Amber

Profile

Sponsored by:Friends of FlickaJoyce Miller

I am introducing our very sweet, Amber. She is a 7, soon to be 8-year-old, puppy mill mama. She has been with us for about 3 weeks now. Amber is somewhat more social than a lot of puppy mill dogs. For the most part, she loves to meet people, always has a wagging tail and explores things on her own. She is a very happy girl considering her past and thankfully she can now begin a new and much better life.

Amber came to RAGOM with a mast cell tumor and some other major issues. We had the tumor removed a couple of weeks ago and luckily it was in the early stages and it was removed completely. She had her staples removed last week and the incision is healing nicely. She was also spayed at that time. I know after being a "cone head" for a couple of weeks, she was glad to get those staples out. No more cone!Woohoo! Amber's back legs are a mess to put it mildly. Both back feet point out sideways to some degree, the left one being the worse. At times, that one is pointed directly sideways. The vet took X-rays while she was there for her other surgeries and the X-rays do not paint a pretty picture. Our vet was amazed at how bad Amber's hips are. Amber's left leg does not have a ball at the top so there is nothing in the socket on that hip. We don't know if she had a surgery at some point to remove the ball, which is done in some cases of hip displaysia, or if she was possibly born this way. Her right leg does have a ball on it, but it is not in the socket either. It sits up above the socket. When Amber walks, both her legs are quite loose and wobbly. She does get around quite well, but we are not sure how much pain she may be in at this point. She has probably been this way for years. The X-rays showone of her knees is in bad shape too. Right now we have started Amber on Rimadyl and a joint prescription diet. She does get around and even runs after squirrels, which is surprising. It is amazing how much dogs adapt to their disabilities. A couple of other things about this girl: Amber has a couple of incisors that are worn down almost to the gum. These may need to come out at some point. She is also has a bad left eye. It looks smaller than the right eye and sometimes turns funny. We are pretty sure she is blind in her left eye. I know when she is investigating new things, sometimes she surprises herself when something is on that side of her. The vet thinks this may be a birth defect of some sort. Amber discovered marrow bones soon after she came to live with us. At first she didn't know what to do with it. The other dogs were chewing away on theirs and before long, Amber was too. They spent hours out in the yard with their bones that day and she was such a happy camper joining in. We have some clean marrow bones in the house for the dogs and almost every day, Amber would have a collection on her dog bed. She always seemed to go to the same bed and some days I don't know how she found room to lay down. It would be full of bones. I kept putting them back in the toy basket and before I knew it, she would have several bones back on her bed. I had to take a picture of that the other night. She is such a silly girl!

 
                                                                          Despite all of Amber's medical issues, anatomy problems and bad teeth, she is so happy to be with her people. Whether it's when you get up in the morning or come walking through the door, she greets you with a wagging tail and some kisses. It's amazing to me how much dogs like her put up with, yet they are forgiving and loving anyway. I am just so glad she can look forward to a life in a home with people who love and care about her. She has had no accidents since coming here and she has had free roam of the house. She met our 4 other dogs (one of which is our RAGOM foster Max 07-493) and two cats with no problems what so ever. Amber has the true Golden personality and it shows every day. Amber did move to a permanent foster home today. She did well on the trip to South Dakota. I miss her a lot tonight, but I know she is in great hands at her new foster home. If anyone would like to sponsor Amber or donate anything to her medical costs, RAGOM would greatly appreciate it. She has a high medical bill already with the mast cell tumor removal and spay and she will need to be on her prescription diet for a while in order to determine if surgery will be needed or not. Only time will tell if surgery is in her future or not.