My name is Hannah and this is my story. I was my mom's very first foster. She has just lost her Missy and was not feeling too well. Here I came in pulling my owner, no leash - just a leather strap for horses around my neck and my dad was about to dump me on this woman. I am a tall girl and I only weighed 50 pounds - skin and bones. He carried in my 5 pounds of dog food that was about 1/3 of a bag full and told her it would last about a month. My mom's mouth fell open on hearing those words while looking at my bones with only spots of wiry hair for my coat. I suppose I was a sad site to behold. My mom had been told by my former mom I was cranky at night time. Poor thing - she had no idea what that meant until she went to put me in the crate for the night. Had she not heard a word my former dad at said? He told her that he had crated me for 20 hours out of the day. There was no way I was going in that crate. I showed her my pretty white teeth and minutes later on I was on a soft doggie bed on the floor beside her bed. I kept her up all night digging and scratching. The next morning she went to work on me. I had a really nice bath, oils on my food and coat and heck I even found out what cheddar cheese was. I feel bad now, but I had just reached a point where I was not going to take any more abuse from anyone, including her. I was in mourning for my former mom and dad. Every time she so much as talked with her hands, I showed her my purly whites.

Here I was three years old and had never been house broken and would not go on her concrete patio. Off we would go several times a night trekking to the grass, as she was feeding me lots of good foods. Eventually, I learned to use the doggie door and got to eat lots of cheese and hot dogs while learning. One day she left to run an errand and forgot to shut the doggie door. I made myself really busy as I needed a bed to lie on the patio and bask in the sun. She was a little shocked when she returned to find I had chewed her huge palm tree off at the dirt, drug it outside and made a bed out of it. Then I learned how to really, really bark and my mom moved us all from the condo to a house where I could have my own backyard. I continued to show her my teeth, but each day there were fewer times as I was learning to really trust her. The very last time I went to snarl at her it came out sounding like a snake hissing. She just stood there and laughed me. Silly girl she said and that was the end of the snarling. I have been with my mom for almost 6 years and now I know what life is all about. I am one happy little girl with a beautiful coat and I love my mom and little Beagle brother, Spencer, more than I ever thought possible. I used to be called "Hannah With the Issues" - now I am Hannah Harris.