Hope's Progress

Hope on arrival

Hey everyone I wanted to let you all know how great Hope is doing. Despite coming from a Mill she is absolutely the sweetest dog ever; she can't get enough cuddles or scratches.

She absolutely loves the food. I'm sure everyone knows that I feed Dick Van Patton's Limited Ingredient Diet in Venison and Sweet Potato (In the wet and dry formula), I really thought Hope would prefer to be on a Boiled Chicken and Rice diet, but she went crazy when I opened the can of food, she has had solid bowel movements every time so I put her right on the L.I.D. she loves it!! She literally dances all over the kitchen floor while I am preparing dinner. She has shown no food aggression but eats very quickly. To help her get more of the nutrition out of the food, I have started hand feeding her the kibble bit by bit. I'm sure you all know that when I dog eats too quickly it doesn't get as much of the nutrients from the food as slow eating. Consequently many fast eaters try to eat poop. The thought is they are trying to get the rest of the nutrients.

As for her health......Surprisingly she will be able to keep both eyes. They will need a lubrication put in them everyday for the rest of her life but at least she gets to keep both eyes!!! My vet actually believes the worse of her two eyes was punctured, it has scarred so deeply that the globe is actually bigger than the other eye. This makes closing her eye hard. She also has severe joint damage in her wrist joints,and her feet are splayed out wide. She is really sweet and can go 7 hours with out having an accident. I am happy to report there was only one accident in the house, on the first night here, and one accident in her crate which was the next morning. Since both of those she has not had any accidents! She goes back to the vet in two weeks, and then my vet has offered to spay her. I will keep everyone posted as she comes along.

However, I haven't heard Hope make any sounds, with the exception of a slight whine when it's time to go Hope and her fellow puppy mill sister HaNa both suffer through those horrific eye injuries. It just proves to me what his inner character is made of! I'm sure he'll get his; I just wish I was there to see it!

--Lara





Hope in Foster Care