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Dexter's story - 13 week old puppy (Trauma) ending in leg amputation
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Las Vegas, Nevada
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14 August 2009
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11 April 2012 - 10:58 pm
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Well, I'm glad to hear he's out!

Sending many, many good wishes that Dexter very soon is doing better! 

Her Retired AvatarComet - 1999 to 2011

She departed us unexpectedly  January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.

She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.

137
12 April 2012 - 6:18 am
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So relieved to hear that Dexter made it through the second surgery well!! Whew!! Now for his recovery. Praying that Dexter has a quick recovery so  he can have his Happy Ending at last!! It made me cry when you said that you could see Dexter's Happy Ending coming. Bless you and Dexter!

Albany, GA
Member Since:
6 December 2011
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12 April 2012 - 12:42 pm
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So Dexter is at my local vet now. They want to keep him a few days so he can get some really good rest. We stopped by to see him and I got a really short video of when I first walked up, but I had to end the video cause all I wanted to focus on was him. He looked really good for just having 2 days worth of surgery I was expecting him to look worse. So the vets tried to keep it as minimal cost as possible but it ended up being $1000.00 I have only raised 200.00 and I plan on having a yard sale hopefully this weekend and I hope to raise at least a couple hundred with that, but the vet is working with me on paying it. We are still paying all our extra money every month towards his initial life saving treatment he received right after the attack so paying this vet in a timely manner is going to be hard. Any suggestions on fundraising? I know it was suggested that I do an auction. I really know nothing about how to do an auction or where to get things/what things to get to auction. So if anyone has any experience doing this kind of thing I would love the input. Any other suggestions would be appreciated too. I tried advertising that I was taking donations of money or items for the yard sale on some local facebook pages but I was attacked by alot of people for putting the words pit bull in the story of what happened to Dexter and the moderators deleted the post. So facebook hasn't been a good avenue for sure. I decided against doing a story with the local news because of the attacks against me just on facebook. Not to mention the news would run with the fact that a pit bull did it, when really thats not the point and even after what Jorja did (while I will never own another pit bull) I don't think every pit bull is bad. So if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them..on a lighter note..enjoy the short video I will post more on Saturday when Dexter comes home!

 

Member Since:
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12 April 2012 - 1:05 pm
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Hi...I'm glad that Dexter is on the road to recovery and the surgery went well. I really really hope he continues on his path to have a good quality of life, both physically and mentally.

Now, I am going to stick my neck out here and give my opinion on this and a suggestion. And some may or may not like what I have to say or my view may not be popular but I have been thinking a lot about Dexter's story and his journey. It bothered me that he was attacked by another dog so viciously because I can't even imagine how terrified he must have been. 

Ok, so here goes. Fact is, Dexter was attacked by a pit bull. Pit Bulls are known to be aggressive. I believe they must be handled by a person who has a lot of time to spend properly training them and managing their aggressive tendencies because they are by nature strongly dominant dogs. With the proper training as I mentioned, it doesn't have to be that way, nor do they need become aggressive to the point of attacking another dog they may or may not live with. That being said, Dexter, a puppy, should not have been left a lone with an adult pit bull, let alone any other adult dog, who had already established his position in the household. That was handler error. 

Now that I have aired that....I kind of am wondering why they would delete your post in facebook just for mentioning the words "pit bull". Might it have been because your story elicited a lot negative responses, maybe cursing, some maybe downright aggressive from other people who were upset that Dexter got attacked? Would you feel comfortable posting what you wrote here so we could look at it? 

Your news story is a good idea, but in writing it, you cannot skirt around the fact that his injuries were caused by a pit bull. You said it was not the point, but actually it is. People are going to want to know what happened and what their money is going towards. BUT, you can write the story in a way that shows a tragic story of what can happen with animals aren't properly introduced and that you learned (in a hard way) from the mistake. When you can take your story and use it as a tool to help others and help prevent dog bites (whether by a pit bull or not), I think they would be more inclined to want to give you assistance. If they just see: "Oh my puppy was attacked by my pit bill and now I need help to fix him," they may wonder why you let that  happen in the first place....just saying, people do have a tendency to judge. I am good at writing and can give you a hand if you would really like to get this into the news.  Maybe instead of the headline reading "Puppy attacked by pit bull in owners yard" it could read "Local pet owner emphasizes importance of properly introducing new pets to the household". That way the emphasis isn't on the pit bull, but rather on what was learned from the accident. 

