Contest Winner
Carol Johnson and Lady
by
Carol Johnson
Lucky Lady
It�s been 9 months now since Lady came to live with me. I had no intention of taking in another dog, but what can you do when you have no choice in the matter? After all, I had seen this dog every day since the day it was born. Lady�s mom had been chained to a tree in an unfenced yard of her owner � available for any �traveling salesman� that came wandering through the yard and sure enough, one day she had a litter of mixed pups. Of course, mom had no vet care. Who needed a vet since she was just an outside dog�? At least mom lived long enough to feed her puppies, although most of the pups did not live long enough to be able to survive on their own. Lady was one of the few pups that were determined to live, despite the condition they were raised in. Even mom finally gave up the battle to survive, so Lady was left on her own. She soon grew big enough to replace her mom on the chain and the tree became her home.
Lady was just a little smarter than her mom. She was able to figure out how to slip out of the collar her chain was attached to and every time she did, she would find her way to my house. Somehow, Lady knew if she went UP the hill instead of DOWN the hill, she would find food and shelter. Perhaps it was destiny or maybe it was just �meant to be�. After staying in my yard for two or three days, her owner would finally come looking for her and would put her back on the chain once again���until the next time Lady had the opportunity to free herself.
This went on for over two years. One day last October (2001), Lady broke free of her chain and, once again, found her way to my house. She was in horrible condition�weighed only about 27 pounds (way too little for a Collie mix); most of her coat on the rear half was missing. She was full of fleas and ticks � cuts and nicks all over her body and she was limping. Lady acted as if she hadn�t eaten for several days and she couldn�t seem to get enough water to drink. This time, Lady was put inside a locked, chain link fence where her previous owner could not get to her. When I drove by Lady�s previous house that day on my way to work, I noticed that the house looked deserted and I found out that the people had moved several days prior and had just left Lady chained in the yard. They had admitted that they had no intention of coming back to get the dog.
So what if I was late getting to work that day? This was an emergency. After all, I worked for a vet and Lady needed to see the vet NOW. So, back to the house to get Lady and to get the treatment she had needed for so long. Upon examination, many things were found to be wrong with her, but nothing so wrong that couldn�t be treated. The most serious problem was her being heartworm positive and with her being part collie, treating for heartworms could prove to be a threat to her life, as easily as letting her continue to live with the heartworm. Often times a collie does not survive the initial heartworm treatment. Therefore, it was decided to treat the baby heartworms and hope that Lady lived long enough to let the adult heartworms die off by themselves. Luckily, the loss of hair was caused by flea infestation, rather than mange, so in time, this would be easy to cure. Lady got the first bath of her life that day and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. She received all her vaccinations and had a microchip inserted in her back. Lady was now my latest foster (or, so I thought). Collie rescue had been alerted to the situation and was willing to take Lady, but I did not want Lady going into rescue until she was completely well, so I figured I�d just foster Lady until that time. <g>. Remember now, Lady was a BIG dog, compared to all the other 24 dogs I had. How would Lady get along with all the Yorkies and Pekes already living with me? After all, Lady was an �outside dog� � not used to being �inside�. Time would soon tell. After work that day, Lady made her first �inside� appearance to meet all the other dogs. All the other dogs just thought to themselves �oh no, she�s brought another one home� and they accepted her just fine. Lady was just beside herself with so many new friends to play with. Little did Lady know that most of the other dogs were �senior citizens� and had lived way beyond their �play days� already. However, there was one little Yorkie that Lady decided to become best buddies with. Rusty had also been a rescue about six years previously and was the only �ball player� in the crowd. Lady and Rusty had found a common interest and they became inseparable. Today when I say, �find the ball�, they race to see who can find it first. After a couple of months of a well-balanced diet and getting some weight on Lady, she could then be spayed. She now weighs in at 45 pounds and has turned out to be quite a beautiful dog.
Lady�s saga began thirteen months ago when she made that first trip to the vet, but she has made the journey back to the vet every day that I have worked since that time. Do you suppose Lady has found her �forever home�?
The pictures below were taken three months after Lady came to live with me, but today, she is even more beautiful than she was at that time.
