Smokey
A 6 month old Doberman pup was brought in by his two young (18 - 19 year old) owners. He had gotten hit by a car and they couldn't afford the orthopedic surgery the dog required to repair the leg. They asked that the pup be put to sleep. Joan at the vet's office had the owners sign the dog over to them and the vet did the surgery on the dogs leg. (From what I understand, there were pins and splints put in place to repair the femur, hip and elbow.)
Eliz, an SND member, has become Smokey's foster mom (she is the mentioned in the note on January 9th). Site unseen, Eliz volunteered to pick him up after his surgeries. She is doing a fantastic job making sure his recovery goes smoothly while a forever home is being sought. Here are some updates from her:
January 8th, 2002 (from Eliz): Well, I am going to pick him up tomorrow, I have seen the pics of him and he looks so forlorn. Very thin and battered looking, no dog looks their best in an Elizabethan collar. He has four weeks of casting to do and then checkup with the orthopod and then with luck a forever home. He sure does need help. Joan (at the vet's office) told me that when he came in all broken he lay on the table with his head on her arm and licked her face. Then two days later, she came in and was told he was to be put to sleep, she pitched a fit and persuaded her boss to let him stay there have the surgeries and she'd try and raise the money and so it happened.
January 9th (from Joan):
Thank you SO VERY MUCH for your help and concern for my Smokey boy. He is truly
a wonderful guy and I just couldn't see him losing his life over a bill. He
has had surgery twice so far - once to repair a fractured femur and then to
repair his broken elbow. He is in a full shoulder cast on his right front leg
and is starting to apply pressure on his back leg. I am contacting a lovely
lady in Pa. today as she has volunteered to foster him. He is unneutered, docked
and cropped (although they did a terrible job) his ears hang down as I think
they were never taped up after being cropped. He is about 6 mos. old and as
sweet as the day is long. He gets along well with other dogs and cats. The bill
will probably run about $2,000.
January 24th (from SND member Mardee, also involved in Smokey's rescue): He has learned to go down steps, first one and then, with help from some snow, three. He is pretty clean in the house, for a short while he thought the way to ask out was to piddle in front of Eliz, but stopped that when she just cleaned it up. He has a tiny infection on his incision but she has a planned trip back to Jersey for a follow-up. He tries to play with everyone and they, the other Dobies in the house , play very delicately with him. Eliz feels that who ever gets him forever is going to get a gem.
January 24th (from Eliz): Smokey and I got back from his check up and the news is good and bad, as usual. He got his Spika cast off and now he is not allowed to do anything! Smokey is going to have to be crated for the next three weeks as the Doc says if he should rebreak the elbow there will be no fixing it. Now he is being kept by me (beside me on the sofa or where I have my hands on him) or in a separate room. I will have to try and get him around as many people as I can during his depravation. He was even happy to go to the Vet's so he could visit with all the people and dogs. He needs an other x-ray in three weeks and I will have him fixed at the same time. Then he should be ready and waiting for his forever home. He is a much better looking dog than the photos indicate, and he has great feet, all tight and arched. I will try to show (with new photos) both his good looks and his wounds. Over all he just looks so broken it makes chills run up your back, but he is healing well and growing, and is happy and warm and fed.
More updates will be posted as the come in! Now for some pictures...
January 26th: The bad news is that the vet has submitted a bill of over $3,000 and wants one of the involved parties to sign a contract stating that if it isn't paid in full, they'll be charged a 12.5% annual rate. We'll obviously be working on this detail!
The great news is that Smokey is doing great! Now that his cast is off, he just wants to play ten times more than usual. Smokey, "who by the by is growing apace, when I noticed yesterday he was nearly as big as Deanna who is 26" he now looks more adult and of a size with the others even if he still has two or three inches to go." Obviously this is key, since retarded growth in a puppy only leads to future complications in adulthood. Way to go Smokey! Here's two more pictures of the brave guy. One shows the operation on his right shoulder and arm, the second is the left leg:
February
7th from Eliz: Time to tell you all again how much Smokey has grown. So much
I have started restricting his food intake, partially to keep him from jumping
out of his skin! He is still finding the restrictions of recuperation chafing,
I am allowing him to play with a tennis ball by himself and will even give it
a gentle roll. He has one more week until his re-exam, and he is still supposed
to be crated. Due to his hysterical behavior at the vets when he was crated,
I just try and keep him quiet and not allow him to run and play on his still
healing front leg. Smokey is still a puppy which I guess makes the difference
but not much longer, he is quite adolescent in all those not so endearing ways
but we had a huge first yesterday, he sat! on command so we are coming along.
If you would like to make a contribution to help Smokey, please make a check out to Special Needs Dobermans and put "Smokey" in the memo line. Then send the check to SND. Our address is on our Contact Us page. You will receive a thank you note which will also serve as your tax deductible receipt. We appreciate ANYTHING you can do to help Smokey, no amount is too small!
