How A Little Dog Captured Our Hearts with her Story of Survival: Meet Millie LaRue

 

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

The little angel promoting her cookbook
photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

Millie LaRue isn’t just any dog. Hers is a world full of fancy outfits, runway shows and silver spoons. She’s a top supermodel of canine couture, with a Facebook fan club that’s swelled to over 8,000. And, the busy bee recently released a cookbook with mom, Darsey Mitchell, chock full of her friends’ recipes for humans and dogs from all over the world. Life for Millie LaRue has been good. But, when a sudden, life-threatening attack by a large dog created such a groundswell of love and support internationally (this reporter included), I felt compelled to talk to Darsey about how a little dog captured our hearts with her story of survival.

We all love love our dogs. But, to really understand Darsey’s connection to Millie, you have to know the story of Bella.

Bella’s Story

Darsey and her husband, Mark, had three Yorkies at the time, but Darsey wanted another, smaller one. While driving through Jacksonville, Florida, they saw an ad for puppies and decided to stop by. While the ad turned out to be from a backyard breeder, Darsey did fall in love with a tiny 8 week old puppy, who couldn’t have weighed more than a pound. They took her home and named her Bella.

“If I knew  then what I know now, I would’ve realized she was way too young and way too small to be sold,” Darsey shared.  “Within a day, we knew there was something wrong with her. She couldn’t keep warm, she wouldn’t eat or drink. I had to keep her wrapped in blankets.  I got a feeding tube from work and was giving her water with a syringe. We were calling the breeder back the next day, saying we need to bring the puppy back; that it was sick. They said no, no, she’s just adjusting to a new home. And, I was falling more and more in love with this puppy.”

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

Bella
photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

Their vet was very uncomfortable with the whole thing and, generally, didn’t like the idea of dogs being bred to be very tiny. He couldn’t find anything technically wrong with Bella, but the symptoms persisted.

After a month and $3,000 worth of vet bills, Bella died of a heart attack, right in front of Mark. He tried reviving her with CPR, to no avail.

“I was devastated,” Darsey conveyed, getting emotional on the phone. “You would’ve thought I’d had her for ten years. I never put her down; I was always caring for her and I felt like I’d failed her!”

They never found out what was wrong with Bella. They thought it might’ve been genetic.

The Puppy in the Playpen

“I swore to never get another dog,” Mitchell confided. “My husband kept trying to get me another puppy. He would start looking at reputable breeders online and I would tell him, ‘ Don’t waste your time!'”

Mark found a breeder in Atlanta with three girl puppies, which he stopped off to see on the way home from a business trip. “They’re really cute; they’re fat little puppies,” he described by phone from the breeder’s house. “And, she doesn’t sell them until they’re 4 months old! I’m sending you some pictures.”

Despite her protests, Darsey looked at the pictures and immediately fell for one of the three.  Mark convinced her to take the five hour drive back to Atlanta with him the next day. Talk about a devoted husband! 🙂 Darsey reluctantly agreed. “OK, we can look, but I’m not going to get one,” she warned him. But, Mark knows his wife. They walked in the door and saw those three, healthy-looking, cute little girls in a playpen.

“I recognized the one I’d liked from the others right away, and I reached down into that playpen, picked her up and started crying,” Darsey said.  “I was so embarrassed; I didn’t know why I had done that. I put my face down into her fur and I couldn’t stop. This is the one that I want, I told Mark.  And, that was Millie.

“I love them all, but Millie just came at a time when I really needed her. This was 8 years ago, and I still cry over Bella. I have that little puppy’s picture in the house and whenever I travel anywhere with Millie, I still have a picture of Bella on the nightstand of the hotel room. I always say to Millie, ‘If it weren’t for Bella, I would never have you!’

I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life, but no matter how many more I’ll have, I’ll never find another Millie.”

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

The fierce little girl who stole Darsey’s heart
photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

The Accident

So, now you understand how deeply connected to Millie Darsey is. It was last Christmas Eve. Families in the Hilton Head community where Darsey and her husband, Mark,  live with their five Yorkies, were sitting down to a nice holiday meal. The Mitchells had friends who’d just arrived from Belgium, and were also preparing to go out to dinner. Mark called up to Darsey that he was taking the pups out for a final walk before they left.

Mark and Darsey had always gotten along well with their next door neighbors. Visitors in for the holiday were making a ruckus around the pool and this excited the dogs who, in true terrier form, started barking their warning of Stranger Danger!  They would’ve settled down, but the neighbors’ guests entered into a game of taunting the little dogs with barks and growls. As the Yorkies barking increased, the neighbor’s dog and a visiting dog also started barking and Mark called over for them to stop the teasing as it was upsetting the dogs.

