TulsaPets Magazine Online

STORY BY NANCY GALLIMORE WERHANE

THREE SPECIAL DOGS CELEBRATE THE SEASON IN SPECIAL NEW HOMES

It’s an age old question for pet lovers—do we choose our pets or do they choose us? In the case of three lucky Tulsa dogs and to the great delight of their new families, it’s pretty obvious the latter is true. These are three very different dogs, but with a little twist of circumstance that brings them together. Each is a dog that might seem unadoptable by some standards, but each is now well-loved and unaware that they are any different from any other pooch.

Molly
A young Australian Shepherd mix, the first thing that strikes you when you meet Molly is how beautiful she is. Her bright blue eyes and her shiny merle coat are captivating and, at the same time, a clue to her hidden handicap. Dogs with piebald or merle markings are often prone to hereditary deafness. Statistically, Dalmatians are the leaders of this pack, but any type of dog displaying these traits can be affected.

Molly’s owner, Melissa Ward, was not really in the market for a new dog. On the day she found Molly, she was just out for a day at the Riverwalk with her Dalmatian, Maggie. They were attending Woofstock, a fun event sponsored by Oklahoma Alliance for Animals featuring entertainment, vendor booths, pet care providers and, of course, rescue organizations with animals for adoption.

Ward was making her way through the various attractions when she came upon the Tulsa Humane Society booth and spotted a beautiful puppy, quietly chewing a bone in her crate. Immediately drawn to the pup, Ward then learned the dog was deaf. One of the volunteers told her that the pup had been adopted and returned three times by people unwilling to cope with a bouncy deaf puppy. She immediately knew she wanted to adopt the puppy.

“I knew that it would take a lot of patience to be the owner of this dog and I have plenty,” said Ward. “It’s really more of an adjustment for me than it is for her. She has no idea that there is anything different about her.”

Ward immediately began looking up information on how to train a deaf dog and found some hand signals for common cues such as sit, lay down and stay. “Within five minutes she learned sit and I knew I had a smart dog.”

As the dog settled into her new home, Ward noticed that Molly seemed to have a bit of trouble with her vision. A visit to a veterinary eye specialist revealed that in addition to her deafness, Molly does not see well at a distance, has no peripheral vision in her left eye and does not see well at night. This news did not make Ward regret her decision to adopt Molly one bit.

A little time spent with Molly proves that she doesn’t give her handicaps a second thought.

The little dog is happy, bouncy and extremely goodnatured. She loves to greet new people and she is a great player at the dog park and at Pooches, her dog daycare. Molly now has a future as bright as her pretty blue eyes.

“Because Molly is a dog with special needs, I adjusted to help her and in return I couldn’t imagine my life without her,” said Ward. “We’re one big happy family—Melissa, Maggie and Molly.”

Hogan
The cute Schnauzer was surrendered to Pet Adoption League (PAL) by his former owners. Life as an outsideonly dog combined with a lack of proper care resulted in a little dog with injuries and serious health issues. When received by PAL, Hogan had a large infected gash on top of his head, was found to be positive for heartworms, was overweight and, at age five, had yet to be neutered. Oh, and he also happens to be missing a front leg.

Well, missing is not quite an accurate description. Hogan’s leg is there, but malformed and very stunted—an obvious birth defect. However the malformed appendage was not really a concern. PAL’s first priority in caring for their new foster dog was to address the infected cut, caused by a bite from a former yard-mate, and also to begin the long treatment to rid the little dog of the deadly heartworms. Hogan’s road to being a viable candidate for adoption was going to be a long one.

Amy Hoagland, an active volunteer with PAL, agreed to care for Hogan during his three month heartworm treatment. The shy, but exceptionally sweet dog integrated easily with the other dogs in the Hoagland household and immediately won over Hoagland’s husband, Tim.

Hoagland said she liked little Hogan too, though she had to overcome a few of his bad habits before he truly won a spot in her home. “Hogan had never been taught not to mark inside the house so it took some time to train him, but I fell for him pretty quickly despite his little learning curve.”

