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| Me having birthday fun |
Hello again everyone.
Did I tell you it was my birthday last week? Yes, I was 8 years old on the 14th April and got some lovely treats for my special day. Aren't I a lucky little girl?
As I promised last time, it's now time for me to tell you all about Sasha, one of the bravest little dogs it has ever been my privilege to know. She's now around 14 months old and as fit and healthy as can be, (apart from a slight limp), but things weren't always so good for our beautiful little girl.
It was January 2011 and Harry and Mom paid one of their regular visits to their friends at the local dog pound. Imagine their surprise when Louise at the pound said, "Come and see what we've got." She led them into the private office area and there, in a small cage, was a very tiny, but very pretty, Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy. Now, the pound normally don't deal with puppies as they usually handle strays and cast off dogs that are almost always grown up or at least a few months old. The little dog was so cute and the people at the pound asked Harry if he would like her, as they didn't really have facilities for caring for a tiny puppy who had been picked up in the street by a dog warden. She was only the size of a small rabbit and estimated to be around 6 weeks old. She shouldn't even have been separated from her mother at that age.
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| Baby Sasha |
So, the decision was made and the puppy, who Harry and Mom named Sasha, was soon at home with us and everyone fell in love with her at first sight. Over the first two days, Harry noticed that Sasha's breathing was a bit irregular and her nose wouldn't stop running, and a visit to the vet revealed that she had a really serious lung and chest infection. It was so serious that Harry was warned she might not pull through. Harry spent the next 2 weeks, taking it in turns with Mom, to make sure Sasha received her medication 3 times every day and they kept her warm and gave her lots of love and thankfully, the infection slowly receded and Sasha was cured. We were all so pleased for our new baby sister but little did we know that terrible times were just around the corner for little Sasha, who the family had already nicknamed 'Mrs Wrigglebottom' because her tail never stopped wagging from morning to night, even when she was ill, and when it wagged, it seemed to wag her whole body from back to front along with it.
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| What d'you mean, I'm standing on my food? |
A few days after recovering from her infection, little Sasha was playing on the upstairs landing with Dinky, and suddenly fell down the stairs, landed badly and broke the elbow joint in her left front leg. The vet was marvellous and Sasha underwent a very difficult operation, (remember, she was very tiny), and had a plate, screws and a pin inserted into the joint. Poor baby then had to spend 6 weeks in a crate to keep her as immobile as possible, only being allowed out to go to the toilet and be fed. After 2 months and many visits to the vet, Sasha got the all clear and we thought she could at last begin to live as a puppy should, and she loved running and playing with the other dogs. Then, just 2 weeks after getting the all clear, she tried to jump the baby gate we use to keep the dogs out of the kitchen, and somehow she managed to get over it but landed badly on the newly healed leg, and guess what?
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| Cuddled up with Dinky |
Yes, she broke it again in exactly the same place. Another very difficult operation followed with all the previous pins etc being removed and a new, bigger, flexible plate and new screws and pins being inserted in the joint, followed by another 6 weeks n her crate while she healed again.During all this time, that tail of hers continued to wag non stop. She was and still is the happiest little dog we've ever known. Eventually, Sasha got the all clear from the vet (again), and was able to resume her much delayed puppy hood. The total cost of all the vet bills for her treatment came to over £4,000, or around $7,000, but of course, she was worth it! Thankfully we had her insured so the majority of the costs were borne by the insurers, which just goes to prove the value of pet insurance, which is expensive in itself, but not nearly so expensive as the cost of treatment for something as serious as Sasha suffered.
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| Poor Sasha! |
Anyway, Sasha has now reached the age of 14 months and though she will always have a slight limp as a result of her leg breaks, she is still 'Mrs Wrigglebottom', and since the arrival of Chudleigh, our new puppy, she has taken on the role of surrogate mother, and spends loads of time with him, loving him, playing with him and sleeping with him cuddled up to her at night.
We all love her so much and I hope you all like Sasha, too.
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| Aaaaw! |
Lots of love to you all, and do watch out for my next post when I'll tell you all about another of my little pack mates.
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| Now just look at her run! |
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| Snoozing with Dinky and little Chudleigh |
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| Lots of love from Sasha! XXX |
Tilly XXX
