It was May 2010 and I was in Princeton, Indiana meeting my birth mother for the first time. It was a sunny spring afternoon outside when I heard a car slam on its breaks, quickly looking at the road I noticed a cute little puppy was the cause. I quickly rushed over and whistled hoping to get the pup safe. With minimal effort this adorable white and brown, floppy eared, 5lb puppy ran as fast as he could to me & jumped in my arms. He was skinny, seemed skiddish around other dogs and had no collar. It was a small town so looking for his owners wasn’t hard. He came a few blocks down from a rough house where the owners obviously didnt even realize he was gone, much less cared. Stories from neighbors told us he was abused and never cared for. Speaking to them directly they told us he was a Rat terrier/ Min pin mix and that they were planning to drop the pups off, so I could keep him. I decided to name him Marley and that was all she wrote.
Fast forward a couple months and we were back in Texas, just bought our first house and found out I was pregnant with my first son. We adopted a Boxer puppy and named him Diesel, Marley was still a little hesitant about other dogs but he eventually learned to live happily with his new, larger brother. They liked to think they ran the neighborhood, everyone offered them treats and had a hard time staying on our property.
2011:
One afternoon they had been gone all day & only Diesel returned muddy with cut marks all over him. As if he was trying to get me to help get Marley, he was very anxious until we set off to find him. Returning home with out him that night was hard. But there was zero sign of him and no one had seen him that day. The next morning I came outside to find Marley in his dog cage on our porch. I didnt notice it was him at first, his face & neck were so swollen he was unrecognizable. He couldn’t walk, he had deep wounds all over his body and we rushed him to the nearest E.R Vet clinic in town. All they could assume was he got in a fight with another animal. After a couple weeks of pain meds, confinement, healing & a large vet bill, he was back to his normal self.
★GRAPHIC PHOTOS!
Marley was always a hard headed dog.
(Probably why something told me to name him Marley after all)
He barked at the mailman- well every man and dog for that matter, had very selective hearing and was very very active dog. Rumning, digging, and very sneaky at getting what he wanted. He loved chewing shoes, doors and many pillows There were many failed attempts to train him. Besides tricks for treats, he was set in his own ways. He has calmed down a bit since we lost Diesel in Jan of 2013. ( we boarded him at a family memebers kennel & they sold him with no intentions of informing us, horrible experience). I was pregnant with our 2nd son when another family member had a little chiweenie pup that they no longer wanted and no longer cared for. She still had her puppy teeth and since losing diesel, I felt she’d be a good addition to the family.
Being an amateur dog owner, being a high risk pregnancy and I’m sure a few other excuses, Mya ended up pregnant by Marley & gave birth to Domino (rat terrier / chiweenie mix) 2 weeks before I had Cheston July 2013. We thought her due date was the same as mine, but while sleeping in my bed, I woke up to a itty bitty pup curled up at my pillow. But thats a whole’nother post.
2014
It’s the end of March & Marley is out all day again, comes home just to eat and sleep. We chalk it up to a female dog in heat down the road. After running errands one morning we came home to marley with cut wounds, not willing to walk and welping if we tried to move him. The next morning I took him to his vet- they guessed a racoon fight. Ordered prescriptions and sent home on Rimadyl. Since I had a feeling of it being a dog in heat I went ahead and pre purchased his nuetering procedure for once he heals.
2 days later, a Friday afternoon, Marley broke out again. He came home right before a huge storm hit, I had just ran over a nail in my driveway and with a busy weekend ahead.
He wasn’t putting weight on his back leg, had a small cut like wound right next to his tail. I didnt think much of it, thinking that maybe hes learned his lesson and will feel better tomorrow.
I gave him his medicine, put a spare on and rushed to the dealership before closing.
Came home and Marley was still in the same spot. I tried lifting his leg to look for any other wounds & he cried out louder than I’ve ever heard from him. I again looked at the wound near his tail, but it didnt look deep and by that point the small amount of blood was drying up.
We were gone all day Saturday and by Sunday afternoon, Marley was worse.
Zero bowel movements, no appetite, and kept wandering around the house looking lost and welping trying to get comfortable.
I rushed him to his animal hospital, they were busy and I had to do a drop off.
They called back needing to preform an xray because of the pain whenever the vet tried examining his leg.
They called and said I needed to come up because he was ready to go home.
The vet came into the examination room and told me that Marleys wound near his tail was infact a gun shot wound and that his leg was completely broken off from his hip. Viewing the xrays- he explained that the bullet is lodged his his opposite leg & he pointed to all the gun shrapnel in his abdomen.
He started explaining treatment options
A. Surgery to reset the bones with steel rods
B. Amputation
C. Just let it be and manage his pain while needed.
I was in shock.
I also couldn’t afford the estimate costs of these procedures.
I’m now a single mother, 23yrs old with 2 little boys. I don’t have that ‘family’ security net to turn to. I own my home and have bills that have to be paid! All savings have been gone on numerous troubling times this year & I felt like a complete failure. My first baby was in pain and I couldn’t help him.
It took about a week for me to recoup from the ‘denial/shock’ period and I decided that amputation would be the best possible route for my highly energetic Marley.
I’ve been saving and selling online to pay for his surgery. It took awhile for me to accept everything.
Will he be loving life again?
Will he ever fully heal?
What if something happens in surgery? What if he never fully recovers?
Can I take care of him post op?
My mind was racing.
But since reading the tripawds blogs and forums- its helped me with accepting all of this.
This morning (5.6.14) is the day Marley will have his rear leg amputation.
Its been a long rollercoaster road since the senseless act by someone in our neighborhood completely changed our lives, but while I’m still sitting here unable to sleep- anxious for the morning. I also have an overwhelming feeling of happiness.
Im happy he’s now finally one step closer to regaining his life
Happy he’s alive and ‘limping’ great for his condition.
Happy we’ll finally be on the road to recovery!
Wish us luck on our next journey.
RECOVERY!
After getting nuetered. Last week
On the way to one of our weekly vet check ups
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