If Only Every Home Was SO Amazing!

Fred is 25% Shar Pei.  Since adopting him, Scott and I have been fascinated by the breed.  We both hoped to eventually meet a Pei in person… and then one walked right into our lives. 

It was an average day at the Humane Society, when I went to the front door to find a man and his son holding a three-month-old pure-bred Shar Pei puppy in their arms.  They had paid $1200 for the puppy, but their landlord refused to let them keep him.  They wanted to know if we could hold him for awhile until they worked it out.  I told them they needed to contact a boarding kennel or a pet-sitter, the best we could do was put the puppy in foster care and they could apply to adopt him back.  There would be no guarantee that he would still be available, or that they would be approved to adopt him.  Discouraged, they left with the puppy.  I worried about what would happen to the little fellow, certain I would never see him again. 
 
Miraculously, they showed up a few hours later, signed the surrender forms, handed me his AKC papers and officially gave him up.  They had spent all of their money on purchasing him and had nothing left for his care or boarding.  It was hard to watch them surrender their baby, but I also knew it was definitely in the dog’s best interest… little did I know just HOW much better it was going to be for him. 

The puppy needed a series of vaccinations before being ready for adoption, that meant that he would have to stay in foster care for a few weeks before being advertised for adoption (the family never did come back, or even call to check on him).  Of course, I volunteered to foster him and excitedly took the little wrinkle baby home.  Immediately, Scott and I feel in love his tender personality, his playful tendencies and his enormous head – giving that dog pills was like sticking my hand into a dark pit of no return.  We named him Teddy, because he resembled a giant squishy Teddy Bear.  It took only a few minutes for him to mesh right into our pack and become a real member of the household. 
 

About two weeks after coming to stay with us, Teddy and another puppy were playing on the floor next to me.  Suddenly, he let out a shrill, house-rattling, scream of pain.  I ran to him and noticed he was limping.  X-rays showed that he had broken BOTH front legs due to a genetic disease that caused his bones to be very brittle.  Normal puppy play was enough to severely break both of his legs.  Teddy underwent surgery to repair the breaks, pins were inserted and then he was put on kennel rest for a month (we did special fundraisers to help cover the immense expenses).  He spent a lot of time on our laps, getting kisses and snuggles.  When he was finally recovered, he went up for adoption.  We knew he had to find a very special home that understood Shar Pei’s and the number of health problems they have, especially with Teddy’s additional conditions.

 
Then an angel came along.  I knew she had to be a great match because she shared the names of my best friend and my dog… it was fate!  For purposes of this blog, I will call her K.  She was already the mama to a bear-coat Shar Pei named, Simba.  Amazingly enough, it turned out that Simba came from the same breeder that Teddy did… and he too has genetic problems.  (LESSON:  RESEARCH YOUR BREEDERS PEOPLE! BETTER YET – RESCUE!) 
 
It was clear that Simba had been given everything a dog could ever ask for, including extensive medical treatments.  I had no doubt that we had found the perfect home for Teddy.  After a tear-filled goodbye, K, Simba and her mom took Teddy to his new home.  They made multiple trips back to Winston-Salem for follow-up visits, driving over four hours each way, just so that he could keep his same veterinarian.  They even stopped by the Humane Society for a visit on their way through (making my day)! 
 
From K’s updates, I learned that Teddy has gone on to develop additional health problems, (below you can see her most recent update).  While I hate that K and her family are going through so much heartache and work right now, I am thankful everyday to know that Teddy Bear is so well cared for.  They renew my faith that what we do… the sacrifices we make… are worth it.  He came from an irresponsible breeder, went to an irresponsible family, suffered through turmoil and pain… but found the most special family he could find.  There is nothing more a foster can ask for.  What a blessing!

K’s most recent update (send your prayers please):

**GOOD NEWS FO TEDDY BEAR** For all of my awesome friends who have been following poor Teddy’s ordeal, we are still in search of an alternative to surgery, we’ve made progress and had set backs but we’re still at it! and this time!!… We may have figured it out!!.. So for 2 months or more he has been on a rice diet with puree veggies. His coat and eyes have dramatically improved, however once the steroid shot wears off he is back to shaking and tearing up his ears. Which leads them to think it is def. a food allergy. The thickness of his nose and jaws leads the dermatologist to think his ears are equally as thick and the allergies are working against him causing them to inflame more. So we will continue with the daily ear cleaning with steroids, added a week long regime of high doasge steroids by mouth to reduce the “thickness”, and has been placed on a new diet of royal canin hypoallergenic hp. Thinking positive =) keep fighting Teddy Bear <3