Abby aka Kimmy

Adopted!

New Name:
Age: Adult
Sex: Female
Breed: Shih Tzu
Weight: 8.4 pounds
Current Location:
Adoption Date:
Adopted by: Chere Tone
Latest Update:

We had a very sweet adoption yesterday for this little girl Abby. Such a shut down little dog that is incredibly hard to place, but along come along time village member Chere Tone from Odessa Texas, she has been a supporter of our auctions with the donations of her delicious custom made cookies, many times.

She has a senior dog at home and she felt like she could give Abby a very quiet comfortable life with her, and had no expectations of Abby being anything different than what she already is. What a lucky little dog, and I hope her previous mama can understand that little Abby will be safe and cared for the rest of her days. Very heartwarming indeed.

Happy life to you both.

About Abby aka Kimmy:

UPDATE 2/16/2026 FIVE YEARS LATER.

This post will be a long story so stick with me. You guys know I don’t pull punches, and I don’t try and sugarcoat to make things softer. If we are trying to find the right home for a dog I don’t think it does any good to be anything but a straight shooter.

This little Shih Tzu is a mill dog, we rescued her during Covid and she was adopted 6 years ago. Her name is now Abby and her mom had to go into memory care and could not care for her anymore.

Abby is now 11 or 12 years old and she is a broken dog, she has not been able to cope with life outside of the mill. The damage has been done by being a mill dog for years and she will not recover from it. She knows nothing about being social with people, and really has no interest in doing so.

This will not change, she has lived in a loving home for 6 years, and it still did not change. She doesn’t respond to soft touch, and affection. It is foreign to her and she opts to not have that.

She is housebroken which is truly amazing, but she prefers to stay in her crate, all day, all night, she will venture out to go potty, she loves to eat her food, but then she goes right back into her crate, which is the only thing that makes her feel safe and that brings her anything I might describe as joy. She does not wag her tail, she does not perk up with other dogs or people. Today she ventured out of her crate to look around a little bit, if you look at her, or speak to her, she hurries back inside her crate to feel safe again.

I went over to groom her a couple of days ago, she isn’t great to groom but it wasn’t hard for me to get it done, it just seems she prefers that you don’t touch her.

I do not say these things to be mean, or to sound harsh, I say them because they are true. This little girl needs a home where people are committed to a rescue that will not give them love back in return. I think of it to similar to owning a lizard, or a snake, they are pets you have, not pets that give you love and affection in return. What she needs is a home that doesn’t want anything from her but will offer her a refuge from the cruel world she came from. They need to allow her to be herself, to be where she feels safe, and to provide her with that safe place.

Is there a home for her? most likely, but to be honest the vast majority of us want to feel we are loved by the pets in our home, so a dog like this absolutely is not for everyone, but she will be for someone. It will be very difficult to find, but we will look, we obviously will need a million shares to find this home, it won’t be easy…

UPDATE 12/9/2020

Just a quick update on Kimmy Snow from foster mom Millie…..everyday she gets bolder especially during morning and evening feeding times.. she almost always starts running around playing.. Yesterday I caught her pulling the rug across the room. She has decided she wants to be friends with Cinnamon Wells. Check the videos out.. the trick with Kimmy is don’t let her see you’re taking her picture cause she’ll dart the other way. She really has a cute personality.(Taking her picture outside is still hard because she keeps her tail tucked and head down most of the time. Just recently I’ve caught her with them up checking out one of the other dogs but of course I didn’t have my phone.. )

Kimmy is really a good girl.. she is potty trained and sleeps all night in her crate without a peep. She finds her spot close to you but not too close and that’s where she stays most of the time. She prefers to just hang out and doesn’t really want cuddling but I think that will change in the future as she gets more accustom to people. Kimmy is such a sweetheart and a pleasure to have here.

We haven’t received much interest in Kimmy and I need to see if you can help with that. Kimmy is special needs from an emotional standpoint, she requires lots of patience and understanding. She has had a hard time coping after living in a mill and will need a person who is willing to continue Millie’s work to get her to be the best she can be.

