I am looking for a WONDERFUL home for a stray dog, Dexter, who I took in.  He is not a tripawd, but he is the friend of a tripawd, so I thought it would be ok to post here. :-) 

I usually stay on the blogs more, but I thought I should post on the forums because I need some help.  There are are more details on my blog… but I will try to summarize!  About 2 and a half weeks ago I found a stray dog in front of my house (in Chicago).  Animal control was going to take him, but I was afraid they would euthanize him, so I took him in.  I began contacting everyone I knew to try and find a home for him.  We found a few prospective homes and things were looking good.  I brought him to the vet to have him looked at and to get his shots before we brought him to his new home.  The vet told us that he had heartworm.  So, anyone who was interested in Dexter, became a lot less interested.  I understand that it would be difficult to adopt a dog with heartworm, but I would really love to find him a forever home.

The vet thinks that Dexter is about 8 years old.  He looks like he definitely has some German Shepherd in him, and maybe some Chow or Collie.  He is a real sweetie!  He has been great with us, our little kids, our other dogs, and our cat!  He was starving when we found him, but has never shown any aggression… even around food.  He is playful, but not too hyper.  He loves to be around people, but doesn't freak out when you leave.  He has been really good with housetraining.  We are working on crate training.  He doesn't love the cage, but he is getting used to it.  He doesn't know any commands, but he is very teachable!  He responds well to "no" and also responds well to food!

When we found Dexter it looked like he had been on the streets for awhile.  He had burrs in his fur.  He had some cuts and scratches on his face.  He has scars on his neck.  He has scars from either fly bites or frostbite, on his ears.  He needs to be neutered.  But, in just two weeks here he has adjusted so well!  He has gone from around 30 pounds, to over 46 pounds!  The vet says he needs to gain at LEAST 10 more pounds.  It looks like Dexter has had some bad things happen to him, but he deserves a second chance.  If you, or anyone you know is looking to open your heart to a dog, please consider Dexter.  Thanks to generous donations, we are able to start his heartworm treatment this week, and we would be able to pay for at least most of the cost of heartworm treatment even if he is adopted now. 

Thanks for reading!

Kristin, Toto, and the gang

Best of luck with the heartworm treatment!  Harley had heartworms when we got him from the shelter.  It's no fun to keep them quiet for so long … no walks, no playing, no nothing.  We have our paws crossed all goes well!!!

-Gwen & Harley

Thank you for your replies and your support!  We are starting the heartworm treatment and still looking for a home for Dex.  I will keep you updated!

Kristin