maddoxies
01-23-2006, 10:35 AM
Warning*** you may want to have tissues handy
Let me start this story with the ending. As I am writing this, a happy, well fed Heidi Ho Ho is snuggled up on the sofa, butt to butt with Valentin, and both of them are snoring up a storm.
One day in December 2004, Heidi Ho Ho was found at the side of a country road in South Carolina. She was thin and her back legs were badly cut up. Her back legs showed signs that she had been a cart dog. The couple who found her, kept her on their front porch for a week, in case a passerby recognized her. When she was not claimed, they turned her into the local animal shelter.
Heidi hated the animal shelter. She banged and banged at the cage door until her nose was bloodied. Being semi-paralized, her chances of adoption were almost nil. Enter Mardy from Dacshshund Rescue of North America. Members of DRNA warned Mardy that she may have to foster Heidi for more than a year, before someone might want to adopt her, but Mardy was not discouraged.
Heidi was examined. Her age was estimated to be between 8 & 9. She had a UTI, her backlegs were badly cut up from dragging herself along the ground and the Xrays indicated her injuries were approx. 2 years old, so surgery was not an option. And she was very thin, underweight, from being "on the road" for an undetermined period of time.
Meanwhile, in Canada, I had my golden retriever, Champ and my mini doxie Valentin (see his story Doxie instead of Turkey for Thanksgiving) and was totally unaware of Heidi Ho Ho.
Heidi’s legs healed, her infection cleared up and Mardy raised enough funds to buy Heidi a cart. She took to it immediately, expertly performing 3 point turns. Mardy called every vet office in the city, asking if they had a cart dog as a patient. The vet closest to where she was found did have a cart dog patient. When the vet’s office called the family, they said that the dog had died. To this day, we believe this was Heidi’s real family and she was dumped out into the December cold to die.
Several people inquired about adopting Heidi, but the right family did not come along. I am not sure what led me to the DRNA site, I was not looking for another dog (the legal limit here is 2 dogs, which I had, plus my golden fosters). I sorted the adoption postings by date, looking at the ones who had been looking for furever homes the longest. I kept coming back time and time again to Heidi’s photo, even though I was at my “doggie limit” There was just something about that face that I could not get out of my mind.
Then disaster struck my little family. Champ was diagnosed with leukemia and was gone in days. I was devastated and Valentin regressed into his fears without his “bodyguard”. To add to it all, 5 days after we lost Champ, I was called to work at our Toronto Head Office and started living in hotel rooms for the best part of the next 4 months. So not only had Valentin lost his best friend, but we were now living in strange hotel surroundings (doggie friendly hotel).
Time and time again, I went back to that face on the internet; and then contacted Mardy. After several long phone conversations and emails, I was approved to adopt Heidi. Heidi was found Dec 6 and came to me June 24th. Several volunteers stepped up and helped to transport her from South Carolina to Toronto. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Heidi Ho Ho and Valentin hit it off from the first moment. I wish someone could have taken a picture of me sitting on the grass, with both dogs in my lap, as the family who did the last leg of the transport drove away. We were definately the "picture of contentment".
There was a learning curve: how to get the diaper on a wiggle doxie, just where the best place was to cut the hole in the diaper for her tail, stumbling our way through exercises in the bathtub. But they were all more than worth it. Today, little Miss Heidi Ho Ho can stand sometimes to eat her food and she is right behind Valentin when it is zoomie time. Vets here have re-estimated her age to be around 6, perhaps because some of the fur is starting to come back on her ears and tail. And I swear she has a better wardrobe than I do.
She charms everyone who meets here. Admirers fall at her paws. She epitomizes the doxie determination, trying to climb stairs if she is not transported soon enough to suit her, taking “her” toys away from Valentin, play fighting with him one minute and using his belly as her pillow the next.
Mardy still has Heidi’s photo on her desk at work, and I send emails and photos on a regular basis. There is just something about this little girl; maybe the combination of flirt and determination that captures the hearts of everyone who meets her. I know she has captured Valentin’s heart and mine too. Thank you to Mardy, DRNA and all those who helped to bring this angel into our homes.
