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Hi! My name is Rebecca Dorsey. My family researched every
kind of dog we could find and decided that Dobermans were
what we wanted as pets. On March 11th, 2002 my family
adopted two black & tan Dobermans, brother & sister, Simba
& Shadow, through Chuck Vaile at the Doberman Rescue, in
Denver. They came into our home & yard and stole our
hearts immediately. At that time they were 5.5 years old.
They had been raised outdoors all their lives. They had
been well taken care of. When they first came we decided
to go ahead with what they were accustom to, which was
living outdoors. They were the fuzziest Dobermans we had
ever seen, from living outdoors in Colorado.
The last of August, we were on our daily family walk with
our dogs, I noticed Shadow stumbling. Later that day her
tongue was very awkwardly hanging out her mouth. She had
trouble getting up. She was leaking urine everywhere. We
took her into our Vet immediately. I knew something was
very wrong. They thought at first it was something to do
with her neck. After x-rays, we came up with nothing. She
had no fever. She was getting worse by the hour it seemed.
This went on.
We were visiting the Vet every day. She could not stand up
& barely could walk, so our Dr. came to the car to check
on her. At one point, they advised us to take her to a
special clinic down in Lakewood, Colorado. Once we had
arrived they started checking her out. She at that time
had a 104 fever. They gave us many options, none of which
we could afford. So, with many tears, yet
determination, we loaded her on a stretcher and put her
back in our van. I took her home praying all the way.
She was so sick, yet, I told her all the way home she
would not die. We moved her into our kitchen on blankets
and rugs and had to change them twice or more a day since
she was leaking urine. We keep in contact with our Vet
nearly twice a day and at times taking her in so they
could observe her and give her an IV to keep her hydrated.
Her throat and her jaws were paralyzed. She could not
swallow so I and my children had to use a big syringe to
give her water. We had to turn her from one side to the
other to keep bedsores away. We worked around the clock to
take care of her in this way.
There were very few times, when she was really sick, that
she would even acknowledge our presence around her. Every
once in a while she would wag her tail. Not very often.
We carried her out to the yard on blankets and would stand
her up. Then she would very stiffly walk and drag her feet
to do her job where she has done her job since she came to
live with us. She was so sick, yet she had to go to her
special pee & pooping spots! Several times she would
stumble and fall on her face. We would help her back up
and she would try again. When she finished she would come
back towards the house. We would gently lay her back on
the blankets and carry her back inside. This took a lot of
time.
We kept hourly track of her temp. Putting cool wet towels
on her to keep the temp down. I stayed up with her many
nights, reading to her and praying for her. My kids would
come and sing to her. We let Simba in our home. He would
come and lay right up against her back. He missed her so
much. I would take him on our walks around the areas where
we had gone with Shadow, and I would cry. I was determined
she would not die. I told God that I would not stand for a
death in our home as my children began the school year.
Especially, the death of an angel He had sent us.
The major part of this sickness lasted for two weeks. She
gradually came out of whatever it was. We could not afford
the spinal tap or testing that was required to find out.
I told God that I had a dream of hearing her lapping water
up from a bowl and seeing that she was swallowing. I
visualized her running with Simba and my kids in the back
yard. She gradually began walking on her own. Standing up
on her own. We would carry her outside and she would ever
so slowly walk back into the house. And then, I heard her
drinking water from their bowl and I could tell she was
swallowing. I cried. We had made it. All in all, it took
two months for her to get back to her normal strength, and
abilities, even the ability to yawn! Now, each morning as
I let her outside and she runs with her brother barking,
announcing that this is their yard, or when my son takes
her running while he roller blades, I thank God. He heard
my prayer.
Since last summer, there have been 4 deaths of dogs in a
very wide spread area. Symptoms all pretty much the same
in each dog. Shadow was the first to come into the Horizon
clinic with these symptoms. With our great Vet and the
Dr.'s there, and my sweet children, determination, and
most of all God, Shadow made it through. We feel very
blessed. Since then, needless to say, Simba and Shadow are
now house dogs. They love it!! Shadow stays very close to
us. Simba loves the inside, but he still has to patrol and
be outdoors quite a bit of the day. I will never
forget how close they were to each other at this time. I
have pictures of them laying back to back as he came in to
tell her to hang on and stay with us. I am so thankful she
did!!! If we had raised these two dogs from puppies,
I do not think they could love us anymore then they do
right now.
I write this to honor our two special angels God sent to
us one year ago today......Mr. Simba-bear and Shadow-girl.
We love them so much. Thank you Chuck for matching us up
with Simba & Shadow, and training us with our dogs. You
are an angel too!! God bless Chuck & Doberman Rescue!!
God bless America!! |
