Hello, Clarisse

World, meet Clarisse.

Clarisse is a 4.5 year old toy poodle that came into my life a few weeks ago. She is the most vivacious, inspiring and fun dog I have ever known and I knew you'd all want to meet her.

She spends her days like most other dogs. She plays catch in the back yard, explores the neighborhood, hits the social scene at the dog park and steals the cat's food. She goes for jogs with me, loves to snuggle and will do anything for her favorite treat.

However, Clarisse didn't have the same start to life that other dog's have. She started her life as a breeder at a puppy mill. Her litters were all born dead or deformed, so she wasn't valuable for the breeders. When something happened to her eye (we are unsure what), they didn't want to waste money on a vet bill for a non-profitable dog, so they cut it out at home. Since they, obviously, didn't do a professional job, they damaged the optical nerves and she lost vision in the other eye as well.

Eventually, she was listed on Craigslist and the woman who ended up rescuing her responded. She already had a couple of poodles. When she got there, the other woman threw Clarisse to the ground and kicked her over, saying "Just take her. I don't want her." The rescuer was not in a place to take care of a blind dog long term, but couldn't leave her there. She took her home and got her returned to health: spayed, up-to-date on vaccines, vet checked and loved on. She spent a good amount of time working to find the right home for her.

I had been looking for the right dog for our family for several months, to no avail. When I heard about Clarisse, I knew it was right. I did some research before emailing her rescuer so I knew a bit of what I was getting into. As we emailed, I researched more and more. When I met her, it was instant love.

The whole drive home, she slept and barely moved. She was interested in us, but seemed down, as is totally understandable. When we got home, I walked her around the house so she could get acclimated to the home. Then she slept and slept and slept. I held her while I read. I knew that rescues take time to get used to their new situation and that a week of depression is more common than not.

All of a sudden, she was awake. She started kissing me and then went nuts. She started head booping, kissing, rolling around, and, most adorably, giving these tiny little non-productive sneezes. Her "sst" noise is her happy noise. She doesn't sneeze ever except when she is absolutely happy. It is ridiculously cute.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have enjoyed taking her on new adventures and loving on her excessively. She has responded by becoming much more confident and is just filled with joy at all times. I'll share some of these experiences in future posts.

Clarisse is an inspiration. She had such a brutal start to life, one that would justifiably teach many of us that the world was a cruel and bad place. But for Clarisse, it has just made her appreciate any love she gets. She loves everyone who is good to her. She is up for adventures, learns incredibly efficiently, and lives life to its fullest. Abuse did not stop Clarisse. Blindness does not stop Clarisse. Clarisse is joy personified.

I can't get over this smile!