Happy Tails
When she was rescued, Jaimie was in late stage congestive heart failure due to having a heavy load of heartworms that had stretched her heart muscle. She is now heartworm free!! Because of the damage the heartworms did to her heart, she will be on three medications for the remainder of her life, a diuretic, a blood pressure pill and a vasodilator. She is doing super!! Jaimie needs a retirement home. All she wants to do is go outside to potty and right back in to lay on the sofa and watch TV. She needs very little exercise because of her heart condition. Her ideal home would be one where her family is retired and has a doggy door so she has access to the backyard whenever she needs to go out; the diuretic makes her have to urinate often.
Jaimie’s story:
Imagine…my entire world existed within a 4-foot-x-4-foot square outdoor pen.
Day after day, year after year I turned in small circles just to get a little exercise. And I shared that small space with a dilapidated doghouse with a big hole in its roof.
I waited for someone to walk from the house where the humans live…and out to me in your little world. I waited for enough food to fill your belly. I waited for enough fresh water to quench your thirst. I waited….
I did that for 10 years, and I wondered, “Can’t the humans in the house see that I am hungry and thirsty, that I am cold in the winter, breathtakingly hot in the summer, and that I do not want to die out here…alone.”
No, they didn’t see all that. Instead…..they moved out of the house and left me to starve to death in my 4-foot-x-4-foot world.
Days, and then weeks, passed and I lay there. And then one day a human appeared. She came right up to my pen speaking softly. She gently tossed me a few dog treats. But I was too weak to even eat them. Then she did something no one had done in a very very long time. She opened the gate and came inside my little pen.
She wrapped her arms around my bony, dirty body and lifted me up, wrapped a leash around my neck and helped my wobbly legs climb into her truck. I just stared at this angel and got so excited, I suddenly felt more alive than I had in years!
Hearts of Gold Pit Rescue took me in and they’ve showered me with kindness and love, and everyday I do my best to give them lots of tail wags in return. My foster mom didn’t quite know what to do with me at first. That’s because all I knew to do was walk in circles inside a small pen. She had to teach me how to walk in straight lines! I’ve learned how to play too! The most fun is when my foster mom brings home goodies people have donated to Hearts of Gold dogs and she lets me forage through it all until I find my favorite thing. A bully stick to chew! And you’d think I was part Hound Dog the way I can sniff out the smallest morsel of food in the smallest of spaces anywhere in the house.
I also love to curl up and nap on the couch. Me! On a couch in a house with humans! My foster mom says I’m a sweet ole gal. I don’t know what that means, but I do know now what it means to feel happiness.
I wish I had many years to enjoy this happiness. I know the time is limited though. See, I heard my foster mom talking to the doggy doctor that she takes me to see. He says I have heavy heartworms inside me and I’m taking some medicine that kills them slowly so they don’t kill me fast.
He also said I have something called congestive heart failure. Sometimes my foster mom must rush me to an emergency doggy doctor because I can’t breathe well. It’s my bad heart. But I keep pulling through each crisis because I am not only a sweet ole gal, but a very brave one too! So I take medicine every day so I can keep living….one day at a time.
I am not sad about my health tho. Yes, it all could’ve been avoided if the family who abandoned me to die had taken better care of me, but thanks to Hearts of Gold, I have today. I am warm; I have a full belly; I am not alone, and I am loved.
And life really doesn’t get much better than that.
Diamond is doing great! She loves being an only “child” although I’m sure she misses the boys (two Dobermans). We were so proud of her and how she (Diamond) handled her first few days here. She didn’t mind all the kids petting her or hugging her. She even tolerates the other dogs. She’s even managed to beat out the Yorkie down the block to become the new neighborhood mascot.
We have to educate the neighbors about her. Quite a few of the neighbors were scared of her at first, but now they stop to pet her or ask questions and most of them complement me on how well behaved she is. Even the vet said that she was the most well behaved pit bull that they’ve ever seen. The normally don’t take pit bulls because too many of them are aggressive. They were so impressed with her they sent me home with a bag of dog cookies.
Diamond Dad promised me to send you some of Diamond’s “winter fashions” pictures (she has a rain coat and a sweater). I even got her a pumpkin costume today so we can hand out candy for Halloween in fashion.
I just wanted to thank you for giving me Diamond. I don’t think I can get through law school without her. Just coming home to her every day is truly a gift.
