I have just taken Ben from the rescue.
Ben is a six-month-old Border Collie.
At three months old he was run over and the farmer owner was unwilling to pay the Vet's fees to save the leg or for Ben to undergo amputation.

The Vet contacted the Irish Rescue and they agreed to pay all fees.

Ben was kept at the Vets for eight weeks following surgery until he was strong enough to leave. A home could not be found in Ireland and Ben was shipped to the U.K. to be collected by a wonderful young woman who rescues small furries and Irish dogs who cannot be re-homed.

Emma rang me last week to ask if I would be interested in re-homing Ben. Initially I was very anxious and concerned,
never having cared for a young dog and a disabled one.
Ben has now been with me for just one day
and I don't think he will be going back to the rescue.

I am a little concerned however about how to train Ben
and would be grateful for any advice.
He has lost his front leg.

James & Janet Gorin
Monday March 12, 2007

Hi, and THANK YOU for the 3-legged club!
We felt so alone, 'til we found your website.
Thank you so much.

Klink's Story

Hi, my name is Klink.
I am a full-blooded Rottweiler.
My parents picked me out when I was 3 months old.
When they took me home I could fit in my dads palm!
I was an inside dog until I was about 1 yr old
and became too big and the house too small.
I love the outdoors so I had no problem with adjusting outside,
plus I still get to go inside sometimes,
so I have the best of both worlds!
Some say I've had a pretty rough life, but I'm not complaining.

When I was little I got Parvo and was put in the hospital for a week.
But I pulled through it!
And I was back home in no time!
Several years passed and we all enjoyed life together as a family.

When I was in my mid teen years,
I got pneumonia and was back in the hospital for about 4-5 days.
Than I came home to my ever eager family again!
I love playing in the snow, with my yard toys, tug of war, barking at bicycle tires, and one of my favorites is going bye-bye.

I love to go places with my family!

And oh yea, howling with my human sister,
well she calls it singing.
And my favorite food is.......Cheetos!

Later on I started having problems with my back right leg
and started to favor it every now and then.
So my mom took me to the doctor
and he said that it was my Hip Dysplasia acting up
that my breed is common to have.
So my mom thought nothing of it and carried on.

Eventually my leg started to swell and I couldn't walk on it
so my mom took me to the doctor again.

She didn't like his answer so we got several different opinions.

Most of them were not good results.
My mom refused to give up on me.
So she decided the best doctor's treatment for me and took me there.

They did x-rays and prepared my mom for the worst.
They told her I had a 4" x 6" capsulated muscle cancer knot in my leg
and the only hope of saving me was to amputate my leg
and there were no guarantees that I would even make it out of the expensive surgery.

But that didn't stop my mom!
She had them proceed with the surgery.
I was in the hospital for almost a week
before I got to see my family again.
And I was soooo excited to see them,
my mom didn't know what to think,
until she saw me and when I hobbled over to them she knew then that I was going to be all right. I became an inside house dog again 'til I got all healed and was able to get around good with just 3 legs. It didn't take as long as one would think.

However, with one of the back legs being gone,
I have to watch my weight and it does get tiring walking on one back leg, 'cause that one leg has to carry all my weight that two back legs normally would.
So I do have to rest more often.
I've even been taken swimming at a local lake, and I loved it!
My mom has a video of it if anyone is interested.
(Swimming is great exercise for someone in my case.)

Then came my brother.... He's a Rottweiler too, much younger.
By now I am about 11 yrs old and he is about 9 months.
And he has a tail!
Which I think is funny, being a Rott and all.
He slaps that thing around like he doesn't know what to do with it!
My parents took him into our house because he was an abandoned puppy and they thought that he might help me physically and mentally, when all he really does is sleeps in my dog house,
whether I'm in it or not!
It took a while but he is finally seeing things my way!
(If anyone is curious, my family named my little brother Quad.....
yes, you guessed it...cause he has four legs!
You have to admit, it's funny..after a while.)

Closing:

Just as fast as this story closes,
so does our time with Klink.
It was my morning routine to go outside and see him before going off for work. He was laying there, and wouldn't get up.
I hollered and hollered and begged for him to get up.
He just laid there, with me kneeling in front of him.
Quad was there, nudging Klink with his nose.
He knew something was wrong with his big brother.
By this time, Klink was 13.5 and age took him, in the end.
He was my baby and will always remain my baby.
I think of him every day to this day.
We miss you Klink.

Hard Lesson Learned:
Always get a second opinion if in doubt.
Do not wait.
If we would have gotten a second opinion a lot sooner,
there may have been a chance we could've saved his leg w/out having to amputate.

The Goffs
Wednesday March 14, 2007