The Mini Aussie with No Paws
On Friday, December 30, 2005 MARS was contacted about a black tri Mini Aussie in a shelter. This is Happy's story as it was told to us:
A small black tri purebred Mini Aussie, Happy had been born dead or died immediately after being born. But assisting during the birth was a young vet tech who worked on him for quite a while and eventually resuscitated him. Unfortunately, during the time she worked to bring him back, he had lost all blood flow to his feet and, while he had his life, he eventually lost all four paws and the tips of his ears.
The vet tech kept him and raised him for quite a while, calling him Stumpy. But eventually life distracted her some and he spent most of his time confined to a stainless steel cage. The local shelter manager heard the story and took him in with hopes of finding him a home with a loving, caring family. They renamed him Happy.
The shelter had trouble finding a foster home for Happy. He didn't like the shelter and the concrete floors there caused problems with his sensitive stumps. He was adopted out for a few weeks to a farm with many other dogs and animals. He was returned to the shelter eventually, saying he was too clingy to people and hid from the other dogs.
Happy went to live with a terrific foster mom and dad. Happy was terrified in the beginning, staying in his crate for two whole days until he finally decided these kind people wouldn't hurt him. They bought him a carrier so he could ride snuggled to their chest and cared for his stumps with a cream from the vet and socks and booties. He learned to play with the beagle and pit bull in his foster home and to enjoy snuggling with people.
Happy was returned to the shelter in mid-December of 2005 in hopes that he would be adopted in their pre-Christmas adoption fair. Happy hated the shelter though and was too afraid to approach anyone who came to look at him. Because the concrete floor of the shelter would cause his stumps to become bloodied, Happy spent a lot of time alone in a trailer behind the shelter.
By the time we spoke to the shelter manager, she said that Happy moved much better than anyone would expect, but his months in a cage had caused muscle atrophy. And his lack of interaction with people and being returned again and again to the shelter had left deep emotional scars. She said Happy was dying inside — deeply depressed, frightened and confused. While friendly with the shelter workers, he seemed to know that their relationships had no depth. She said he is giving up and, while there is no physical reason for it, she didn't think he would live much longer if someone didn't help him.
Then they asked, Could MARS help? Of course we said, Yes! MARS is a small group that has only been rescuing dogs for less than a year, but we knew we'd do whatever it takes to help this little Mini Aussie.
One of our board members posted Happy's story in an email to the Mini Aussie e-lists that same day seeking help from our supporters. Here's some of what she wrote
Happy needs a home — his own home and his own people. He needs some consistency in his life and someone he can count on to be there when he wakes up in the morning. He needs carpeted floors and good food and toys that don't roll away too fast. He needs someone to exercise his body and his mind, 'cause he's an Aussie and the brain keeps working, even when the legs don't.
We're hoping to adopt him into a home with no other dogs. An older adult couple would be perfect — someone who is willing to help him deal with his handicap without pitying him — someone he can depend upon to be there for him as he learns to be a dog. I know that over the last few months we have asked a lot, but I'm asking now — can we close 2005 — the first year of Mini Aussie Rescue & Support rescuing dogs — with an effort to place this little dog? We don't want to move him to yet another foster home, he needs a real home and he needs it before he gives up completely. Please.
Please crosspost and send to your friends and families. We'll work with whoever comes forward to find a home for Happy. And if you can't help directly, please consider making a donation to MARS through our website to help us care for him and bring him back to life Ñ again.
Marla McCormick
Mini Aussie Rescue & Support (MARS)
Update! January 3, 2006 Happy Moves Out of the Shelter
Happy has moved back to his original foster care home. They were away for the holidays and were deeply upset to find Happy did so poorly at the shelter while they were gone. They've agreed to foster Happy until MARS can find him the right home. He's already doing much better, happy to be back with people and dogs he knows and loves. His foster mom would like to have him adopted by the end of the month, both because they're moving and because she's very afraid he's becoming too bonded and it will be traumatic for him to move again. She sent us some more pictures of Happy.
