Sissy

This is an actual copy of the updates we posted about Sissy, beginning the day she entered rescue and going through her stay in rescue, and ultimatly finding that foerever home. We recommend reading through the updates, but if you al looking for one in particular here's a quick link to the individual updates.

Please see the above menu for the Latest information or scroll down through all the past updates.

Sissy Needs Rescue

This is a continuation of the story of Sissy, one of our urgent needs saints (see the original Urgent Needs post). NCSBR was contacted in early December 2006 about Sissy. She was taken in by a family after her life as a breeding machine was over. The family told us how Sissy had been tied up outside most of her life, and had been diagnosed with heartworm disease. Due to the expensive veterinary work that Sissy would need, they contacted us in hope of saving this sweet girl. Additionally, Sissy will need basic training and to be housebroken.

Since our funding had recently been depleted for some prior urgent need saints, we simply couldn't bring Sissy into rescue at that time. Through the generosity of several wonderful people and an adoption of one of our other saints we were able financially afford to bring Sissy into rescue. In about two and a half weeks of first being contacted about Sissy, we physically moved Sissy into rescue. Again we want to thank those who made it possible, without the monetary donations we could not have saved this one.

Presently Sissy's vet bills to date are exactly $243.00. Her total h/w treatment that will start on or about the 15th will be a minimum of $320.00.

What follows on this page will be weekly updates on Sissy in the foster families own words. Our hope is that this story will inspire others to join in the NCSBR Foster Family Program and share your love with one of these magnificent creatures.

A Movie Star!

Here's a video of Sissy that her foster mom made, several weeks back. I thought everyone would like to see her.

In Her Foster Home

What can I say about Sissy?

When picking her up from the vet's office after her spay, both my husband and I saw her at the same time. With big huge smiles on both of our faces, we took her to the car. She jumped right in and rode quietly home.

We've had her here for only a few days and have already fallen in love with her sweet personality. There have been no problems integrating her into our family. She likes the cats, dogs, and the kids. She's great meeting new people and she hasn't had any accidents in the house either.

She is working on being crate trained and figuring it out really quickly. She's learned the sit command and is getting better at understanding her own name.

Sissy has a long road of recovery ahead of her. She was used as a breeding bitch and kept outside.

Sissy came into the rescue with heartworms, fleas, severely underweight, and un-spayed. Before she came to our house, she received all of her primary vet care, including a spay, and received a long overdue dental. She was also de-fleaed and groomed. She is putting on weight here and learning the basics. She's eating very well. Split into several meals, she gets 7 ½ cups of dry food and three cans of wet every day, plus two pieces of ham in which her antibiotics are wrapped.

Her heartworm treatment starts on the 14th or 15th of this month. We have never gone through having a dog treated for heartworms here at our house before. I have heard it can be a very touchy procedure and we are very anxious about it. Sissy has very little energy and also has a hard time breathing. This could be due to the heartworms or a combination of everything she came in with. It breaks our hearts when we see her panting uncomfortably and there's nothing we can do about it. But we do have high hopes for her recovery from everything.

How anyone can see their dog like this and not do anything about it is beyond me. With her personality, you'd thinks she'd been doted on her entire life. Pampered, over fed even, and a beloved pet. But we know differently. This is the life Sissy deserved and now deserves for the rest of her life.

Week Two - A New Sanctuary

Sissy did just as well this week as last week!

She keeps digging deeper and deeper into our hearts. She's been more energetic and playful and still putting on weight.

She is turning out very friendly, loving to be around people. Her crate is no longer a scary place to be, but her new sanctuary and resting place. She has learned what inside and outside means, is very good about coming to her name, and sits on command unless distracted by something a little more interesting.

We took her on her first outing tonight to Petsmart. She did so well and seemed the center of attention. She really enjoyed herself there. As much as she loves the car, she didn't want to leave. She left the store two jumbo bones, a new collar, and a new name tag richer.

She's loving being spoiled. What a great gal. We are so glad to have the opportunity to have her in our home!

Week Three - Starting Heartworm Treatments

Sissy's still doing great. She started her heartworm treatment this week on Tuesday. Everything is going very well, I've noticed nothing out of the ordinary with her.

During the next few weeks, we are supposed to keep her calm to minimize the risks of her treatment. This hasn't been a problem with her, she's already very calm! Just her personality.

She was weighed her when she went in, she gained 13 pounds! That's a pound a day! She still has about 15 pounds or so to gain before she reaches her optimum weight, poor thing. She was so thin when she first got here. The weight gain is very visible. She looks so much better.

