Gracie

Abandoned by her family, Gracie, a 7 yr old female GSD that had lived with one family her whole life in NM. The family broke apart and Gracie was left outside, they never looked back at the faithful girl who had done nothing to deserve such abandonment. A kind-hearted next door neighbor bought Gracie a dog house and made sure that she had food and water every day, but knew that this was no life for such a loving dog. We brought Gracie into our rescue on February 18th, gave her a much needed bath and grooming when several hot spots on her back end were discovered. Her ears were severely infected; one ear with a hematoma and she had a yeast infection. Gracie went to the Vet where she had her ears cleaned, her sores treated, and a skin scraping to see why there were open sores on her body. Our veterinarian found a lump on her back knee and a small one on her cheek under the eye. These were removed successfully but Gracie will need to be monitored as other masses are showing up. When she had her stitches removed they found a polyp in her rectum and another lump behind her leg that will also need to be removed when she has recovered from her staff infection that she is being treated for now. Gracie’s vet bills as of today, are over $1100.00

Update from Gracie’s forever home – 10/20/2014

I have been here a month already and I’m doing great. I really make sure that my new family knows how much I love them… I give them lots of kisses, I rub on them like a cat, and I also let other people know that they are not to approach my family without their permission. I have a big bark and I use it!! Riley and I sound really good together when someone gets too close to the house. My mom says that we make her feel very safe! Speaking of Riley, I like to check his ears and I kiss him on the mouth quite frequently. I also “taste” the cat on occasion. Not really, I’m just sweet and kiss him on the head when he walks by. Bart likes me!

My hair is growing like crazy! It’s getting very soft and SO shiny. You should see my tail… it’s thick and I have a golden shade coming in on the bottom. In fact, I have all sorts of new colors coming in under the black. I don’t have any hot spots either. My mom has been able to cut 7 toenails so far… I’ll have to get back to her on the other 13. I might let her do one toenail a day. I heard her tell my Dad that the vet wanted to sedate me to trim them and my Mom said absolutely not. I am a good girl, I just need patience… not drugs. My vet said that I have arthritis in my right front paw and a small lipoma buried deep within. It makes me limp on occasion. My Mom gives me massages on it and it feels so good. The drug that the vet gave me for the inflammation made me throw up and pace all night. My parents were so worried about me and stayed up all night with me. I’m better now anyway….I only took one! Back to my tail… I make my family laugh because when I wag it (which is a lot) it thumps the walls and doors and nothing on the coffee table is safe. You really should see how nice it looks!

My “Sommer” leaves for school in a few weeks. I love her and it’s going to be strange not to check on her in her room. I got to “Skype” with my Dad the other day so maybe I can do that with her too. Riley doesn’t know how to “Skype”… too bad for him!

So when we go somewhere in the car, my family makes me use a ramp. I know how to use it, but I’m not sure why it is so important that I do use it. Riley likes to show off that he can go up it so quickly… I’m not impressed and would prefer to just do without it. All I know is that when I use it properly (sometimes I try to cheat), my family makes such a big deal out of it and I like when they do that. Going down is no problem. With my long legs though, I like to get off of it prematurely (oops). If that arthritis thing is true, it’s probably a good idea that I just go with it. I love the car too, so I guess it’s just part of the package.

I hope you get to take care of another dog like me soon. It was so nice to finally be in a place that people loved me, wanted me, and cared for me – I will never forget my time with you. And thank you for waiting to find a family that loves me just as much. They think I’m beautiful inside and out and its nice to know that I will never have to worry again.

Update – 10/28/14

Dear Katie & Jessica,

I’ve had an interesting day…. One minute I’m playing in the yard with my brother and a minute later my Mom is whisking me away to the vet for surgery. That wasn’t what I had planned for the day… at all! (I still wonder if I’m being sent to a new home whenever I go somewhere without my brother.) Anyway, I did so well. I only had one polyp removed as there were no others like the vet had thought and the giant lipoma under my arm is gone! I’m whoozy and I am whimpering a bit from the morphine, but I can walk just fine (for now). I don’t know how it will be when the drugs wear off, but I have pain medicine to help with that. I get my stitches out in 2 weeks. I managed to eat a little bit tonight and I kept it down. I am through having surgeries… it’s time for me to be a healthy and happy dog. I’ll keep you posted, but don’t worry about me… I’m doing great!!

Love,
Gracie

Update – 02/06/2015

Gracie is just the most incredibly sweet, loyal, and intelligent dog! She deserves nothing but the best! We’re SO attached… Can you believe it’s been a year since she came to you and shortly after that she came to us! I have to remember to say that she is 8 years old now!!! I know I always brag too much about her but my newest observation is that she has impeccable manners around other dogs AND she is starting to trust men a bit more. She’s still a “momma’s girl” and that’s just fine with me!