Before my recent appointment in Santa Fe, we camped out overnight in the parking lot of Rancho de las Golandrinas.
My people checked out the vast living history museum during the day while I gladly rested in the rig. This was just fine with me really, considering I didn’t care for the canon fire from the civil war reenactment going on!
But we did meet some new friends who worked there and arranged for us to stay overnight. And that evening, we were visited by Spirit Dog.
A lot of people are surprised that big dogs can get along as Tripawds. But did you know that even a pony can get around on three legs?
This was sent to me by my friend Calpurnia. It’s been making its way around the Internet. I hope you enjoy it!
Molly the Pony
Story by Pam Kaster
Meet Molly. She’s a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.
But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people t o handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.
Well, it’s official: my metronomic protocol therapy is doing what it’s supposed to do.
Last week I saw Dr. Mullins one more time before leaving New Mexico, and she gave us the great news; the chemotherapy is doing its job, and has shrunk those nasty lung tumors by ten percent! We were really hoppy to hear that, especially because we are on the road again, this time in Colorado.
I’ve just gotta share this story about my friend Maruk, from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Last December, Maruk joined the Tripawd club because of bone cancer. He had chemo, and all was good until late February, when he let out a loud cough.
Sadly, X-rays showed “blurry flakes of snow on a gray and black background,” his Mama Karen said.
Karen says in her April 1st Forums post, “All we kept hearing was how quickly the cancer spreads once it is in the lungs. Panic set in. We didn’t want our buddy in pain, so we began discussing euthanasia.
Thank goodness we snapped out of panic mode! Occasionally, we hear “the Cough”, but he is nowhere near ready to give up on life.”
Pound puppies get an extra chance at life when a good person like you takes them home for a chance at another, better life.
And when a pound puppy has a physical challenge, yet still gets adopted, well that’s extra special!
Our friend Beverly wrote to us, to tell us about her miracle Tripawd dog, Drake. Although he passed away recently, his beautiful life story is one that will leave a pawprint on your heart forever.
Here’s Drake’s story, in Janel’s words:
The following post was generously written by our friend Sasha, who lives in Tel Aviv Israel with her tripawd gal Lalla.
There’s something to be said about dogs when they sleep: they stretch out, growl, yelp, drool, produce various aromatic emissions and even sleepwalk And there is, of course, the oft-repeated “rabbit chase” which some dog experts claim is actually a re-enactment of pushing mamma dog’s mammalian protuberances to the max for the liquid known as milk. I for one, am going to stick to the “rabbit chase” theory and fact is, Tripawd humans are the real dog experts.
There’s no animal on this planet (apart from myself on a Saturday morning) who loves sleeping in as much as a dog. Although most of them think otherwise, most dogs do not need a human bed; they need a firm, comfortable no-frills / no-bling pad, which to our benefit should be easy to keep clean, i.e.: can be thrown into the washing machine after being used as a specialized dining room.
But when you live with a Tripawd, you do have to make special orthopedic considerations, but those don’t have to break your bank account.
Tripawds, that is. The word, I mean.
Thanks to Tripawd Forum member Crystal Grange, we now have an easy way for you to help spread the word about canine cancer awareness and support tripawds everywhere!
Using the links below, you can download cards and fliers to print and distribute in your local area to let people know about this website.
My people would like to thank the nice folks at Ruff Wear for sending me their new Web Master harness to try out.
And they’d like to tell you that it is now available for purchase right here at tripawds.com! They’ve been using the Web Master to help me get around since I became a canine amputee. And we all agree the new harness has various improvements.
Keep reading to see our product review and the demonstration video we produced.
When a dog is diagnosed with bone cancer, veterinarians tend to give pawrents the worst case scenario. In my situation, my doctor at UC Davis said I would be lucky to get six more months out of life. Ha! Wrong!
Now, we know that their intentions are good, but when humans learn that their beloved furry friend might only have a couple of months of good health left, it’s too easy for them to focus on that number. Sometimes, pawrents don’t want to put a dog through amputation because they think he won’t live long enough to recover from it.
But many times, that’s not what happens.
Tristix, the first comic strip by and about three legged tripod dogs.