Nala

My name is Nala. I was born in a dark cage just a couple of months ago. There were puppies and mommies and daddies in cages next to mine. I was forced to potty in my bed along with my mommy, brothers, and sisters. One of my siblings passed away a few days after being born because he had a heart defect. I was taken away from my family at six weeks old and shipped across several states to a place called a pet store. I didn’t see anyone for about two weeks because the pet store said I had to be healthy and not get the other puppies sick. I was again living in a tiny square cage where I only had space to turn around. There was bright artificial light above me and a grated floor below me. Would I always have to potty next to my bed? Was this life?

My cage was cleaned every morning before the pet store opened so I always had about 15 minutes of ammonia free air before I had to potty again. People came to see me when I was eight weeks old. They were mostly nice. There were some excited tiny humans begging to take me home and there were big humans who always talked about money. A man took me home one day. He seemed nice enough, but he had a thing called a job. Whenever he went to his job he put me in a cage again. I had a few toys and that made me happy. I tried to hold my tiny bladder when he went to his job every day, but it was hard so I had to potty where my bed was. He decided that I was too much trouble because I wasn’t potty trained and I liked to nibble on his stuff. He tried to sell me on a website to anyone willing to pay. That’s when my luck changed. A nice woman who worked with a Shiba rescue came to my aid. My foster mom has taught me sign language and she pairs it with words so that she has different ways to communicate with me. I am a very smart little girl! I have learned sit, down, up, turn around, touch, and leave it. I love people and dogs and food. I will do anything for food.