Thank you for creating this website!
Sadie my 9 year old rat terrier is having surgery Nov 21st
to amputate her left hind leg.

I'm very anxious, but I honestly believe it's the right thing to do.
Nevertheless, it's great to hear everyone's stories about how great their dog did after their surgery.

Sadie escaped during a storm by the only 2ft section of our fence not covered by a small electric wire while we were out for the evening.
A nice motorist picked her up off the side of the road with a broken leg.
We do not think she got hit by a car because that was her only injury and she wasn't sore anywhere else. It is a nasty break right under the "ankle."

We put it in a cast for 9 weeks but it's not getting better. So our option is a $3000 surgery that will "probably" fix it by making it a peg leg or amputation.

We love our pup and I have felt like such a bad owner for not trying the surgery but after researching it on the Internet and hearing so many stories from owners of amputees I actually feel like amputation is a great decision for Sadie.

The pictures attached are "pre-surgery." I will have to send you an update post-surgery.

Kelli Rehn
Saturday November 11, 2006

UPDATE:

Hi Cynthia!
It's been awhile since I said we would update you with Sadie's "after" picture, but here it is!

She is very happy and hopping along. She's back to investigating noises in the back yard and barking when she feels it's necessary!

She still has a plastic collar when we aren't home because she still tends to lick even though the wound has healed. The Dr. believes the nerve endings could still be a bit sensitive.

Thanks again for your support - your website really made me feel better about our decision to amputate!

Kelli Rehn
Saturday December 16, 2006

Hi,

We were so happy to come across your website.
It was comforting to know that three legged dogs can live a happy life despite their challenges.

We have a sixteen month old Pug named Gizmo (we call her Gizzy for short). We got her for our widowed father as a birthday present when she was eight weeks old. We thought that this would help him recover from the loss of his wife and to bring some joy back into his life.

After six months we realized that Gizzy was just too much for him so we decided to bring her home to our house.

Our two teenage daughters who were living at home at the time and Gizzy was certainly tired at the end of the day as she wasn't used to so much daily activity!

She's been a great dog but didn't get the proper training from the start so I decided to take her to obedience classes --- well let me tell you that was quite the experience.

That first class was the most stressful hour I've had in a long time!!

She was the worst dog there!!!

She barked all the dogs there (who were twice her size).

The trainer decided very quickly that she quite fiesty with a big attitude for a little dog -

I was so embarrassed!!!

Three classes and that was it for obedience class because on Friday, October 13th, 2006 she decided take off running down the alley and out into the street, straight into a car.

That day was very devastating for all of us as she suffered radial nerve damage to her left paw.

Luckily there was no internal damage so we were able to bring her home from our local vet clinic that day.

After four weeks of trying different bandages, splints and even a cone to keep her from licking the paw, we had to make a decision to amputate as she wouldn't leave the paw alone.

On December 1st her leg was amputated and yes we were able to bring her home that day as she took the surgery very well.

Expecting that she would be a very sick puppy for at number of days,
we were just astounded by how quickly she started moving around
and was actually able to do steps within two days.

To my dismay, she has also mastered jumping on and off furniture!
So much for obedience classes!

Thanks for all the information on the website
as it really prepared us for the surgery
and seeing her afterwards wasn't quite a shock.

Thank you, thank you.

Attached are a few pictures of her --
one last summer on our boat, one the day before her surgery
and one at Christmas.

Jim & Bev Huziek & Gizzy
Wednesday December 27, 2006