Update! January 6, 2006 Happy Becomes a MARS Dog
Happy was officially surrendered to MARS today, making him MARS rescue dog number 06001. Marla's email with Happy's story spread through the internet like wildfire. In the past week we've received more than 1,200 emails and 200 phone calls about Happy. Many other rescue groups, shelters, animal hospices and foundations have offered to take him in and care for him. But after extensive conversations with the two people who know Happy best, the shelter manager and his foster mom, we feel he will thrive most in a quiet caring home environment.
MARS has received a few adoption applications for Happy already. We're looking for an adult home with smaller, quieter dogs that can meet the challenge of his physical care and therapy needs while giving him the love he emotionally needs to survive. Happy's foster mom has requested that we have an experienced MARS volunteer visit with Happy to better learn his abilities and disabilities before we decide on a adoption placement for him. We couldn't agree more and are working on arranging a visit in the next few days.
To date we've received about $450 in donations towards Happy's care. We are hoping to raise at least $1500 to cover his immediate needs. We know we're going to have him evaluated from top to bottom by several vet specialists and need to get x-rays of his legs before too long.
Update! January 7, 2006 Happy's Legs
We're learning more about Happy's physical problems from his foster mom. All four legs are different lengths. One front paw has a tiny bit of paw left attached. The other is cut off just above where the paw would be. His rear legs are much shorter, both gone at or above the hock joint but different lengths.
We originally were told he was fine on carpeted surfaces, but that turns out to be not completely accurate. Too much carpeting causes his stumps to bleed (as does any harder surface). He's been wearing very simple baby socks and dog boots to cover the stumps, but we've made plans to get him more cushioned boots for better protection. Pro-Active Paws in Ireland, a company with experience making boots for dogs without paws, has offered to donate four custom-made boots for Happy!
Several wonderful companies and individuals have offered to donate prosthetic legs for Happy. While we're incredibly grateful for their generosity, any decision on prosthetics will have to wait until Happy has been evaluated by a team of orthopedic veterinary specialists. It may be months before we know whether or not prosthetics are right for Happy. Our goal in the meantime is to improve his muscle conditioning.
We've begun the process of interviewing and checking references on possible adopters.
Update! January 8, 2006
Two members of the MARS board of directors are flying down to visit Happy this week. (One of the major airlines offered to donate the tickets.) They'll be bringing him some new boots we've bought for him that are made especially for dogs with paw injuries. They were recommended to us on a list by owners of dogs with amputated feet. The company, TheraPaws, gave us a discount on the boots after hearing Happy's story.
Update! January 10, 2006 A Visit with Happy
What a wonderful day we had today! Marla McCormick, who has been coordinating Happy's rescue, and I visited with Happy for 3 1/2 hours at his foster home this afternoon. 
You guys would not believe this dog. Happy is a joyful, intelligent little Miniature Australian Shepherd. He doesn't know he's disabled at all. He walks, bounces, runs, cuddles and give kisses. Happy loves his treats and toys. Honestly, we had no idea what to expect from this little dog. What I never expected was a little boy racing after his favorite beagle trying to steal the squealing monkey toy back from her. Or the two of them wrestling just like my pups do. Happy has adjusted to his lack of feet better than you can imagine.
He still has a funny roll of his hips when he walks because his legs are such different lengths. And he only walks or plays in very short bursts, laying down in between. Happy is obviously not comfortable just standing around. He moderates his own activities, resting often enough to keep his stumps from hurting too much.
Happy was reserved when we first arrived, but was eating treats out of my hand within 15 minutes. After two hours he trusted me enough to let me give him a full body massage. My ulterior motive was to check out his muscle tone (which was better than I expected) but he didn't care why I was doing it. His little tongue slipped out between his lips when he was completely blissed out as I rubbed his chest and neck.
Though his stumps are sensitive enough that he whimpers a little as his booties are put on, he let me handle them as much as I needed to carefully measure each leg for the special booties Pro-Active Paws is donating for him. We learned that his right front leg is 1 1/4 inches longer than the left. Both of the rear legs are gone above the hock joint, so they're much shorter than the front legs. After measuring Happy's longest leg, we estimate that he would be about 16" tall at the withers if he had his paws.
