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SWEETIE PIESweetie Pie has been on a wild roller coaster of a ride! And, I'd have to say that she is one of the luckiest dogs that we have had the pleasure of helping along the road to a new life. Her story starts at the Animal Rescue League in Boston. This miniature beauty had been surrendered to the ARL by her owner who couldn't fit Sweetie Pie into his moving plans. As a lifelong renter with three Eskies, this dumping reason never flies with me. |
| C'est la vie...it was our pleasure to have Sweetie Pie as our guest and our privilege to find a new forever home. She began her stay with us battling a bad strain of kennel cough ...compliments of the ARL...and she did not have much pep for the first few days..which probably helped her transition into an active foster home without much ado. Kennel Cough is an unfortunate fact of life for shelter dogs, and most shelters are proactive about preventing a secondary bacterial infection by administering an aggressive antibiotic. But, that is not ARL policy, so we had our vet, Dr. Joan Diebold, treat Sweetie Pie. She went through two course of antibiotics...and yet the green snot kept a flowin'. We had Sweetie Pie quarantined and on meds for over a month. She appeared to recover beautifully and rallied just in time to throw a massive hump into our foster Min Pin, Machito, just before he left for his adoption. We were thrilled to see that Sweetie Pie had the latent makings of an alpha bitch! |  |
 | After Sweetie had recovered from '"the kennel crud," we moved her to New Jersey, where Diane Gonzalez could get a handle on her potty training. Sweetie's former owner had paper trained her, and we had quite the time reversing this process! Soon, we had the ideal adopter in mind for Sweetie. Boy, we did not realize just how ideal at the time. |
| Sweetie had been with us for a couple of months and had long been past her "green snot period." I planned to meet Sweetie's adopter, Amanda, in Manhattan, where we were going to meet and greet. Then Amanda was going to take Sweetie after her upcoming vacation. Sweetie completely charmed Amanda, her brother and her boyfriend. We made the unanimous decision to let Sweetie stay with Amanda immediately and then foster her again for the two weeks that Amanda would be out of town. That was the plan. |  |
 | Well, of course, rescue plans wouldn't be rescue plans if they didn't get screwed up. After Sweetie's first day with Amanda, she began to sniffle, and soon the "kennel crud" came back with a roaring vengeance. We're not sure why...could have been the travel, combined with a weakened immune system...can't be sure. The CDC would have a field day with Miss Sweetie Pie. Apparently, Sweetie's complete recovery had been a complete delusion, and Amanda was faced with a dire situation right at the beginning of her adoption. Here comes the ultimate character test. Instead of returning Sweetie to us, as many folks would, Amanda stepped up and took Sweetie to her own vet, where she had to be hospitalized for a persistent strain of pneumonia. |
| The ordeal took a toll on Amanda, to be sure, but, Sweetie
finally did recover and repaid Amanda's kindness and love by being the perfect
Alpha Bitch to her friends and extended family. Again, patience and determination
prevailed, and Amanda has reined in Sweetie's inner "Super Bitch" with
great success. We are grateful to Amanda and find much inspiration in her efforts on Sweetie's behalf. Here are Amanda's report and latest pictures! |
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 | December 23, 2008 I wanted to give you an update on Sweetie's condition. I am happy to report she is doing MUCH better! She is still on an IV but her appetite is back and so is some of her sass :). The best indicator of that was when I visited her in the hospital yesterday and she liked the rotisserie chicken I brought her so much she barked at me for more! Such a darling! I attached a picture of the sweet patient. I think its clear now that she is on the road to recovery! I am now gone for the holidays but everyone at the hospital has come to adore her so I know she is in good hands. Take care and happy holidays,
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| June 15....Latest pix of a fully recovered and beloved Sweetie Pie -- |  |
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