Let me start this story with the ending. As I am writing this, a happy, well fed Heidi Ho Ho is snuggled up on the sofa, butt to butt with Valentin, and both of them are snoring up a storm.
One day in December 2004, Heidi Ho Ho was found at the side of a country road in South Carolina. She was thin and her back legs were badly cut up. Her back legs showed signs that she had been a cart dog. The couple who found her, kept her on their front porch for a week, in case a passerby recognized her. When she was not claimed, they turned her into the local animal shelter.
Heidi hated the animal shelter. She banged and banged at the cage door until her nose was bloodied. Being semi-paralized, her chances of adoption were almost nil. Enter Mardy from Dacshshund Rescue of North America. Members of DRNA warned Mardy that she may have to foster Heidi for more than a year, before someone might want to adopt her, but Mardy was not discouraged.
Heidi was examined. Her age was estimated to be between 8 & 9. She had a UTI, her backlegs were badly cut up from dragging herself along the ground and the Xrays indicated her injuries were approx. 2 years old, so surgery was not an option. And she was very thin, underweight, from being "on the road" for an undetermined period of time.
Meanwhile, in Canada, I had my golden retriever, Champ and my mini doxie Valentin (see his story Doxie instead of Turkey for Thanksgiving) and was totally unaware of Heidi Ho Ho.
Heidi’s legs healed, her infection cleared up and Mardy raised enough funds to buy Heidi a cart. She took to it immediately, expertly performing 3 point turns. Mardy called every vet office in the city, asking if they had a cart dog as a patient. The vet closest to where she was found did have a cart dog patient. When the vet’s office called the family, they said that the dog had died. To this day, we believe this was Heidi’s real family and she was dumped out into the December cold to die.
Several people inquired about adopting Heidi, but the right family did not come along. I am not sure what led me to the DRNA site, I was not looking for another dog (the legal limit here is 2 dogs, which I had, plus my golden fosters). I sorted the adoption postings by date, looking at the ones who had been looking for furever homes the longest. I kept coming back time and time again to Heidi’s photo, even though I was at my “doggie limit” There was just something about that face that I could not get out of my mind.
Then disaster struck my little family. Champ was diagnosed with leukemia and was gone in days. I was devastated and Valentin regressed into his fears without his “bodyguard”. To add to it all, 5 days after we lost Champ, I was called to work at our Toronto Head Office and started living in hotel rooms for the best part of the next 4 months. So not only had Valentin lost his best friend, but we were now living in strange hotel surroundings (doggie friendly hotel).
Time and time again, I went back to that face on the internet; and then contacted Mardy. After several long phone conversations and emails, I was approved to adopt Heidi. Heidi was found Dec 6 and came to me June 24th. Several volunteers stepped up and helped to transport her from South Carolina to Toronto. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Heidi Ho Ho and Valentin hit it off from the first moment. I wish someone could have taken a picture of me sitting on the grass, with both dogs in my lap, as the family who did the last leg of the transport drove away. We were definately the "picture of contentment".
There was a learning curve: how to get the diaper on a wiggle doxie, just where the best place was to cut the hole in the diaper for her tail, stumbling our way through exercises in the bathtub. But they were all more than worth it. Today, little Miss Heidi Ho Ho can stand sometimes to eat her food and she is right behind Valentin when it is zoomie time. Vets here have re-estimated her age to be around 6, perhaps because some of the fur is starting to come back on her ears and tail. And I swear she has a better wardrobe than I do.
She charms everyone who meets here. Admirers fall at her paws. She epitomizes the doxie determination, trying to climb stairs if she is not transported soon enough to suit her, taking “her” toys away from Valentin, play fighting with him one minute and using his belly as her pillow the next.
Mardy still has Heidi’s photo on her desk at work, and I send emails and photos on a regular basis. There is just something about this little girl; maybe the combination of flirt and determination that captures the hearts of everyone who meets her. I know she has captured Valentin’s heart and mine too. Thank you to Mardy, DRNA and all those who helped to bring this angel into our homes.