She's really opened up this week too. She's happy to see us when we return from errands and loves her brush. She knows when it's time for food before I feed her, letting us know she's hungry by laying by her bowl. It's very cute. Any family would be lucky to have such a regal, sweet, and happy girl!

Week Four - "A huge change"

She's still gaining weight but we won't know how much until she goes back in for the rest of her heart worm treatments next week, but she looks so good.

She and I made another trip into Petsmart, she seems to love it there. I think it's meeting new people and the car ride. She really loves the car. She seems very happy, we've seena huge change since she first got here... for the better.

She comes when called and not because she has to, but to see how much attention she can get. She meets family members at the door when they get home with a persistent tail wag.

We will miss her. I received a phone call that she'll be up for adoption soon. It was both a gratifying and heart dropping call. I am so glad she is recovering so well. The very next time, now knowing what fostering is like, I have the opportunity to foster I know I'd be glad to do it.

I can't wait for the day someone who will love her as much as she gives love unconditionally to everyone she meets can take her home and appreciate her the way our family does. This is such a great experience for my kids and family.

Week Five - Adoption Is Near

Sissy's time for adoption is near. She is still doing very good here although the recent weight loss.

She went in this week for her last shot for her heartworm treatment and was also weighed. She lost three pounds, which I thought was odd because she's still eating so ravenously. It was explained to me that the heartworm treatment really does a toll on a dog's system. How sad that people would let this happen! Just another reason to make sure our dogs are on their heartworm preventative, though Hopkins, our Welsh Springer, could really do for this new fandangled diet lol. Just kidding, it's totally not worth it!

I also know that the Heartguard would've been sooooo much cheaper than the treatments. I feel so sorry for the rescue and all the money out of pocket they end up spending. Thank you by the way.

Sissy's energy has really picked up lately. She is a doll inside, still the ornamental area rug, but loves to play outside and run around. She now knows the "down" command and we are working on her "shake." She loves treats and walks. With her new 'miraculous' energy, she has taken to love walks. We are working on her pulling us out the door. Once she's outside she's fine though, she's just so exited to get out there. She was sick yesterday and we couldn't figure out why but she is fine this afternoon.

I'm so sorry to all for the prolonged update. With everything going on at our house in the last week, I've hardly had time for anything besides caring for my kids and pets lol. Oh, yes, I have decided to finally trust her out of her crate at night. She sleeps on the floor by the bed and hasn't had a single problem with it. She still has not had a single preventable accident, remember she was so sick yesterday, and she is a perfectly behaved girl!

Week Six - "a sixth sense"

Tomorrow, we take Sissy to see her new possible forever home. Sissy has been looking forward to the day she gets adopted by a loving home her entire life.

I think dogs know exactly what's going on by our emotions and actions. They have some sort of sixth sense. I think she knows we have an appointment tomorrow with a possible adopter. What little I know about the family sounds so nice and I am looking forward to meeting them.

The time has snuck up on me, it feels like just a few days ago that Sissy came to stay with us. A skinny dog with no energy. I look at her now and do not see the same dog. Some might think of her as lucky to get so far from so little, but I think if she were lucky, she'd have found the home she deserved before she needed the help.

Hopefully I have one more "SHE GOT ADOPTED!" update. With pictures of course to come!

The Adoption

Sissy's meeting went very well. Her new family was very nice and polite. Sissy warmed to them right away. She also warmed to their Saint Bernard, Olympia. Sissy now has a older little sister, Olympia is somewhat smaller than Sissy.

The way I felt when she drove off was very different than what I thought it would be. I thought I would be upset, but I wasn't. It was very nice to watch her drive off happily knowing she would be spoiled rotten. I thought about how she was treated before and how she'll be treated now. I thought about what I did for her and the impression my children got from the experience. Very different from what I thought I'd be feeling at that very moment.

Later, when I returned home, it felt like she had never left, but when I'd look around for her, I'd miss her so much. Then, turn my thoughts to how I felt when she drove off and feel better. She will always be a fond memory and always have a place in my heart.

A note from NCSBR, hopefully we will have additional updates on Sissy and her new life. In the meantime, we would like to thank everyone who made the happy ending possible for this sweet saint. Because without your help it simply could not have happened. The world truly is better today because of each of you.

We join everyone in wishing this wonderfully loving saint a very happy life, and hope her and her family have many great years to enjoy together.

If you would like to assist NCSBR in helping saints like Sissy find that loving forever home and receive the much needed medical care, please consider making a small donation today.

See updates on Sissy in our "Just Look at Me Now" Section.

NCSBGRR
Spring Lake, NC 28390

NCSBGRR - Non-Profit 501(c)(3)
Status Pending