UPDATE 11/21/2020

Millie has been working hard on helping little Kimmy come out of her shell afraid of the entire world. Step by step she gets better, but she will of course need a home that understands her social issues and will be willing to continue the work she will need for years to come.

Millie sent us a video of how far she’s progressed with coming inside from going potty. Might not seem like a big deal, but believe me, it is when you have a dog who is too afraid to move about.

Millie:

Just a quick update on Kimmy Snow… every day she gets braver.. ventures out and about more and shows us her personality. She actually comes over to Buzz when he’s eating and let’s him pet her.. She likes to lay behind my chair and let’s me pet her all the time. She’ll go in/out on her own and will let me pick her up now most of the time.. Yesterday it was getting close to dinner time and I had to run down the hall a minute.. Buzz heard her barking and came in to check and she was standing at the gate looking for me just barking away.. like I’ve got nerve leaving when I’m supposed to be making her dinner.. this has never happened before. The evening just before bed is our special time.. I take her out front and she does her business then we go sit on the couch and watch a little TV with Buzz.. (maybe 10-15 min). She still doesn’t look at me when I’m sitting with her but she relaxes into her rubs. Then it’s a little piece of chicken and off to bed. This girl is such a sweetheart and those eyes go straight to your heart.

UPDATE 11/12/2020

Kimmy has been such a scared terrified little Shih Tzu since arriving from being rescued at a mill auction. It has been a very difficult situation with her terror, she was sent to foster mom Millie who has been working with her every single day and has made wonderful strides. Of course its not magic, and she is still a very afraid little dog, but step by step she gets better. Kimmy has all of her vetting finished and while Millie continues to work with her we will begin exploring “special needs homes” what do I mean by “special needs” it means that Kimmy will need tons and tons of patience and understanding and someone who is willing to put the work in, willing to accept tiny successes and willing to recognize that Kimmy will be the best she can be but that will be far from perfect.

UPDATE 11/6/2020

Kimmy Snow is slowly making progress .. I can feel it. It is much easier for me to pick her up but she will still tense her legs a little at times. I’ve taken to just carrying her around with me while I do a few things or sitting holding her on the couch.. she’s not that fond of sitting on the couch yet but does relax a little just won’t look at me.. keeps her head turned away. She knows meal times and will walk back and forth checking on her food preparation.. we’re seeing the tail come up more often and I could have sworn she was pushing a bone around the other morning. After meals she usually spends her day sleeping in her favorite spot behind my chair. We walked a little on a leash the other day .. I just followed her and let her go where she wanted .. the next time we went out she just flattened and I ended up carrying her for a walk …we’ll keep working on it. We’ve had very few accidents… She’ll go out and potty like a big girl.. matter of fact now she’ll start to walk around the room looking at me if she needs to go. I can just open the back door and out she goes to do her business. Her hair is growing back in so soft .. she loves to have her head rubbed and let’s me play with her feet and give them kisses just don’t try to kiss her head that’s still a “no”. She’s such a sweet girl who just needs time and patience.

UPDATE 10/26/2020

Kimmy is slowly making progress.. she is out with my gang all day but spends most of the time in the open crate in the corner. She eats her breakfast and dinner just outside of it. I’ll pick her up to go outside and she’ll walk around a little then comes back inside on her own.. I need to try and get a video because she is very sloth like.. slow and carefully makes her way across the yard then scoots in. I’m able to pick her up just about anywhere with no accidents. I even had a friend of mine here yesterday and she let her hold her with no problems. It’s about 1/2 yard vs pee pads on her potty training but we’re making progress there too. She has a couple nights left on her Metacam (from surgery) which she’s been taking very well. We have been trying a combination of low dose trazadone and Solliquin to help calm her fears.. I’ve finally made progress getting her to take them in her food so we’re a solid 3 days down on that …. it’s hard to say if it’s the medicine or just time that is helping her now but I’m very happy with her progress.

