasn’t going to be beaten anymore. She soon became fast friends with our children and has been a wonderful edition to our family ever since.

Even to this day if you so much as use a loud voice to call her she will submit and roll on to her back or think of running off.

Believe me she remembers only too well the beatings even after all this time.

Anyway, this was just going to be a short post to wish our beloved puppy Happy Birthday, but she warrants more than that and to share her story.

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This is a photo taken at Christmas when she couldn’t decide which of her new toys to play with… in the end the avocado was a winner.

Happy Birthday dear sweet girl XOXO

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Rules of the Steemit Monthly Author Challenge:

• Post 1 article with a photo of your life every day for one month and use the tag #monthlyauthorchallenge for these posts.
• You don´t need to add a detailed description to your photo article and it can be a quick photo post with Steepshot for example too. (But don´t forg et the #monthlyauthorchallenge tag!)
• The photo of your life don´t needs be up-to-date, but not older than 1 year.
• To make it more comfortable for everyone, you don´t need to nominate someone for the challenge every day in your daily post. Nominating is voluntary, but to share this fun, I would suggest nominating some other Steemians from time to time, so that you can do this funny challenge together.
• Your challenge ends when you reached the “Monthy Author Badge” on steemitboard.com and then just make a final post that you finished the challenge.

Info: The period for the Monthly Author Badge is always from the first of a calendar month until the last day of this month

I hope to see some more of you join in this challenge!

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Original content by @redwellies

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