It seems like it has been such a long time since I first saw Sega’s face peering at me through the bars of his shelter run on the screen of my computer. I remember thinking “that dog has such soulful eyes”. The headline read: Please Save Sega…he dies in 2 Days! Something told me that he was very special and I had to save him. I called the number for the rescue on the plea that was screening applications for the shelter Sega was in and was told that if we were approved to adopt Sega, he would be the first adult American Bulldog ever to be allowed to leave Memphis animal shelter alive. I put in an application and found out I was approved to go and save him, just 12 hours before he was scheduled to be put to sleep.
Sega’s Story:
We adopted Sega from the Memphis animal shelter 2 years ago on May 20, 2006. He was 4.5 years old, weighed only 65 pounds, Heartworm positive, and had a horrible lung infection. My husband and oldest daughter (now 17) drove 8 hours round trip to pick him up from the Memphis shelter. We brought him home, treated him for the lung infection and then the heart worms and started to give him the love of a family that he needed and deserved. Sega carries on his head and chest the many scars of battles past, but in his heart he has nothing but love for us, the people who saved him. When we brought Sega here, he did not know how to get up on the bed or the couch. He did not shake with his paw or sit when asked. He even lifted his leg in the house two times…having a family was a learning experience for Sega and having Sega has been a learning experience for us.
Sega’s Friend Abby:
When Sega first met my daughter Abigail she was just over 1 year old, she was quick moving and had a squeaky high pitched voice that Sega was not too sure of. She made him uneasy and we understood we needed to take it slow if they were ever going to be friends. About 6 months after he moved in and a million goodies later, he decided it was time to make Abby his best friend and there has been no looking back. They are now virtually inseparable. They spend every day both laying on the couch together and watching TV, cuddling, sharing snacks or in Abby’s room playing games. He lets Abby set up all of her little pet shop toys on his back and play with them and occasionally he gets involved in the game by picking one up and tossing it about while Abby giggles at his antics. When Abby wants to play doctor with her pretend doctor kit, Sega is always the first one in line to volunteer for the job of patient and sits quietly while she takes his temperature and puts Band-Aids on his pretend injuries. He loves to play ball with her and he treats her with a gentle, loving nature you would never expect from such a giant of a dog. Watching the two of them together amazes me every day. Sega has recently added a new game to his list of things he likes to do with Abby, he actually plays Duck, Duck Goose. He sits in a circle with all of us while Abby walks around “Ducking” everyone and when she taps his head and says “goose” and starts to run around the circle, he chases her until she sits down and then he sits next to her and excitedly gets ready for the next round. He loves to play with his friend Abigail and it is so funny to watch the two of them together. What Sega and Abigail have is a love that everyone should experience.
Sega’s 2009 Update:
Sega is now 7.5 years old and was diagnosed with many health problems this February 2009. We realized something was wrong with him when he started to limp so we took him into the vet to have tests and x-rays done. His vertebrae in his spine near his tail bone are producing extra bone causing it to fuse together. He has arthritis in his back and legs, mild hip displaysia, a chip on his back left hip, his back left knee is also producing extra bone and growing together and now, just this past week we have found that he also has arthritis and bone growth in his neck. Poor Sega has had a rough life. We are doing everything we can to keep Sega’s condition from worsening. Lot s of love, meds and a few really expensive orthopedic beds seem to be helping a bit.
Sega’s 2 Year Anniversary
Sega is the sole reason I rescue dogs today. After adopting Sega, I got back in touch with the rescue that worked on getting him out of the shelter and I now spend my days volunteering for that rescue and even fostering dogs. So it is because of Sega that many other dogs are alive today, so I guess you could really say it is Sega who saved me!
3/27/08: This is our handsome man who just turned 2 years old…..not spoiled at all….ha. We had a birthday party for him and his daddy (Philip) got him a new MS State Collar along with more toys. He has got more personality than you can imagine. My husband will say “Here Comes Rin Tin Tin” and Max will run to him and howl with this high pitch voice it is sooo cute. When Kelly practices her clarinet he loves to sing along with her, we actually got that on video. I am so thankful every day that I happened upon your website and saw his picture…we immediately fell in love with him, and it grows stronger and stronger every day. I am also attaching a picture of Lola my other rescue dog, I am sure you remember her. She and Max get along so well, if Philip takes Max with him for the weekend, Lola will sit at the window and cry. She is really the big sister and definitely the alfa dog, and watches over everything he does. They have taken over my chair and sleep together in it every night. We have been purchasing our stamps as well as numerous other things from the zazzle website and love the new items.
Hope all is well with you. Faith W.