UPDATE 10/16/2020

Wanted to give everyone an update on Kimmy Snow. We have had our good days and not so good days but I think we’ve turned a corner. I can now pick her up without her pooping all over me… it has been a challenge especially picking her up in the kitchen and yard(Thanks Laura and Rene for moral support) but she seems to understand that I’m going to pick her up regardless of what she does.. it can still take a few minutes but we’re making it.. She really loves being rubbed under her chin so I do that along with rubbing her body for a few minutes prior to picking her up. Kimmy lets me put on her harness in the morning and take it off in the evening. She has graduated to eating her meals in the kitchen with the other dogs and she’s right in the mix while food is being prepared. When I’m sitting at the table she comes and lays close behind me.. other times during the day she’ll go lay in the open crate and sleep. She’s also started laying close to my Jaz (Catahoula). I was really excited when I saw her tail up in the yard for the first time.. the first couple weeks it was tucked so tightly between her legs that you wouldn’t think she had one. Now it’s starting to come up more often. She will move away from you when you walk by her but she doesn’t run just casually goes the other way. Kimmy loves her chicken and she’ll eat her kibble with chicken on it but that’s about it.. she will not take any other type of treat either by hand or left in front of her.. nor any medicine in a pill pocket or cheese(still working on this) she is very sneaky and just eats around it. Kimmy is still a very scared sweet girl and will need lots of patience from an adopter but she is definitely making progress.

UPDATE 10/5/2020

Every night about 8:30 I go into her room to check on her and cover her crate for the night.. we turn on the sound machine and turn down the lights. Then about 10:15 I go back in and pick her up and put her in the crate and close it. She hasn’t been excited about this but didn’t give me any problems.. There are lots of fluffy blankets in there and a teddy bear to keep her company..

Big news is last night I went in at 10 and she had put herself to bed!! Already snuggled down in her blankets for the night!!

That’s not all.. today while hanging out with us in the kitchen she went out the back door with the other dogs and came back in with them too!!! With me holding the door open..

Very proud of this girl!!

UPDATE 10/4/2020

Just a quick update on Miss Kimmy Snow.. she had a bath yesterday and did great for me! Wish you could see her coat better it is so soft … she is such a pretty girl. She has met the whole gang and does pretty well with everyone.. Ollie is a little much for her but he has learned to leave her be. She lets me pick her up in her enclosure. In the yard, if I walk slowly up to her, she’ll lay down so I can pick her up. Everyone else best look out because she’s still so scared she’ll poop on you. She’ll check out toys but doesn’t play with any. She actually ALMOST followed me in the back door from the yard…. I was holding my breath as she took a step in but then changed her mind.. still I’m happy with that. Kimmy loves chicken so I’m using that as a special treat when she’s been out and about with people and dogs. She’s not into cuddling.. she’ll let me hold her and rub her a little but doesn’t totally relax. I am now allowed to rub her legs and feet,before it was just head and back, that is progress. She is a very quiet, sweet little girl who sleeps all night in her crate and never has an accident. It will take her time to learn to trust people and let her personality show but it will be worth the wait.

UPDATE 9/29/2020

We had some issues with little Kimmy at the sanctuary, she is terrified and snapping at people who get too close to her ears, so we needed to move her to a foster home.

Enter Millie the miraculous and the work she does never goes unnoticed…

Quick update on Miss Kimmy.. She is settling in at the ranch. Kimmy has decided it’s ok if I pick her up .. loves to have little rubs on the chest and head but not too sure about the feet.. she’s eating and drinking well.. She’s staying in her enclosure during the day for now and sleeps in her crate at night. We’ve been outside checking things out multiple times (doesn’t run from me ) but likes to go back in to her soft bed. Absolutely doesn’t want anything to do with a leash.. found that out quick. We’re working on the ear drops…. I got the flush in both ears today but she wasn’t happy. She doesn’t mind the bottle itself. She let me rub it all over her and I can rub her ears and check them out.. but she hates the liquid going in. She had a little piece of chicken afterwards as a treat.. tomorrow will try for flush and medicine. Love her little tongue.

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