Penny, a puppy lived a nomadic life until he turned ten months old. Despite her cuteness, no one kept her with themselves for more than a week. That is why the puppy had to spend a large fraction of her childhood in abandonment. However, there was someone who adopted her and made her the most famous dog for a unique reason. The pup who was once wanted by none suddenly became an apple of people's eye. The pup was much much more than what people thought her to be.
The pup got abandoned by her mother just after her birth that forced her to spend the first few days of her life struggling on the road. One day she was wandering in a local park until a PetCo worker noticed her and brought the homeless pup to the foster care. At that time the staff worker did not know what she was bringing to the shelter. The video is available via Instagram!
The dog belongs to rat terrier breed. They are tough with an elegant look. They are quite friendly by nature and proves to be a good companion for humans. Rat terriers are also known for their playfulness. No doubt, this pup had all these qualities but there was one more thing about this doggo that nobody had noticed. The dog was unique.
So, a few weeks after her birth, the dog found herself in an animal shelter. But only after few days of her arrival in the shelter, she got adopted by a family. It seemed that the puppy finally had a house and a family but the illusion soon broke down when the family returned the dog shortly after adopting her. So the dog was back to square one!
The dog was young, so it wasn't going to be a problem for the shelter to give her to another family as pups easily get mold according to its surrounding compared to grown-up dogs. The shelter once again started looking for a qualified family. Their search ended when a couple got enamored by doggo's cuteness and decided to adopt her.
The shelter bid farewell to the pup for one more time. It was an emotional moment for the shelter workers. Though they were happy that terrier finally had a home, it was an emotional moment for them too as the pup had won over their heart with her cuteness. But there was way more to her what appeared. No doubt, this dog was very cute but along with that, she had some more astonishing qualities that are too strange for a dog to possess.
The same thing happened again! The couple who had adopted her gave her back to the shelter. So it happened twice in a row and the management had no idea why nobody wanted her. But still, they continued looking for another family for the growing pup. And once again they got a family that kept pup with themselves for a short span of time. Surprisingly, the doggo did not stay with any of the families for more than one week. What was going on?
The shelter was losing hope after a slew of rejection. Perhaps the dog was never going to be adopted. She might spend her entire life here in the shelter under foster care. This was happening for the first time with the shelter. Except her, no dog who got adopted was returned to the shelter. This was not only strange but hurtful both for the shelter and this cute baby.
You can never predict time! The ten-week-old pup was still in the shelter. By this time she had been adopted and returned by many families. She had even got a new name “unwanted puppy.” The staff worker would refer to her by this name. It is important to point out here that the dog had an affectionate and friendly nature. Despite these must have qualities Puppy always got rejected.
Time took a turn when a woman expressed her desire to adopt this unfortunate doggo. It wasn't a matter of happiness for the staff as they had been gone through this phase number of time what bothered them the most was the situation that follows the adoption process. The paperwork was done and the staff member prayed that the adopter would keep her forever.
Before handing over the puppy to the woman named Leonora Anzaldua, the staff made sure that she knows about the past rejections the dog has faced. They told her how many families gave her back even days after adopting her. However, the revelation failed to change her mind. She still wanted the puppy.
Not to mention, the pooch was too cute to be ignored. Leonora went ahead with her decision and adopted the pup. She wondered “how bad can such a tiny dog be?” She wrapped up the paperwork and drove back to the home with her new companion. It was to see how things were going to work with the two. Would she too return her just like other did?
Anzaldua was very hopeful that she would have a great friendship with this constantly rejected pup. Not to mention she was curious as to why the pup got rejected everytime someone would adopt her. And it was during finding out the answer to this question, she discovers a unique talent of her newfound companion. She named her new friend "Penny." However. Leonora had no idea that Penny was not like other dogs. She soon was going to find out! She learned why people would give her back when she brought her home.
Penny had changed the face of the house in two days only. She was excessive playful and because of that habit of her, the previous families return Penny to the shelter. Here also she had messed up the house. Leonora who had seen many dogs before sensed a reason behind Penny's weird behavior.
She realized that it was because of the lacking of mental stimulation Penny was behaving in such a weird way. Instead of taking the pup back to the shelter, she thought of taking the other route. Now as she knew that the unstoppable behavior of Penny sources out of her low mental stimulation. Penny decided to stimulate her mental efficiency.