Other things we learned are that Happy has a natural bob tail with long trailing fur on it. And it wags a lot. (I also learned that Mini Aussie butts can wiggle ferociously even in the sitting position.) His eyes have to be wiped many times a day as he can't clear any goop out of them when he's wearing his booties. But he's meticulous about grooming and keeping himself clean. And he likes nothing better than being scritched everywhere and anywhere because he can't scratch himself with no claws! He's missing the tips of his ears, but not so as you'd notice, and he has a minor bite problem. But he's just beautiful despite it all.
At the end of our visit, we took him outside for a walk. He 
gets carried to a grassy area, then set down to run around. We videotaped him moving to send the footage to some orthopedic veterinary specialists for evaluation. We hope to put a segment of the video on our website someday so you all can see how amazing this boy moves.
I can say this was a very special day in my life. When you hear Happy's sad story you can't help but wonder what his quality of life will be. I now know these little dogs we love are more resilient than we can possibly imagine. I am sure once Happy finds his forever home, he's going to live as joyfully as any of our dogs do. All he wants is love, not pity.
Paddy Marcotte
President, Mini Aussie Rescue & Support (MARS)
Update! January 11, 2006
Marla and Paddy visited with Happy again today. They brought with them Barbara, an animal behaviorist who offered to fly down and meet us to do a behavioral evaluation of Happy to help us decide how to make his transition to his new home as least traumati
c as possible. We were interested in both her professional opinion of Happy and how he interacted with her since she and her husband Peter had applied to adopt Happy.
Happy passed his behavioral evaluation with flying colors! After all he's been through, his only issue is some slight skittishness in new situations. But he had no problem with any of us handling him, with his foster mom leaving him alone with us, and showed no aggression of any kind. It was obvious he watches the other dogs to learn what to do, reinforcing to us that he should go to a home with another dog. What shone through the most is that this is one smart little dog. There's no sign of mental impairment at all.
His foster mom had told us Happy was more standoffish with men, even her husband. So we were pleasantly surprised to see him get up and go over to her husband when he arrived home, asking for and scratches and petting.
Barbara is trained in canine massage and we ended the visit with Happy lying in her lap without his booties getting a complete body massage for more than twenty minutes. H
appy is definitely more clingy to his foster mom outside than in. We had trouble getting him to sit far enough away from her to get a decent picture of him. But right before he left, he got up and walked all the way across the lawn to lean against Barbara's leg. Everyone there had tears in their eyes!
Update! January 19, 2006 Happy Goes Home!!!
Happy went to his new adopted home today. MARS had received applications from several wonderful homes, but Barbara and Peter in the Midwest seemed too good to be true.
Peter is a professor of animal sciences specializing in nutrition. Barbara is a retired registered nurse who works part-time from home as an animal behaviorist. She is trained as a canine massage therapist and dog groomer, and bred and showed dogs in conformation. Barbara served as training director at her obedience training club and currently manages a program at her local humane society where she trains volunteers to teach obedience to dogs to make them more adoptable. They have three adult children, one of whom is going to vet school.
Barbara and Peter have a five-year old rescued Aussie/Border Collie mix who does therapy dog work with Barbara at a local youth detention center and a nursing home. Happy is very likely to do therapy dog work in his future. They also have two cats (Happy loves cats). Barbara and Peter live near a sports vet with complete canine physical therapy services. And they're only 20 minutes away from a major veterinary teaching school where Happy can get the best medical care.
MARS did a home visit, as we do for all adoptions. Barbara and Peter have an open floor plan home. Happy will only have two steps to navigate in the entire house, and they're willing to build him a ramp if he needs it. They had decided recently that they are at a point in their lives where they can give back to the animals that have given them so much over the years. They had been actively monitoring websites featuring special needs dogs available for adoption looking for the right dog for them. Happy's story was crossposted to several of these websites and Barbara and Peter called us right away when they saw it.
MARS did not make the decision of where to place Happy quickly or easily. We were very impressed with many of the people that called or emailed us about adopting Happy. But Barbara and Peter convinced us they have the ability to handle Happy's physical needs while giving him the loving family he emotionally needs.
