Xia the Gimpy Puppy

We got an urgent call from the Erie Avenue SPCA this afternoon. They found a Husky puppy tied to their door. She has a fractured hind leg and will require pins or an amputation. No one will want to adopt a dog with such a severe injury, and the shelter can't afford to do it either, so her chances of survival did not look good.

Thank goodness one of our foster homes had room for her! She was picked up from the shelter this afternoon and is now resting in her new foster home. Here she is bonding with her foster family. They are trying to keep her quiet, even though she is dying to play with the other dogs, especially Wylie!

You can see how the lower part of her rear right leg dangles.

Did we mention that she loooooves to give kisses?

You can see how her leg dangles here.

Here she is playing with her foster mom. They finally got her to lay down!

That girl just loves to play despite her injury!

GOOD NEWS! Xia's leg can be saved!The vet said she is about 7 to 8 months old. She has an appointment tomorrow at 10:00 with one of the best specialists at Valley Central, Dr. Hodges. If you would like to make a donation toward Xia's vet care it would be very much appreciated. You can do so through PayPal:

or by mailing a check to:

HTHNBR

P.O. Box 21202

Philadelphia, PA 19114-0702

Xia thanks you, and we do too!

Post Surgery Update on Xia!

Xia is out of surgery! Here's the report from her foster home:

"The surgery went well. The surgeon said it was an old wound since he had to go through scar tissue to get to the bone. I can pick her up at 9 am tomorrow. Instructions on her care will be given to me then, the most important
he said is confinement. I "puppy proofed" the back room for her yesterday."

We know that the next few months will be tough and frustrating for energetic little Xia, but she is on her way to getting the use of her leg again!

Update on Xia

Well, unfortunately, Xia had to come back. Her new family loved her, but the resident dog was not ready to share her home. So Xia is back with her foster family. She looks so much bigger in these pictures than she did just 3 months ago! Here she is being a silly girl.

Update on Xia!

Xia is scheduled for surgery at 8:00 am on Friday, July 13th at Valley Central Veterinary Referral Center. The specialist who will be performing the surgery is one of the best, Dr. Zeltzman. He will use a plate to position the bones instead of pins. She will need to be kept in her foster home's back room for her entire recuperation in order to keep her quiet and limit her movement while her leg heals. She will need her bandages changed every week (which can be done at my vet's office). In 1 month she'll need to go back to Dr. Zeltzman for x-rays to see how the healing process is going. There is a slight chance that she may be totally healed at this point. If not, she'll continue to have her bandages changed and she'll go into a soft cast. At the end of 2 months, she'll go back for another set of xrays. He is sure she'll be healed at this point. She will then start a routine, Dr. Zeltzman will give that to me at the end of her recovery, to rebuild the muscle tone in that leg. The cost of everything, including today for her consultation and preliminary blood work, is $1837.50. Harnessed to Hope Northern Breed Rescue is deeply grateful to Valley Central Veterinary Referral Center and Dr. Zeltzman for giving us such a generous discount and making it possible for us to save Xia's leg!

If you can make a donation it would be very much appreciated. You can do so through PayPal:

or by mailing a check to:

HTHNBR

P.O. Box 21202

Philadelphia, PA 19114-0702

Richland Township Community Day

Today Harnessed to Hope had a booth at the Richland Township Community Day. A lot of people stopped to pet us and give us attention, which we LOVED. And it was Xia's first event!


She had to be kept in a crate most of the time so she wouldn't try to jump around, her leg is still healing. Check out her nifty boot!


Alexa also got some attention. She liked this man so much she jumped up and gave him a kiss!


Thunder got lots of attention too. He was very affectionate with everyone. In fact, people couldn't leave because he would lean against them!



You can see more pictures of today's event here.

Vote and Help HTH Win $10,000 - and You Can Win Gift Cards!

Harnessed to Hope is in a Care2.com contest - we need as many votes as possible by January 31st, 2009 to win the grand prize of $10,000! Second prize is $1,000, and during each week of the contest, one random shelter or rescue will win $500.00! Also, the top 20 people that recruit the most people to vote in this contest will win $50.00 gift cards!

Please vote and tell your friends as well. This money would help Harnessed to Hope continue to find homes for wonderful northern breed dogs, as well as help special needs dogs like Dolce, Matty and Xia.