And, then it happened. In a shot, the neighbor’s visiting dog came tearing through the bushes, hyped up and looking for prey. Addie, one of Millie’s siblings, narrowly got away. With all of the ruckus, brave little 5 lb Millie came running over, maybe to try to attack the dog, maybe to protect Mark or her sibling; we’ll never know. Focused on the first dog, Millie never saw the second dog coming. She barreled through the bushes and snatch Millie up. Millie didn’t have a chance.  As she was being shaken vigorously by the large dog, Mark and the neighbors, who had run into the Mitchell’s yard, started hitting and yelling for the dog to drop Millie. But, she wouldn’t. In a move that could’ve saved Millie’s life, the neighbor thought to grab the dog’s collar, pull her head back to stop the shaking, and Mark pulled Millie from it’s jaws.

Eyes glazed over and bleeding profusely, Millie was gravely injured. Darsey, an intensive care nurse for newborns, took Millie, wrapped her in a blanket and put pressure on her mid section to try and contain the bleeding.  They rushed her to their vet, Dr. Curt Hennessey’s home a few doors down, thinking he might need to do surgery right there on the kitchen counter! After inspecting Millie’s injuries under the headlights of their car (her intestinal wall was ruptured and her intestines had ruptured out), he instructed them to race her to the hospital and he would immediately follow.

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

Millie, just days after the attack
Photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

“People would say to me what would you do if that something bad ever happened to Millie, and I thought I would be hysterical,” explained Darsey. “But I wasn’t. I was crying a bit, but I really just kept talking to her the whole time. I was so scared because I was thinking she’s going to die right here! So, I kept saying, Millie, please don’t leave me, please don’t leave me. I must’ve said that a thousand times.”

Once they took Millie from her at the hospital, Darsey finally broke  down.  Without a 24 hour facility on Hilton Head Island, their vet wanted to send Millie to Savannah to the 24-hour hospital there. For Darsey, she’d have taken Millie to the moon, if necessary. But, their on staff vet was on Christmas vacation, so the local vet performed the needed surgery to close Millie up, and Darsey, with her nursing training, took Millie home to care for her.

Going into Shock

In the first 24-48 hours, going into shock is a major concern. In explaining some of the things she was doing to watch out for this, I thought Darsey shared valuable information for us all. Here’s what she did:

* Darsey took Millie’s temperature constantly; they will get colder in shock initially, she told me, not spike a fever. When in decline, the body gets so weak, they can’t keep their temperature up.

* She’d check her gums for a healthy color. When there’s internal bleeding, the gums look pale.

* She’d check for swelling and bleeding around her bandages; any soft and mushy spots and hot spots, where blood would be pooling.

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

Millie, wearing her body bandage, recuperating
Photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

“For her general care, I’d try to imagine if it was me, how would I want it done; what would I want someone to do for me, so I was most comfortable,” Darsey shared. Such a great mom!

Mitchell put Millie on Pedialyte (the plain Pedialyte, NOT the diet one with Xylitol, which is toxic to dogs).

On Day 2, Millie tried to get up and take a few steps. But, she was still very much in danger.

Day by day, Millie improved. She had a setback or two, but miraculously, always pulled through.

“When a little 5 lb. dog is attacked by a big dog, they just don’t ever make it,” Darsey relayed from Dr. Hennessey. “They usually don’t. This doesn’t happen; Millie is like our poster dog, he said, because it just doesn’t ever end like this; it has a tragic ending. The fact that nothing major really happened, he still can’t believe it. You can see on the X-rays where the dog’s teeth went in and they barely missed the lungs, they barely missed her heart, it ripped the intestinal wall and her intestines ruptured out, but it missed puncturing her intestines. If it had hit any of those things, we’d have never even made it to the vet.”

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

The little face that could move mountains. The girl loves to pose and have her pic taken!
photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

Igniting a storm of love, support & useful information…

I received my first Facebook post about the accident from Jan Ingram, a dear friend of Darsey’s, who’d spoken with her shortly after and offered to let Millie’s friends know what’d happened, and keep them up to date on her condition. She created a Facebook page called Prayers and Updates for Millie LaRue. I didn’t know Darsey or Millie very well. I’d met them at the New York Pet Fashion Show and emailed with Darsey a few times. But, it was Millie’s face in that first photo, describing the accident, that just grabbed at my heart and wouldn’t let go. I was shocked like many to learn about it, and felt compelled to comment with my own show of support for them. And, I ended up following Millie’s journey everyday.

I saw tips come through from many, many people of things they’d found that worked really well for their dogs when they were sick. Two of them – coconut water and Arnica ointment – became helpful staples of Millie’s post-op treatment.