 

Drops in two cents...*plink *plink*

 

Cadence's Mom

Cadence Faye: Born 10/30/04, stepped into our hearts 12/23/2004. Rear leg tumor found 7/24/11 by mom and dad, Xray on 7/25/11, Osteosarcoma suspected 7/26/11, amputation 7/29/11, Carboplatin started 8/23. Met free so far! 

New Zealand
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12 April 2012 - 1:40 pm
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And that tail is still going like mad!!!! Way to go Dexter!!!!

Hope he continues to improve with no probs

Sarah

Las Vegas, Nevada
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14 August 2009
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12 April 2012 - 2:18 pm
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Oh my gosh!  He does look good!  What a trooper!

Her Retired AvatarComet - 1999 to 2011

She departed us unexpectedly  January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.

She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.

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12 April 2012 - 2:25 pm
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Not only that, he has really grown! 

Cadence Faye: Born 10/30/04, stepped into our hearts 12/23/2004. Rear leg tumor found 7/24/11 by mom and dad, Xray on 7/25/11, Osteosarcoma suspected 7/26/11, amputation 7/29/11, Carboplatin started 8/23. Met free so far! 

Albany, GA
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6 December 2011
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12 April 2012 - 3:34 pm
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To Trifod... I know you mean well and I used to feel the way you did escpecially about pit bulls. It had to be the owner not the dog. However that just isn't the case. prior to getting a puppy Jorja my pit bull had  been in just a few altercations with full grown dogs that started over a bone. This was with complete socialization from the time she was a pup she was hugely socialized with people and animals. I took her to work with me every day and everyone at worked loved her she got tons of human contact when she was old enough she started going to the dog park and while her first visit there she was terrified she turned around and started having fun and playing with other dogs. She lived with my mom's 3 cats and 2 dogs to begin with and then I moved in with my sister and her cat and dog. Followed by me moving in with a roommate that had a female rotty mix which is where her problems began. They got in a total of 3 fights the 1 year I lived there. Always over a bone. And before this Jorja was always timid of people even with all the interaction she had with 30+ different people as a puppy. (hence I didn't do that to Jorja - it was something in her) I had her from 4 weeks old and she was never abused or mistreated by anyone, she was my little angel and I spoiled her rotten, but she was also very disciplined she listed well and was a great dog in the house, well trained and as sweet as can be. So with her issues I decided to have a trainer come in to help me. It was bark busters (you can look them up online) they help you establish leadership. They did great, helped me alot with her, but with people it just took her getting to know them before she would relax. She was NEVER EVER EVER blatenly agressive with dogs she came in contacted with it was only a few fights here and there. So I talked with bark busters about the possibility of getting another dog and they felt she would do fine. They suggested very young puppy and male since she was female. So I got a puppy much later. I introuduce them slowly with Jorja wearing muzzle and slowly let them meet before ever trusting them together. I never left them in the house loose together alone while I was away. Puppy was in Kennel Jorja was out in the house. The attack happened 1 month after bringing the puppy home while I was there in the yard watching them. I saw the look on her face change and her start to charge him for NO REASON. There was something wrong with Jorja that I can only attribute to her breeding. She probably came from a line of fighters and they were bred for those bad traits. I saw her at the local flea market..covered in fleas emaciated and I had to save her. I did everything for her, but those traits were bred deep in her and there was nothing I could do to change that...so I feel like I have laid everything out there for everyone to know. Do I regret getting Dexter...every day. I feel responsible for the loss of Jorja's life and the pain and suffering that Dexter is going through- even though I did everything "right", everything I "could" do. I will always feel guilt, "what if I just hadn't gotten Dexter" -- but if I hadn't Jorja could have done that to my nephew or my future child or someone else. So everything happens for a reason and all I can do from here is look forward and do what ever is humanly possible of me to give Dexter the best life I can.

 

As for what I posted on the pages on facebook its on my facebook page for Dexter but I will copy and paste here.