Should anything ever happen to Barbara and Peter and they become unable to care for Happy at any time in the future, he will return to MARS. We are committed to making sure Happy receives the best care for the rest of his life. But Barbara and Peter are committed to being his forever family. Today Happy goes to a terrific home!
Happy with his new mom Barbara
Update! January 21, 2006 Happy's First Day in His New Home
Barbara called with an update on Happy's first day in his new home. His foster mom had driven Happy part of the way to meet Barbara, Peter and their Aussie/Border Collie mix. They arrived back home late evening and spent a quiet night together. Happy surprised them by waking up from a nap on the dog bed to walk over and climb himself up onto the sofa so he could lay between them with their other dog.
First thing the next morning Happy found himself being groomed by one of the cats. Barbara says he completely ignored the grooming, his expression saying Cat? What cat?
Happy went along for the ride when Barbara had some errands to run. He's riding on a pillow on the car seat, but we're hoping to get him a doggie booster seat soon so he can travel more comfortably and more safely. They stopped by the office of the sports vet where Happy will be receiving his physical therapy. He has his first visit for an evaluation next week, but Barbara wanted him to go in for a quick hello so that he could start getting used to the place. He loved the friendly attention and the treats.
They tried the TheraPaws boots on Happy and he liked them. They're going to work on the fit as right now he's wearing them kind of like a dancer wears toe shoes. But the new boots let him walk and run across a wood floor which he couldn't do without them. We also had wonderful news in that PetGear wrote to tell us they would be donating their best dog stroller for Happy to use. It's like a baby stroller, but Happy gets to be pushed around in style while he lies comfortably instead of being carried. Happy will be using it every day to join the family on their walk around the neighborhood.
While Barbara was giving us the update on the telephone, Happy crawled over and put his head in her lap and fell asleep. By the end of the conversation, he was even snoring!
Update: Happy's Future Medical Care
Now that Happy is in a loving home, we are going to begin addressing his medical needs. He is going to be evaluated by several veterinary orthopedic specialists to determine the damage to and status of each leg. Since he is such a unique case, we want multiple opinions on how to proceed before we make any decisions. We need to find solutions that improve his abilities while helping to prevent future physical damage. We also expect to need an ophthalmology evaluation to determine why one of his eyes is slightly cloudy. HIs physical therapy to strengthen and improve his muscle tone will be costly as well.
Update! January 31, 2006 A Happy Amos
Barbara has been calling us regularly with updates on Happy, who they've renamed Amos. Amos is doing terrific in his new home. He and his new canine sister Allie, an Aussie/Border Collie mix, play together all the time. After playtime Amos and Allie settle down to nap together.
But his favorite thing is to lie on the sofa in the evenings with Barbara, Peter and Allie. He insists on climbing up on the sofa on his own.
Barbara says Amos has two ways of getting up there: he either walksover, hooks his elbows on the edge of the sofa and drags himself up or he'll start from the other side of the room and takes a running leap to land in your lap.
Amos gets around their house just great and is becoming more and more active every day. He wears his four TheraPaws boots outdoors and three softer boots inside. His right front leg is only one that has a tiny bit of bending motion at the stump. Amos uses that bit of a bend a lot to hold onto his toys and chewies, and so he insists on taking that boot off when he's inside!
Amos spent two hours with an orthopedic vet last week, getting a complete evaluation. The good news is that his muscle condition is much better than anyone expected. There's only one muscle group up in his shoulder area that needs serious physical therapy. They also determined the cloudiness in one of his eyes is a cataract. Amos will be seeing more vet specialists in the near future, but this was a terrific start.
If you'd like to help with Happy's medical bills, you can make a donation to the MARS Happy Fund for Disabled Dogs. Funds raised will be set aside to first help Barbara and Peter cover the veterinary expenses for Happy and then to help any other MARS dog with serious, treatable disabilities. (MARS has already taken in additional disabled dogs since Happy.) MARS is a 501(c)(3) charity so your gifts are tax deductible. To make a donation by credit card or by mail, please visit the MARS donation page.
Thank you to everyone who has spread Happy's story and offered support. With your help we're giving this loving dog a wonderful future!
