Daisy 6

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Update: It breaks my heart to have to share the information that our Daisy 6 is now at Rainbow Bridge. We all work so hard with our fosters and and our reward is to watch them leave to go to their forever homes with happy, wagging tails. As some if not all of you knew, Daisy came in to foster care needing some pricey medical care. Ultimately, she needed surgery for a luxating patella (movable knee cap) and a torn ACL. As she recovered, Daisy chafed at being kept on restricted exercise. She was feeling so much better. She did not understand why she couldn’t run and run and run the way she wanted to. As a compromise, Debbie let her stay loose in the house during the day. At least then she could walk around and work off some of her “But, I feel great” energy. One thing to know was that even with her cast on, Daisy was a very quick, lightning-fast girl. That fact became more and more apparent. After being kept on restricted exercise for weeks, she bolted out Debbie’s door and took off like a shot. She was gone. Debbie and Bill searched and hung posters. They called animal control in several counties and contacted their friends and neighbors. Everyone knows Debbie as the Springer lady, so she was sure that as soon as Daisy was found, she would come home to them. In fact, Debbie was sure that Daisy would come back from her run, smiling and proud of herself. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Sadly, someone did call to notify them that Daisy had been hit by a car. She died instantly. Debbie and Bill brought her back to the Springerfarm. It’s the hardest thing for a foster home to lose any foster dog, especially those for whom you have fought and had on the road to recovery, even harder when it’s something out of your control. As hard as we work, we each know the value of a life and how fragile it is. The love the Lipcseys offer their fosters is boundless. And I know Daisy knew the best love in her final weeks. It’s been a tough month for rescue. We lost Spot who despite the best medical treatment and love was untreatable. We had to let go of Skeeter and Gunner who either because of poor breeding, bad temperament or both were not trustworthy and were a danger to those around them. Now, Daisy. We have to hold on to the happy placements we have had these past few weeks and take joy and comfort in our victories – not always the easiest thing to do. Please keep MAESSR’s foster community, especially the Lipcseys, in your thoughts.

Updated 5/23/07: Daisy has had surgery on her leg to repair a luxating patella in her right knee. The layman’s explanation of this procedure is that a correction in the way the knee cap sits in place and moves as the dog moves was needed. When the veterinary team went in to do that repair, it was discovered that there was not a groove for the kneecap to fit in, so they had to make one. The wonders of modern medicine!!

During the surgery, they also discovered that Daisy had a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL, for short) and that repair was done while she was under anesthesia too. Daisy now has a cast all the way up her rear leg. She has to wear that for six to eight weeks. Having been amazed at how fast Daisy could run before surgery, her foster mom cannot wait to see her post-surgery. Please keep this sweet girl in your thoughts as she recovers.

Updated 5/10/07: During the last few weeks Daisy has moved to a new foster home. This will make visiting a specialist much easier. An orthopedic veterinarian will determine if surgery will be required for her knee. In the meantime, she has been started on glucosamine and is doing very well. She is an extremely sweet girl and, when the time comes, someone is going to be very lucky to call her their own. Please check back in another week or so to see what the doctor recommends.

Updated 4/2/07: Daisy has an awesome personality. She is not dominant, is very friendly and attached at the hip to her foster mom or anyone on the move at the time! Daisy is active, yet responds to voice and especially whistling, so her foster mom thinks she has had some hunting experience in the past. This was discovered by mistake a few times when her foster mom was whistling a tune and Daisy came running full speed! Miss Daisy gets along well with the resident yappy terrier at her home as well as the laid-back golden retriever. She does offer to chase cats when outside in her fenced yard, but it may be only out of curiosity. And, of course, the cats are obliged to cater to her curiosity by running along the outside of the fence! When on lead, Daisy is curious when the cats are present, but never barks, growls or bites at them. She’s just curious to see what those darn things are!

Daisy loves to meet people, though her foster family has to remind her that sitting nicely is much more desirable than jumping up on her new friends! Her foster mom thinks she would do well with a doggie door, as she is in and out quite a bit, making sure she patrols the borders of her yard! Daisy respects the fence around her yard and would enjoy a fenced opportunity in her forever home. She is well mannered and does not dig or chew on inappropriate items.

Spaying is complete and Daisy is recovering nicely. The evaluation for her knee issue, a luxating patella, will continue. It intermittently causes her to limp and skip a beat while running outside. Other than that, she is very active and would likely do well in agility or other high energy endeavors, as she is always on the move! More on Daisy as info comes on this love bug!

Original: After being found running as a stray in central West Virginia, Daisy was turned in at a shelter. Then, she came into MAESSR’s care. Due to her time living on her own, she is slightly underweight; however, she is very food motivated and has started eating well at her foster home. Daisy has to wait for spaying since she came into heat the day after arriving at her foster home. In her exam at the vet’s office, she was diagnosed as having a luxating patella which means her kneecap is offset to her leg bones. The need for surgery is to be determined after an observation period. Some dogs do fine with this condition but others need surgery.

Daisy is coming along nicely with housebreaking and is starting to go to the door when she wants out. She is doing very well, considering it is unlikely she has ever been inside before. She counter-surfed the first day she was at her foster home and she will garbage pick, so her foster family is working on those issues. She responds well to “no” if she is observed sniffing at counter’s edge or trash can. Daisy has a tendency to jump on furniture, so her foster mom is teaching her where her bed is. Daisy is very quickly learning what areas and items are off limits. She will jump up on people if she is very excited, but she is beginning to respond to the “sit” command nicely. She is a smart cookie, as well as being food motivated, so obedience training should go easily with her. She truly wants to please her foster family.

Though Daisy is somewhat hand shy, she does not show any aggressive tendencies; she just slightly cowers at sudden hand movements. Although Daisy has met children as young as two and six years for a short period, she has not been socialized daily with them. She wasn’t fearful or aggressive with them in any way. Daisy does not show aggression towards the resident barn cats and mostly ignores them. She has been friendly with the two resident dogs, one, a golden retriever, and the other, an 11-pound silky terrier who can be very grumpy at times. Daisy has not shown food aggression toward humans or other animals.

Daisy does pull at her leash, and her foster family will continue to work on this habit. She goes into her crate with a food reward and does not bark or whine while in it. The person who transported Daisy to her foster home reported that she was the only one who did not howl on the three-hour trip to her drop off point! Good girl, Daisy!

Daisy’s energy level is moderate. She likes to run when outside, but settles down nicely while inside and is content to lie at her foster mom’s feet when she is working at home. In many ways, Daisy is a pocket pup and follows her foster mom everywhere indoors. Outside, Daisy is somewhat distracted so her foster family is working with her on a lead to improve her response to “come” and “here.”

Daisy is a love bug with a very sweet and loving personality. She should make a very nice companion and is learning to love being inside with people who care about her. Won’t you pick this Daisy to be yours?