That first post got a handful of Likes. Within days, hundreds of people from around the world were tuning in daily to Jan’s updates on Millie, and over a thousand to Millie’s own fan club page updates. Darsey told me she was so overwhelmed by the response and concern, she felt obliged to post a picture each day, so people would see Millie was doing ok.

“I was stunned,” marveled Darsey. “The number of people and emails, private messages and comments; shared on hundreds and hundreds of pages…there was no way I could get to all of the pages and news about Millie that was shared.

“I wrote it a million times on my page; our whole family will never be able to say thank you enough to all of you. In a lifetime, we can not say how much this has meant to us. And, it really did help me get through those first horrible days, just reading through the emails and comments.”

Six Weeks Later: How is Millie doing now?

“She is doing really, really good!,” enthused Mitchell. “One last staple was just removed, a little spot that didn’t heal up just right, at first. Most of the damage was internal that I can’t see which, as a nurse, drives me crazy because I want to see everything! And, Millie is still sleeping a lot. But, the vet says that’s normal with this type of trauma.”

I asked if Millie was exhibiting any emotional scarring from the ordeal.

“I haven’t really taken her out anywhere, but I have been taking her into the yard on the other side of the house to get fresh air and do her business,” Darsey explained. “The other day was really pretty, and I wanted to take the dogs out to get some sun. Millie was standing on the pool deck and she walked over to the edge on the same side where the accident occurred. She stood right at the edge. I was just watching her to see what she’d do. That used to be her favorite spot to go potty, and I knew she needed to go. She just stood there and looked right over into their yard, and then she looked back at me. I told her it was ok; that she could go over there. And, she just stood, looked back over at that house, and then turned around and walked back to me. She wouldn’t go over there, like she knew it was dangerous.”

I asked what had been learned from this ordeal, and what Darsey said spoke volumes about the connection Millie has made with so many.

“People will make jokes about your Facebook friends or fake friends,” Mitchell explained, as tears welled up.  “I have realized how much these people came to mean to me, during a time when I really needed emotional support. Just to know someone was there and cared enough about a little dog that was so important to me. And, these are people that don’t even really know me. People from everywhere, all over the world. I can’t explain how overwhelmed I was. When I finally went back to work, people there were saying, ‘Where did Millie get so many friends?’ They said that if something happened to them and they got sick, there wouldn’t be 20 people who’d comment on their page!

What I came away with is this: they’re not fake Facebook friends, at all. They’re just friends you don’t see. Those friends I’ve never seen before, I would read comments they wrote and it meant as much to me as if my closest and dearest friends had said them. There was someone on there saying, ‘I’m supposed to be going away on vacation tomorrow, and I can’t leave until I know Millie’s ok. Please write me back and tell me she’s ok.'”

As we were wrapping up the interview, Darsey told me this funny story:

“Over the course of four or five days, we had several people send flower arrangements to the house. On the  last day, my husband answered the door, and it was the same delivery guy as every other day.  The guy said, ‘I have more flowers for you; I hope everything’s ok!’ And, Mark said, ‘Oh yeah, my wife’s little dog had an accident; the dog next door attacked her.’ And the man said, ‘Oh my God, your wife was attacked by a dog?!’ And Mark said, ‘No! My wife wasn’t attacked; our little dog was attacked!’ And this delivery man said, ‘These flowers have been for a dog?! Never in my life have I seen something like this!’

“And Mark said, ‘Well, you need to meet Millie. She’s not just any dog.'”

the little dog's survival story that captured the hearts of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

Darsey & Millie in matching gowns created by
Rebecca Bissi of Chien Coature, at the
2014 New York Pet Fashion Show

photo courtesy of Rachel Bloom

And that, my friends, says it all. Thousands of us are happy today that little Millie LaRue is recovering very nicely at home with her Yorkie siblings Elvis, Katie, Addie Mae and Tulip. She’ll be back on the doggy social scene soon. What she’s never left is our hearts.

how a little dog and her story of survival stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

The Family, top l to r:
Addie Mae, Millie LaRue, Tulip Cherie; bottom l to r: Elvis and Katie Scarlett
photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

You can buy Millie and Darsey’s cookbook, Cooking With Friends, here. For a limited time, they’re including a beautiful tea towel embroidered with a red heart to symbolize the outpouring of love for Millie and the love we all feel for our cherished pets. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!

How a little dog stole the heart of America on www.BarkandSwagger.com

photo courtesy of Darsey Mitchell

To follow Millie LaRue, go to her Millie LaRue Fan Club.

Do you have a story about a trauma your pet has been through? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Jody Miller-Young
What does stylish mean to you? I’m passionate about animals, fashion, travel, home decor and rescue, and that's what you'll find here. After a recent move to Fort Lauderdale from NYC, we're loving our new life in the sunshine. Welcome to my world! Grab your favorite beverage, curl up and stay awhile.