Honorary Tripawd Spokesdog, Nellie B. Dawg is Official!

We are total foster failures. Honorary Tripawd Spokesdog Nellie is here to stay!

Looking for Love (in the Wrong Dogs)

People say that when you stop looking for the love of your life, they’ll come to you. Well that’s exactly what happened when we stopped looking for what we considered the “ideal” representative of the Tripawds Nation. Several months after Tripawds Spokesdog Wyatt Ray got his wings, we created a criteria for our next rescue dog. It looked something like this:

• must be a front-leg amputee, or ideally a Tripawd prosthetic candidate
• must have pointy ears, preferably a German Shepherd but just about any herding breed would do.
• must be friendly with people and other dogs
• must love car rides, new places and adventures

It didn’t matter if the dog was male or female, young or old. As long as the dog fit the other criteria, we were good with that. We even joined Pawdoption Guide (more about this service in a future Tripawd Talk Radio episode!).

Some dogs came really close, but none were the best match for us. It seemed like we were never going to have a dog again.

Then Nellie appeared. We were smitten.

With 48 hours to her euthanasia deadline at the shelter, we took her on as a foster dog for two big reasons. First, she needed out of the shelter immediately. Second, we wanted to find out more about that wonky leg she was lugging around. Something about her just called out to us.

Meet Honorary Tripawd Spokesdog Nellie B. Dawg

As our foster dog, Nellie impressed us with so many pawesome characteristics.

She has an easygoing personality, and loves traveling. New places? She loves them! This dog doesn’t care when her house on wheels moves around.

As she showed us on her AAHA Day vet visit, Nellie also doesn’t mind hanging out at the veterinary clinic. She also isn’t bothered by getting her nails trimmed, or being groomed.

She seems to like other dogs too, but hasn’t played with any just yet. We are taking that department real slow, until we build a stronger bond.

About That Wonky Spare Leg …

Nellie’s not an amputee. But her front left leg was broken at some point, and not properly cared for. Her rehab therapy visit revealed that she can use it for balance, but it’s not serving her as a working leg. 

For now, her leg stays. At her advanced age (estimated to be about 8), we don’t want to put her through an amputation if she can wear a support brace to help her mobility. That’s something we are looking into during the next few months. 

Amputee or not, she’s our honorary Tripawd spokesdog!

We couldn’t be happier with this sweet pup. Nellie’s affectionate, loving, and mellow personality feels like a gift from Spirit Jerry and Angel Wyatt Ray. She has all the personality qualities we could have hoped for, and then some. As of August 1st, Dogust Day (universal birthday of all shelter animals), she is now part of our family. Hopefully you’ll get to meet her some day and be just as charmed as we are!