Tipperary (called Tippy, for short!) is a 2.5 year old Chihuahua pom mix that myself and my boyfriend Kyle adopted in Ottawa, Canada in September 2013.  She was surrendered to the Ottawa Humane Society with a severely broken femur and pelvis and the young couple that had her could not afford treatment. They were faced with option of putting her down or surrendering her in hopes that the Humane Society would treat her. Lucky for us, they made the right decision and after 2 painful weeks with a few close calls, the Humane Society deemed Tippy fit for surgery.

Back tracking a bit, we think Tippy had a bit of rough life even before she was surrendered. She was extremely timid and fearful of men. I had never seen a dog so scared of everything- people, noises.. just about everything. Right away, from the first time I met her, she latched herself to me. Chihuahuas are very 'one person' oriented and so this was very typical of her breed. However, she was so protective of me that when Kyle would come close (especially late at night) she would snap at him. Every time anyone ever tried to pet her or touch her, she'd look like she was expecting a beating. This behaviour and the history given by her owners which told us in her two short years she had upwards of 5 different owners, gave us a hint that she may have been abused. Also, the Humane Society did around $3,000 of dental surgery on her.. indicative still of abuse or neglect. 

If you met Tippy this summer in the Humane Society, you wouldn't believe she's the same dog as she is today. She's so much more friendly, far less timid and just such a joy. She has never chewed anything in our house (might have to do with the fact she lost 7 teeth this summer but still awesome!), has only had a small handful of accidents inside the house in the first few weeks.. only barks when I'm home by myself and hears someone come to the door. She's gotten much friendlier with Kyle and men in general.

As for her leg, she healed so well. She lost her back left leg, and because she's only 6.1lbs people hardly notice. When they do, they're always so shocked because she's so fast and nothing holds her back! She goes down stairs very confidently, but not a fan of going up stairs unless they are carpeted and short! We do have a lot of snow here now, and that throws her off a lot because she can get a bit stuck if she gets too confident. She's such a survivor!

I'm so proud to own a tripawd. I never saw myself with a chihuahua as I grew up with big 80lb labs, but I love this 6.1lb ball of love! As our first dog, we lucked out! She brings so much joy to our lives and we're so lucky to have found her! Anyway, I'm happy to have found a community of people who love their tripawds as much as I do! I was reading some of the stories and was nearly brought to tears multiple times. I'm so happy there are so many other happy tripawds out there!

Merry Christmas everyone!