"Dexter was attacked by another dog when he was 12 weeks old. He had 7 broken ribs and his front leg was broken near the shoulder joint. He had surgery to repair the leg but with him being so young the pins, that were place in his arm to secure the bone, backed out after only a week. So he had another surgery to replace the pins and it was discovered that his growth plate in his shoulder had shifte...d which meant that the leg would not grow properly and had to have the arm amputated. Shortly after the amputation he lost all use of his back end. With further investigating we realized he had a fracture on one of his vertebrae that had gotten worse and caused paralysis. After a week of no use in the back end at all I started seeing improvement, he started moving his legs in his sleep. He was able to stand if I positioned his legs, before long he started taking a step or two before falling over and then he got to where he could walk pretty good with just a few mis-steps. However, in the last week that has started to deteriorate. He has started to bow out one of the back legs, while the other one turns inward and his back foot lays down all the way and to the side (hard to describe) as a result he falls more, he gets tired after only a few steps and has lost alot of motivation to even try to walk. He has also started having some incontinence which he hasn't had since he was able to walk on his own. The vet feels like he would do well if he could have surgery to repair the injury but we don't have the money to pay for the surgery. We are still trying to pay off the bill from all his previous surgeries. So we are asking for help whether it be a small donation of money or even items that can be sold at a yard sale to raise funds so that Dexter can have surgery and walk again."
 
The only thing I changed is "pit bull" to "another dog"- after everyone attacked me I took the words pit bull out. and yes they removed the post because of the things people were saying.
In your heart, where I belong.
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9 February 2011
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144
12 April 2012 - 3:39 pm
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I wanted to speak to Heather about the "handler error" part of this story. I don't think that is Krista's situation. In her original post/description of this, she says that Dexter was attacked after living with Jorja (the pit bull) for about a month, and the attack came while she (Krista) was in the yard with both dogs. I don't think anyone would expect Jorja to go after Dexter after living with him for a month. And since she was in the yard with them both, they weren't unsupervised.

I really just want to see Krista find some good way to raise the money to help with this. It's a wonderful opportunity that Dexter got because he had a boatload of care donated. I made a donation to Dexter's care through PayPal. To be honest, I wouldn't have donated to this if I thought Krista had been negligent. The very reason I did was because I thought she did everything right. Should the introduction time have taken longer than a month? I don't know. Until Jorja attacked Dexter, she seemed delighted to live with him.

I had one of my dogs almost kill another of my dogs...after living together for 8 years and while I was standing right beside them. I learned this: Dog communication is a mystery and I don't have a clue what gets transmitted. I think Jorja had her reasons but we'll never know them. And her reasons may have had everything to do with her breed, or they may have had nothing to do with her breed. I'm just happy Dexter is getttng another chance. If anyone else wants to do something that will make them feel warm and fuzzy, contact Krista about her PayPal info. smiley

Shari

From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.

Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/

Las Vegas, Nevada
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14 August 2009
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12 April 2012 - 4:07 pm
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I, too want to speak up in Dexter's mom defense.  I had it happen also and my dogs who were properly introduced.  And it happened with a lab mix, not a pit bull to Comet who was way smaller.  I had a chow with me at the time who, by the way helped break up the fight.  Chows have no better of a rep than pits and my chow didn't attack the underdog, she grabbed the big dog. 

I was lucky as Comet was only somewhat superficially mauled in the chest area.  Dexter's mom wasn't.  My guilt of letting it happen still lives with me. I can still see it happening in slow motion.  It manifested into a terrible protective behavior for Comet the rest of her life. I have horrible fears of dog fights now. It took me years to talk about what happened that day. 

So, I know it can happen and I hope you, Dexter's mom will be a better person than I was on handling the guilt.

Her Retired AvatarComet - 1999 to 2011

She departed us unexpectedly  January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.

She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.

Albany, GA
Member Since:
6 December 2011
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146
12 April 2012 - 4:29 pm
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I really appreciate the support.

