Nubbie's story is a long one, to understand how much of a miracle she is you must first have a little bit of background...

I have always been involved in animal rescue for as long as I can remember, its something that my mom grew up doing and she raised me doing. I will always have a soft spot fo rthe under dog because of this, which is how I ended up with my first dog (first legally my dog). Pandora was a 4-5 year old Pomeranian rescued after she was abandoned, she was a suspected puppymill breeder who was left after she could no longer reproduce. By luck, she ended up in a purebred rescue where my Grandmother volunteers..... the problem was, she was labeled as unadoptable and to be destroyed due to behavioral issues (aggression to people and other animals plus lashing out randomly), my grandmother, upon hearing her story, her heart went out, she took Pandora in as a foster and contacted my mom who had been wanting another pomeranian. After falling in love with her photo, my family drove across the US to adopt her (our first time meeting her was to walk into my Grandparents house withPandora standing ontop a glass table scarfing down a coffee cake growling and snapping at 6 surrounding dogs). Needless to say, after a few month with Pandora, she became attached to me at the hip and became officially my dog. After having her for about 2 years,  I rescued a puppy from a "junk-yard" breeder who's pitbull had accidently had puppies, she was on her way to drop the remaining ones off at a high kill shelter (low adoption rates for pitbulls) and while I stopped to give her information on low-cost spay/neuter and give her the name of a few rescues and shelters that could better help her I fell in love with one of the puppies, a dilute brindle I later names Chai Latte.

When Chai was about a year old Pandora and I moved into my new apartment while Chai stayed with my parents for a few months while she finished her vet appointments (she had surgery to fix an elongated soft pallet and was going to the vet often for  check-ups). After the appointments were done Chai came up to live with us and everything fell into place.... right around the time of Chai's second birthday Pandora began taking a downhill spiral in health, physically and mentally, she had always had issues with her hips and allergies, but the normal meds stopepd working, after consolting with a vet, it was decided to lay off all meds for a few months to see how that went then start over. During this time, Pandora became more erratic in behavior, she was always unpredictable, but she had never drawn blood before and for the most part, Chai kept out of her way so Pandora ignored Chai.... Pandora during this time drew blood on my dad, my sister, a friend (experianced dog trainer and rescue worker), my boyfriend, and then me, she had begun to full out attack Chai (charging her and attacking her) resulting in Chai having cuts on her face, I began seperating them and after talk with a few other trainers, rescuers, family, and friends, I began preparing for the worst possible situation, having Pandora put to sleep.

It was during this time that I took Chai out into the middle of a field to play fetch that we stumbled onto the weak and almost lifeles body of Punk, a beagle X schnauzer mix from our best guess.

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A big thing to remember for this story is that we, my boyfriend, myself, and our pets, live in THE poorest county in the state, strays run loose, having an inside pet is considered odd by the "natives", most keep their dogs loose or tied up 24-7. The area also has a HIGH population of feral dogs, you can barely walk outside without stumbling over individuals or a pack.

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When I found Punk, she weighed less then 10 pounds, after a VERY expensive vet bill to get rid of her worms, ear infections, and countless bacterial infections (from eating bugs, roadkill and who knows what else) she now weighs about 25 pounds.

I have now had Punk for a year, during this time I made the decision and Pandora was humanely euthanized. Punk has made amazing progress in the time I have had her, she has gone from a statue that spent her first few months hiding under a bed to  a vocal and energetic dog, she still shuts down around new people, she still startles at new noises and if pushed to far (trying to teach her basic commands, after 5 mins, even with just me in the room she will shutdown) she will shut down and hide... usually urinating and deficating on the way.

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The county we live in is the poorest in the state... and the shelter for it is currently shutdown due to a distemper outbreak which is also ravaging the feral/stray dog population (which in turn is keepingit alive in the shelter)

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Thursday, May 3rd, during a walk with Punk, she drug me to a ditch, while waiting for her to go to the bathroom, I happened to look in, and inside I saw the saddest thing, despite years of volunteering, of working at a kill shelter, of going to puppymills, hoarding situations, all kinds of stuff, I was never prepared to seeing a 4-5 week old puppy laying half-way in a ditch.

Climbing down (and pulling Punk with me) I was able to reach the puppy, who I found INFESTED with fleas (as soon as I touched her fleas started jumping everywhere) I picked her up and carried her back to my apartment (Punk never did go potty) and after 6 baths with Dawn dishsoap over the course of 3 days she became FLEA FREE!!!!

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Belly covered in flea bites (this is AFTER the first three baths and it was already looking SO much better!)

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A trip to the vet confirmed, 4-5 weeks old, flea free, and distemper/parvo free!

the most surprising thing of all was the fact that the litttle puppy is deformed, she is missing her front right paw. We believe that THIS is the reason she was abandoned, more than likely a local residents dog had puppies, they were unable to sell the deformed one, so she was simply abandoned in a ditch.

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Originially, the plan had been to find the puppy a home, having just had Pandora put down, the fact we were moving, along with the fact a new puppy on top of a feral dog seemed like it would be to much (especially a handicapped puppy). So after contacting a few rescues and friends ( she was to young, needed a foster home, or just wasn't the right time), my boyfriend came home from work Monday to announce we were keeping the puppy.... on the condition she was named Nubbie. Having already begun to fall in love, i agreed, but said the name Nubbie would NOT do.... needless to say, our friends, family, and random people, have fallen in love with her.... and the name Nubbie... so despite my protest, the name has stuck (and its fitting, lol). So now Im beginging a new journey, we are moving out of our apartment in July and we have a puppy in the mix.

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A views of Nubbies "deformity"

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