Even though Penny was not taught any trick, one could tell by her behavior that she was a smart pup. And Leonora was going to cash on that. She thought of teaching some tricks to her. Too much to her surprise, Penny picked up very soon. In fact, she learned many of the tricks in one attempt only.
She learned to sit in three attempts only. Leonora had recognized her strength and she proceeded by teaching Penny more difficult tricks. It was to see how quickly was she going to take them in. Leonora was in for a big surprise!
No matter how challenging the tricks are, Penny would learn them quickly. By these tricks not only Leonora learned new tricks she also stopped destroying the stuff. Penny had her energy channelized by the tricks she had been learning. Leonora was highly impressed by her pet's smartness but she was yet to discover the biggest talent of her pet.
Penny was learning quickly. The dog had mastered all the ordinary tricks by the time she turned eight months old. But Leonora was not satisfied yet, there was more to learn for Penny. She was confident about her pet's intelligence and believed she has the potential of learning more.
Leonora had read somewhere that a dog has the same level of intelligence as human toddlers have. The fact motivated her to do some experiments and try something new. She thought of teaching shapes to Penny. Was that going to work or was she expecting too much? Even though Leonora herself was not totally positive about it, she thought of giving it a try.
The very next day she bought a set of big block letters from a shop and scattered them in front of the dog. She started training Penny with them. However, she had little hopes but there was no harm in taking the risk. What do you think, will the pup learn the shapes?
The dog never ceased to surprise her owner. Penny learned the skill of recognizing shapes in no time. Moreover, the eight months old dog also learned to use block letters in order to spell her name. Not only that whenever Leonora asks her “what are you?” Penny replies by spelling “dog.” Leonora knew this dog was special and decided to showcase her talent to the world.
What could be the best medium to display talents other than social media! Leonora resorted to the same medium in order to showcase her pet's intelligence. She made her youtube and Instagram accounts to put the startling videos of her genius pup. All this while pup continued conquering other levels.
So, what Leonora do to keep her little pup motivated? She lures her smart pet by giving her rewards at the end of the completion of the task. The rewards mainly include her favorite food.
Leonora's expectation from Penny increased manifold. She wanted her to learn more about shape recognition. So, in order to do that she got toy shapes that are taken in use to teach kids about shapes like stars and triangles. Soon after she began the training.
Training Penny was never a difficult task for her. She learned the shapes in a few days only and soon began to put block shapes in their slot. She did not make a single mistake during the task. Penny had finally mastered shapes and it was time to jump to the other challenge.
Now, Penny had a new challenge staring at her face. Leonora had taken up the responsibility of teaching her countings. She was pretty sure that Penny would learn that trick too. And she was absolutely right! Leonora started the training by placing a part of kibble on a mat. Penny responded by touching number 1.
Thereafter, she placed two pieces on the mat in reaction to which Penny touched number 2. Soon she was going to learn the counting till 10. It would be wrong to say that Penny used to learn only tricks only throughout the day. This is true that learning tricks were an important part of her day, she used to do more things that were fun.
Penny is still playful by nature though now she does not ruin things. Her fan learned that during a day of fall when Penny was playing around in a pile of dry leaves. The day was windier and colder compared to other days of the fall. Despite the chilling wind, Penny was lost playing with herself and the leaves.
Leonora did not waste a second and immediately took out her phone to record the playful activities of the pooch. Even she is growing older she still has the heart of a kid who is ever ready to learn things.
Clearly, Penny has learned all the basic tricks, shapes and countings. What more was left for her to learn? Well, according to Leonora there are many things that Penny is yet to master.
She is three years old now and has mastered a number of tricks that dog of her age can't even think of. And the credit goes to Leonora who recognized the talent of the pup and kept confidence in her. No doubt, company of Leonora did wonder to Penny and the process is still on.
The tricks have done the trick! Penny has learned to control her excessive playfulness along with the tricks. Now instead of going around, she prefers to sit calmly and sometimes practicing the trick. In fact, you can see her napping most of the time, she loves it!
https://youtu.be/mEYKFjd7aHo
Here is the video we all have been waiting for. In the video you clearly can see, Penny flaunting her intelligence.
Who does she love the most? Well, it's her best friend plush hedgehog! She loves cuddling with her new best friend. It is difficult to believe that the dog who once was too playful to be kept now has millions of fans. I am sure you must have become her fan too.
So, what did you learn from this heartwarming and inspiring story? We learned that sometimes the talent gets murdered by ignorance. And sometimes a little attention turns out to be a big force helping the talent to bloom and make the entire world go gaga over.
