Meet spunky and resilient little Allie.

We can't tell you much about her background. She was picked up as a stray and is most likely about a year old. At the time of her rescue, two issues were immediately apparent.

First was her weight. She's put on 10 pounds, but we've still got a way to go. She is a total foodie though, so this should be an obstacle she overcomes quickly. 

Second was her right hind leg (Please check out the 10/23 update below for more information!). Near as anyone can figure, Allie was probably struck by a car at some point, breaking her hip and injuring a growth plate and her knee. The injury has healed completely but poorly, and she has the early stages of dysplasia in the hip and arthritis in the knee. With her being less than a year old, she has plenty of life ahead of her, but these issues certainly won't get better with age. Any potential adopters should bear in mind that this leg will require medical intervention much sooner than the average pup whose hips go bad from age, not injury. 

Joint problems aside, Allie will steal your heart. This floppy-eared goofball is all puppy, which means she's every kind of cute and playful mixed with just the right amount of snuggles and naps. She holds her own with our resident Shepherd (who is 2xs her size), and the way they run and wrestle together would have you believe that nothing is wrong with Allie's hip or knee.

She's been in our home for just over a week, so we are still learning about her. Please stay tuned for more updates about her here on our website and on our Facebook and Instagram pages. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

9/3: Allie had a vet appointment today to get her booster vaccines, and I think about half of the employees wanted to take her home. She received so many compliments on her adorableness (special thanks to her ears I'm sure) and her ultra sweet personality. She just makes friends everywhere she goes. 

9/7: Allie joined us for breakfast on a coffee shop patio, and then we went to a park for further socialization. She met people (infant to adult) and a plethora of dogs. Kids seem to be a little overwhelming for her as many of them kept trying to touch her face, but she never showed any aggression, just tried to avoid their hands. Out of the large number of unfamiliar dogs we have been around, Allie has barked at a couple of them while we are out, but it's more of an alarm bark than anything else. She does very well with dogs and played with several at the park.

9/9: In an effort to maintain Allie's social skills with dogs other than our own, we took her to our dog's wellness checkup at our vet. She was an absolute doll. She settled in pretty quickly, alternating between trying to sniff the dogs around her and laying calmly on the floor. A couple times she got bored and proceeded to gnaw on our dog's ear to instigate play, which everyone in the waiting room got a kick out of. 

9/19: Allie is quickly approaching her goal weight! She's become brighter and more energetic, and her back leg seems to be getting stronger. :) We've been testing her in new situations to see how she does. First, we tried a farm experience. She initially barked at the goats but calmed down after a few minutes. Her response to the horses was less vocal, and after about 15 minutes, she was trying to play with them. They, of course, paid her no mind. Second, we went to a soccer game. She did not handle the noise and bustle well (very nervous, ducking and darting), so we opted to tailgate most of the game, and she did very well after we created that space. She got to greet a LOT of people, and I'll take this moment to reemphasize that kids who are not respectful of her space or gentle are overwhelming for her. She doesn't become aggressive, but she quickly changes to evasive and stressed rather than friendly and interested. 

9/29: Allie is recovering quite well from her spay surgery, and she is now ready to attend adoption events! Please keep your eye out for her at local VGSR events! On a note related to her surgery, Missy does NOT come out of anesthesia well. As she started to wake up from her surgery, she panicked and acted out of character, trying to break loose from the kennel. She hit her head hard enough that she now has a scar over her right eye. The vet acted quickly and gave her something to calm her down, and as soon as the anesthesia was out of her system, she was back to her regular self. This is important to know in the event that she requires surgery at any future point. 

10/1: Without fail on every single one of our walks, Allie stops to pick up a stick. She then carries it around with her head up high, and her ears just flop around as she proudly prances around with it. On another random note, we often catch her staring at herself in my bedroom mirror. lol 

10/21: Allie has an appointment scheduled with an orthopedic specialist, which will give us a better idea about what's up with her back leg. We will post an update as soon as we have it. 

10/23: Allie's appointment with the orthopedic specialist went wonderfully. Upon reviewing the images of her leg, the surgeon said the main issue is her knee, not the hip as we originally suspected. Her femur is what broke, and two things happened when it healed. First, her right back leg is now shorter than her left, which is part of the reason she has a limp. Second, while the knee and the hip miraculously ended up facing the same direction, the knee did end up in a weird position on the leg, causing muscle problems and the beginning stages of arthritis in the knee. Because of the knee's location and the quad muscle issues, her back right leg essentially does a lunge every time she steps, so it wears out quickly. At this point, surgery would be a gross over-correction for a limb that really isn't bothering her. Allie has adjusted to her "new normal." She's pain free, and the biggest issue--the arthritis--can be managed in the following ways: 1. Keeping her slim. The worst thing for her knee would be if she got heavy. She's currently the perfect size. :) 2. Managing the amount of exercise she has. The specialist said that any activity is good activity, but we need to know her limits because she probably won't adhere to them on her own. If we know she can only go 1 mile before her leg gives out, don't let her run for 2. She is high energy though, so some days she will probably disregard your attempts to slow her down. haha 3. Giving her supplements. She's already on an affordable hip and joint supplement, and this will need to continue. Omega 3s were also recommended, but most high quality dog foods already have these included in the kibble. 4. Providing pain-relieving/anti-inflammatory medications. This option is currently unnecessary as the recommended meds would be for when she has "rough" days and the leg is really bothering her, which at this point, it is not.

In short, even though the x-rays look alarming, Allie is actually doing very well. There's still no way to predict what future care will be needed and when, but the surgeon urged us not to rush into any extreme medical intervention scenarios. She walks a little funny, but her "new normal" works for her. We just have to manage her symptoms.