Once his heartworm treatment was complete, the Hoaglands decided Hogan needed to become a permanent resident. “Tim and I just really felt that we could provide him the kind of home he truly deserves,” said Hoagland. “We can guarantee he will never have to live outdoors again and he will always receive the love and care he needs and deserves.”

As for his handicap, the Hoaglands initially thought the little three-legged dog would need special accommodations. To eliminate any obstacles for Hogan, the couple constructed ramps where there were stairs in the house and yard, though they quickly found their efforts were unnecessary. Hogan ignores the ramps and climbs up and down the steps with ease. The ramps remain in place in case he needs them as he ages, but for now, he gets around just fine. “When he ‘zooms’ he is very quick,” Hoagland adds with a laugh.

The little dog with a “flipper” for a leg might as well be a famous show dog in the eyes of his new family. “He now has a beautiful coat, which is changing colors to a lighter brown. He has the sweetest eyes and is so very loving. He wants to please all the time. He is the biggest momma’s boy you’ll ever meet!” exclaims Hoagland.

“He is a perfect little dog and we love him. He is happy and definitely in his forever home.”

Tink
One day last summer I received a call from my partner, Jim Thomason. “Can you meet me to help try to catch a little stray dog?” he questioned and my answer was, of course, an immediate yes.

I joined Jim to peer at a little cattle dog mix pup that appeared to be living under a dumpster behind a strip mall. The dumpster in question was a huge compacting dumpster that the little dog could squeeze under, staying well out of reach. According to store employees, the dog had lived there for around six weeks and would not let any of them near it.

Our first visit made it clear that we were not going to see immediate success either. So we started daily visits to gain the little dog’s trust. We spent hours talking to her, offering food and fresh water to our little “Dumpster Dog,” as she was initially known.

After a few days we could hear that her nose was very congested and we worried for her health. Finally, seven days after discovering the hiding pup, Jim very patiently stretched out on the pavement, as far under the dumpster as he could get, and just waited.

Thirty minutes had passed when he finally felt a small nose sniffing the top of his head. He remained very still while Dumpster Dog cautiously checked him out and then finally settled on the ground next to him. He slowly started to pet her and the deal was sealed. Dumpster Dog was no longer on her own.

We made an immediate visit to the vet and started a course of antibiotics to hopefully cure a suspected upper respiratory infection. Despite her ordeal and her apparent illness, the once shy stray emerged a funny, playful, outgoing little dog that immediately endeared herself to us.

After a 10 day course of antibiotics failed to cure her congestion, we found why she may have been abandoned. Dumpster Dog, now dubbed Tink, had her nose scoped by a local veterinarian. The procedure revealed that her nasal passages were almost completely blocked by what appeared to be scar tissue. Our veterinarian then referred us to a surgical specialist in Oklahoma City.

There, a CT scan showed that sweet Tink had suffered a severely broken nose, likely as a very young puppy. Her soft pallet was almost an inch out of place and her nasal passages had healed back improperly—affecting her ability to breathe through her nose. An expensive surgical procedure offered the only hope for helping Tink breathe normally.

Now, several months later, our very expense “free” dog still snores like a fog horn. While surgery may have improved her air passages to some extent, she still can’t breathe well through her nose causing her to always sound congested. That means we have to be careful to see that Tink does not overheat in the summer, we have to watch her carefully if she decides to go for a swim in the pond and we will likely always battle sinus infections.

The one thing we will never worry about is Tink’s future. We are 100% head over heels for this tenacious little dog and will happily provide the care she needs for the rest of her life. She repays us with her unwavering spunk and ability to make us laugh every single day.

Three dogs. Three special lives.

This is a story of three very special little dogs and three families who consider themselves very lucky to have them. These dogs’ stories have very happy endings. They are proof positive that imperfections are in the eyes of the beholder. These three dogs, and others like them, have much to offer. Hopefully Molly, Hogan and Tink can serve as poster-pups for other “handicapable” dogs also in need of great homes for holidays to come.