MATTIE IN VIRGINIA 8 DECEMBER 2012
Note right hind leg On 6 December, Bobbi Procyk contacted Joyce Price of ATRVA (AIREDALE TERRIER RESCUE OF VIRGINIA) about a nearby breeder advertising a seven-year-old female, with her five four-week-old puppies, for sale for $300. Joyce writes: I called and learned the puppies were most likely mixed. The "breeder" thought his Treeing Walker Hound was the father. But who knows as he also had an Airedale stud. I told him I really didn't want puppies so would think about it. A group of volunteers agreed to pool money to buy her, with or without the puppies, to save her from being bred twice a year. But what to do about the puppies?
Pup with damaged eye	I called him again and told him that I had some friends who were helping find possible homes for the puppies. Then he said he had another female and if I wanted both, he would sell them for $200 each. I said, "Wonderful! I'd like a pair." Two breeding females out of there. Yea! On the third call, I made an appointment to see them on Saturday. He asked then, "How many do you want?" I asked, "How many do you have?" Well, he had a third female he could sell. His wife wanted him to get rid of all the dogs. Bonanza!
On Saturday I drove there, planning to pay him a deposit and pick them up on Monday, so I took my car instead of the van. It was a decent place: two females running loose, and the puppies in a shed beside the house. He took me to the barn where Ginger was chained up, and his Oorang breeding pair (not for sale, but I wanted to see them) were in a pen. All quarters looked clean, but not comfy. I said I'd take all three females. He then said he couldn't sell one of them as she was his favorite. Rats! Oh well, two is better than none. I said I was going out of town for the weekend in a couple of hours, so could I pick them up on Monday? Nope, he wanted me to take them today. He did have someone interested in Ginger who wanted to breed her and split the litter with him. I wasn't going to let that happen, so she definitely was going home with me. I said I hated to separate the mother from her four-week-old puppies, thinking I could leave her with him for a couple of weeks, but he kept pressing me to take the puppies. Momma Mattie was limping with a leg I felt had been broken in the past, as she had atrophied muscles (turned out to be true; more on surgery possibilities later). One of the pups had a damaged eye. He said it wasn't born that way: "It must have been poked in the eye with a piece of straw." I knew then I couldn't leave them. Whew! Thank doG for ATRVA! So two adults & five puppies were loaded up in my Camry. I wasn't sure how I was going to tell my husband he was going to care for them all while I was out of town attending a meeting and picking up five Dachshunds for a transport. My husband cared for the two adults & the puppies Saturday while I was out of town. We ended up with 15 dogs (counting our own three) overnight Saturday night until I transported the Dachshunds on Sunday morning. Then I went to work at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, leaving my husband to care for the two new ones & all the puppies again. Stay tuned for next installment to see if I am still married.  SIDNEY HARDIE: Hooray for Joyce & her husband & all the ATRVA volunteers! KAREN MORGAN: I am more often overwhelmed by the goodness of people than by the opposite. Thank doG! KIM, of RIVER CITY CHIHUAHUA RESCUE: Wow, Joyce sounds like a rescuer after my own heart. Major kudos to her! Great save, Joyce! MICHEL BURKHART: What a great story; those pups are adorable!

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