My best friend's name is Hunter..He is part Collie...
Someone threw him and his sister out in front of my house
about 3 years ago. He was about 5 weeks old. She died the next day.

Hunter was hit by a car when he was about a year old.
It fractured his elbow and he had really bad nerve damage.
He has been limping on this leg for 2 years, and doing well.

About 6 months ago, the pad started bleeding, and before we knew it, the pad was completely gone. The doctor said the leg would have to be removed. I couldn't have been more scared if it was one of my children.

He had the surgery January 4, 2010.
He has done wonderfully.
It was like he never had the leg, anyway.

The doctor took the stitches and staples out after 14 days,
and 6 days later, we were back getting more stitches and staples.

A place about 4 inches long has gapped open, but the Dr. said
it would be fine. Now we have to wait 12 more days, but that's alright.

He has become an 80 lb. house dog.
It has really been a great experience.
Now that he has been spoiled rotten,
I doubt if he will ever be an outside dog again.

Barbara Willa
Friday January 29, 2010

This is my adorable dog Reese. I'm in school at the University of Arkansas and wanted an extra little room-mate to keep me company.
I went on PetFinder.com and searched for months until I found her. When I stumbled upon her page, I had been looking for special needs dogs.

Her "about me" section said that she was not in fact a special needs dog, because even though she was missing a leg, she could do anything any 4 legged dog could do.

However, her owner needed to have a special heart.

My heart broke for her when I found out she had been at a rescue with well over 100 dogs that was run by one lone woman and I knew she was the perfect fit.

I fought many obstacles that were in my way of getting her,
but every bit of progress I made told me that it was right;
we needed each other.

The moment I met her, there was an instant master/dog bond.
She sat in my lap the whole way home, licked me only when I asked for kisses, and never begged for the cheese sticks I ate right in front of her; what a lady! In the 5 months that I have had her so far, I can probably count the amount of times that she has barked on one hand.

All she wants from me is my love and devotion.

Her favorite place to be is anywhere that she can have her head resting on me. I will never know exactly how she lost her leg, though.

The woman running the rescue said somehow it was broken, perhaps hit by a car? But, when she came to the rescue she had her little puppies (who were unfortunately adopted before I picked her up) and a useless right front leg. They spayed her and amputated the leg in one fell swoop (what a bad day!).

She adapted quickly to the change and has never begged for your pity, only for your love. She is the perfect dog and companion.

Gina Bargiachi
Sunday January 31, 2010