Hope
Doberman Assistance Rescue and Education (DAR&E) got a call about a month ago regarding an “elderly” Doberman, found by a couple of construction guys, curled up in a ball in some woods. The guys had left her there for a couple of days before they called Animal Control and unfortunately the night temperature had been dipping to around 30 degrees, so this poor girl really must have suffered! The guys described the Dobe as being; emaciated, with a large section of skin hanging from her, covered in ticks and unwilling/unable to use a back leg. Subsequent reports from the vet that animal control took her to verified that she was an older girl, emaciated, covered in ticks, with several large open sores on her body, severely arthritic and x-rays showed her back leg was broken in two places. She was taken to the animal shelter to be held for the required days, and then she would be put down. In spite of an unusual number of high-cost Dobes (H/W positive, emergency health issues, orthopedic cases) sapping DAR&'E's financial resources, they agreed to take this Doberman into their care. There was a VERY close call due to a mis-communication and Hope was almost euthanized at the shelter, but luckily at the last moment it was sorted out and the lucky Dobe was safely in the care of one of DAR&E’s volunteers. They named her Hope, because that’s what this sweet girl now has. If you would like to help sweet Hope, you can mail us a donation or use the PayPal button below if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation online. Every penny counts!
Updates on Hope from her friends at DAR&E!
Update 6/1/04 - Our Hope had her surgery today to plate the larger of the two breaks and with a month+ of strict rest, followed by a month of leash walking to re-build the leg, we’re hopeful that our girl will regain full/pain-free use of her leg. Hope's surgery/recovery will cost DAR&E approximately $1500. If you would like to help us cover these costs for Hope, please consider making a donation to DAR&E in Hope’s name.Update 6/18/04 - Hope is doing well. She had her staples removed and now has a splint on her leg. She's not real happy about being so confined, but she's trying to be good! In a couple of weeks we'll x-ray the leg and see how the healing is progressing. Thanks so much for the contributions to Hope's Fund. Your financial support is what allows us to help Dobes like Hope who otherwise would have been euthanized. We really appreciate it, as do the Dobes!
Update 7/9/04 - Hope had her 4-week xray done last week and the leg is healing nicely. She's still in a splint but is using the leg a bit more. She's allowed short walks now and is very anxious to do more! At the end of this month we will do another set of xrays and hopefully at that point we'll be able to take off the splint and let Hope run and play again! This has been a very long process for this poor Dobie! Once she's had a couple days of playing splint-free, Hope will begin her training. She's a very strong, dominant girl and needs some work, but it is that strength that got her through whatever bad things she endured that led to the physical condition she was in when she came to DAR&E. I'll post again about how the last set of xrays look! Thanks again for your support!
Update
7/28/04 - Hope went back to the vet this morning for her 8-week-after-surgery
xray in hopes that
her bandage could be removed and
she
could become a normal dog...... unfortunately the vet feels we need to
re-bandage her for another 2 weeks to allow a little bit more healing.
This poor Dobie has had her leg wrapped for 3 months now and been confined
to an xpen for that long as well. She's allowed short leash walks and is out
in
the evenings when everyone has settled down, but she's definitely tired of
all this. She's been an angel about leaving her bandage alone until recently
and
I'm thinkin' she's saying "enough is enough"!!! We want to be extra careful
though, we wouldn't want to let her go too early and have to start at ground
zero again! She's a big dog and puts a lot of weight on that leg, so we'll
just have to be patient a bit longer. Besides the one thing that makes this
all
worthwhile for her is the marrow bone that she gets every day!
Update
8/17/04 - Hope has gotten the bandage off her leg and now needs to
be leash-walked to build up the strength in it. After 2 more weeks we'll re-xray
the leg again and hopefully be able to let her just run and be a dog for the
first time in a very long time. I had never seen her leg before, it's been
bandage/splinted since I got her, and I was taken aback a
bit at how it looks. It's quite mis-shapen and swollen. She will use it
at a walk, but tends to hold it up if she goes any faster. I can't imagine
what happened to her to cause such an injury. The pictures of the leg are
a bit fuzzy, but they do give an idea of what the leg looks
like after all this. The vet is still hopeful she will eventually get full/pain
free use back.
Update 9/23/04 - Poor Hope has been having trouble with her leg. She loves to run and play now, but is obviously experiencing some pain, as she's been holding the leg up and has begun licking at the healed incision. The vets thought that the plate must be bothering her, so early this week they went in and removed it. She's home now with a VERY swollen leg and a subdued manner that tells me this she is a hurting pup again. Poor Hope has been through so much with this leg. The vets still are hopeful that once this last surgery site has healed, Miss Hope will be pain-free. I truly hope so..... she deserves that after all she's been through. Please send good thoughts her way. And thanks so much for all your kind donations, you don't know how much we appreciate the doors those monies open, allowing us to help Dobes like Hope.
Update
10/05/04 - Poor
Hope just can't catch a break! We removed the plate several weeks ago and
poor Hope is now back to being a 3 legged Dobe,
she just doesn't want to use that leg. Apparently the leg feels very
different without the plate, plus the screw holes in the bone hurt, and
the incision to remove the plate is taking it's time healing. She is on
pain meds, but is obviously uncomfortable at the moment. She'll just
stand there holding the leg up and the leg is trembling. It just breaks
my heart to see her hurting once again. The specialist is confident
that this will be Hope's last hurdle and that she should still become
pain-free which is what we have fought so hard for. Please keep her
in your thoughts as she heals. Hope is going on her 7th month of
dealing with issues with this leg, and that's way too long! It is my
fervent hope that my next update to Hope's story will be that she's doing
great and running around like a normal dog, finally! Thanks again for
your contributions toward helping Hope!
Poor Hope has been through so much. We recently ran blood work to see if she is hypothyroid, based on her coat, lethargy and tendency to get cold easily, and a urinalysis revealed that she has crystals. These tests and the additional xrays/medication that are needed for Hope's full recovery, have really added up. Please consider helping DAR&E cover these costs by making a donation in Hope's name. We really appreciate any help you can give to DAR&E for the Dobes!
Update 10/25/04 - Our Hope has had another setback. When a month went by after removing the plate and she still was in obvious pain with her leg, I took her back to the vet for a re-check. Xrays show what is apparently a bone infection! So........ Hope will be on antibiotics for 4-6 weeks to try and clear up the infection. I should see a difference in her pain level in a week or two as the antibiotics start to do their work. Please keep Hope in your thoughts as she battles yet another hurdle. And if you can help us cover her additional vet costs, that would be very much appreciated. As always DAR&E and the Dobes thank you so much for your generosity!
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