Here's the story of Dove's rescue-the sweet 1 year old gorgeous Great Pyrenees/lab mix we have available for adoption. This girl has been through so much but is now happy and healthy and ready for the next phase in her life...a Forever Family!
In early November we arranged to help what was reported to be a severely injured large Great Pyrenees that was down in a rural area and not able to get up. A Guardian Angel was feeding her but was worried about wildlife attacking and it was starting to get cold as winter was approaching.
Fortunately, the dog allowed the GA to load into her car and arrangements where made to meet us at the local country vet. This is when we learned she had been shot in the bottom of her right rear foot while likely fleeing from her shooter. The delicate bones in her foot were shattered into pieces and bullet fragments remained. She also appeared to be at the end of her heat cycle.
Treatment included weekly casting to allow the bones to solidify. Removing the shrapnel would be too damaging to the surrounding tissue. We named her "Dove" as she was so sweet and tender and her injury correlated with dove hunting season.
While waiting for the foot to heal and preparing for Dove's spay surgery we noticed that her tummy seemed larger than usual so we ran her in for x-rays....and learned she was pregnant with 11+ puppies!
Christmas Eve night Dove went into labor, much earlier than anticipated. After an extended period of time between the delivery of the first pup and the second a trip to the emergency room was warranted. Three more pups were born in the emergency room so she was sent home as labor seemed to be progressing normally and there was a big concern the newborns would catch an illness at the clinic.
After a total of 8 healthy pups were delivered Dove's progress came to a stop. Because we had X-rays and a head count we knew that more pups were yet to be born. Sadly we ended up losing those last three little angels and Dove required emergency surgery to remove what became a severely infected uterus...or we risked losing Dove, too. And...the all the puppies would require bottle feeding as Dove's milk was also infected.
"I've been thinking a lot about Dove's 3 little angels who did not make it. Every life matters. Thank you to everyone who is helping to save the rest of her sweet babies."
~ Sarah Toth, DSDA volunteer
Dove's puppies were given names that all mean strength or peace.... Apollo, Axel, Oz, Olivia, Paxton, Barrett, Valentina and Sage.
The DSDA Bottle Brigade swung into action and the pups never missed a feeding. They are healthy and have grown like weeds and at 7 weeks resemble polar bear cubs who will be available for adoption toward the end of February.
Dove has been through heck and back. But she has thrived with expert medical care and love from the several foster families involved with her recovery. Her long term foster mom has devoted a lot of time to Dove. She's now house and simple command trained. She has a silly personality and loves toys, puzzles, people and other dogs as well. Her foot has healed and Dove has put her past behind her. Foster mom has discovered that Dove is hard of hearing or possibly completely deaf so she is learning hand signals.
Nothing has stopped this dog from being completely amazing. Now it's time for that Forever Home!
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