Cometdog- I definitely understand the slow motion play backs. Right after it happened and Dexter was fighting for his life I would think what if I had just made the dogs come back in and gone to bed instead of letting them play first and in the moment that thought hit my mind I would see a flash of it happening some other time with no one here to help me while I watch Jorja kill Dexter and there is nothing I could do. And then it would flash again me trying harder to get Jorja off of Dexter and her attacking me. I played every senerio in my head a million times initially and I really thought I was going to need counciling. Had Dexter not made it I probably would have. Dexter's care and need for me to be strong is what has gotten me through this. I knew I had to move on and let go so I could help him get better.

New Zealand
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6 November 2011
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12 April 2012 - 5:00 pm
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Dexters mum - you definately done everything possible to prevent this from happening in the first place but sometime things still occur from no fault of anyone. The main thing is that Dexter is getting better. What a crap thing to have to go through and the miss placed guilt is very hard to deal with (I still feel an incredible amount of guilt and nightmares about the loss of one of our dogs) well done for putting that aside and concentracting on whats important and not worrying about what cant be changed. Remember that you have done the very best for Dexter and that waggy tail of his. We are all hoping for the best and if I could I would definately be making a donation towards his care but I just cant 🙁 and im sorry. Good luck with the fundraising I hope it all works out.

Dexter keep up the awesome attitude buddy, you are amazing!!!

Sarah

valentina
148
12 April 2012 - 6:06 pm
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Awww!! Look at him!! He looks so happy!! He does look really good!! I am so so happy that he made it through and he is doing so well!! I do think it is a good idea for him to stay at the vets for a few days so they can keep an eye on him. Thanks for the video!! That is so great to see!!

I do agree that there was no way you could have known that Jorga would attack Dexter in that way. My 2 female Dogs got into a few fights after they had been living together for several years! I got my Doberman Emalee first. Then I got my Great Dane Valentina when Emalee was 1 yr 3mos old. They loved each other! They played and played and were always together. I always supervised their playing when Valentina was little because I was afraid that Emalee would hurt Valentina accidentally because at that time Emalee was so much bigger than Valentina. Everything was fine for several years and then all of a sudden one day Emalee attacked Valentina. I was in the kitchen so I didn't see what happened.  I screamed really loud and the fight broke up. It really scared me. Then a while later I was in the living room and it happened again but this time I saw what happened. Valentina just walked by Emalee while she was chewing her bone. They both had bones. They were those kind like you gave Dexter in that one video. The giant one. But theirs were smaller. The fight broke up more quickly that time but I still didn't realize that there was a problem brewing. Then another night I was watching tv in the living room and Valentina was sleeping on her bed with her bone beside her and Emalee walked by her. Valentina attacked Emalee but Emalee became more aggressive than Valentina and she bit holes in Valentinas ears and face. I had to take her to the vet but they said that she didn't need stitches or anything. After that I realized that it was those bones that seemed to be the problem. After that I only gave them the bones if one or both of them were crated. Then I noticed that there were some nylabones laying around the house and they never seemed protective of those. So I got a couple more of those and always crated when they had the other bones and they never ever got into one of those kind of fights again. Thank goodness. It was super scary. I am so sorry that you had to go through what you did. I know it was terribly awful. Sorry to talk so much about Dogs fighting but I was just trying to make a point that any Dogs could get into fights anytime and it can be so unexpected. I don't think it was your fault. Dogs can be unpredictable even if you think you know them well. Hoping so much that you can somehow raise the money to pay off Dexter's bills. Then after he is all healed up you two can move on and enjoy each other like it should be. You will have a very strong bond because of all you have gone through together. 

149
12 April 2012 - 6:11 pm
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Sorry,I did it again! I forgot to log in so I had to log in as a guest or my post would be erased! I need to pay more attention!

Angel and Valentina Angel Dane

San Diego, CA
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29 October 2010
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150
12 April 2012 - 6:24 pm
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As for your original question about fundraising - maybe you could try that ChipIn web site? (www.chipin.com) I've seen folks use that before to raise money for surgery for their dog.

I'm afraid I've never done an auction before so don't have any advice on how one goes about setting one of those up.

Love the video of Dexter. He looks great considering the surgeries he's been through!

We're pulling for you, Dexter! (And Dexter's mom - I hope you are at peace with everything! No guilt!)

Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!

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