Tabitha

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Original: Poor Tabitha. A caring veterinarian contacted our rescue when these Tabitha and Sabrina were brought in after being struck by a car. Tabitha has a broken leg. MAESSR arranged to have a plate put in her leg. She will need time to heal and to be evaluated. She seems to have a good temperament. Tabitha has let the vet treat her without growling or snapping. She is otherwise in great health. She is skinny and will need to put some weight on. They were clearly on the street for a while.

UPDATE:
From her foster mom:
Tabitha is lying in an open Dane crate (no top) in the dog room. I tried keeping her in the basement (finished), but she cried, and cried, and cried. When I brought her up and set up the crate in the corner of the room where the other dogs were, she laid down quietly. As long as I keep the 14 mo Dane away from her (wild man), she is nice and quiet. King will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen and downstairs …

Tabitha is doing great. She has had her stitches out and will be getting her cast off soon. She is hobbling around on her cast and being more and more energetic.

Tabitha does have some submissive urination. It may be exacerbated by the fact that her movement is limited and she gets overly excited when people come to talk to her. Our dogs with this problem have all done well when the family ignored it. It does tend to fade away as the dog gains confidence in its surroundings.

UPDATE:
This would be a good time for an update. It appears Tabby’s mission in life is to fetch — balls, plastic (kid-toy) horse shoes, whatever she can. She is feeling sooo much better now. She is also miss escape artist, being unwilling to be gated off from the rest of us. Since I’ve started working, this is somewhat necessary, as I don’t want one of the Danes to trample her. It is truly funny to watch her weave in and out of Dane legs … Her version of agility weave poles, I suppose …

She loves to run, and adores the kids. The leg has healed up nicely; she doesn’t seem to favor it at all. The only negative is the skin condition, not nearly so bad as Sabrina’s. She needs a good bath; I think that will help incredibly. I’ve noticed she’s chewing on herself much more now that I’m gone to work in the afternoons (and sometimes all day). Even if I leave another dog in the room with her, she still chews. I do think it’s more of a nervous habit.

The submissive urination has improved. It’s not _gone_, I think I’ve just learned how to approach her without getting her too excited. When someone new enters the house, forget it … Best to do introductions outside. Or at least make sure she’s emptied her bladder first! Don’t get me wrong; there’s not a huge flood, just the fact you can bet she’ll urinate.

UPDATE:
From Tabitha’s adoptive mom:
On Saturday, April 8th, I went to meet Tabitha at her foster mom’s home in Swiftwater, PA. I could tell from the moment that I met her, I wanted to take her home with me. She is the sweetest dog and it was obvious that her foster mom gave her lots of tender loving care.

On the way home we stopped at Pet Value, so she could pick out her bed, food, a new collar and some toys. She seemed to like going up and down the aisles shopping.

She has met her new doctor and is being treated for her skin infection and is responding nicely. Her fur has started growing back on the leg that was broken, which by the way, doesn’t seem to hinder her from playing basketball. Her foster mom told me how much she loved a basketball and if I ever saw one at a yard sale, maybe I could buy her one. Boy, was she ever right! Tabitha wears us out wanting to play with that ball.

I have seen Tabitha blossoming every day. She is so sweet, greets everyone with a quiet gentleness and when her fur grows back and she puts on a little weight, her good looks will knock your socks off!! I’m so glad that I found her — I feel it was meant to be. I asked God to send me a loving dog just like I had before and here she is.