Hellooooo

Old timers will know me. It's been a fair amount of time since I've been here. So for the old timers, you can skip the next couple paragraphs and cut to the update.

Cora's story- Cora's mom was a stray and something really horrible happened to Cora in the womb or at birth. She suffered brain damage and her right front leg was deformed. Some of the effects of the brain damage are that she is blind, has numbness in half her muzzle, a week bite and general clumsiness. She shouldn't have survived but Cora is a stubborn girl with a strong will to leave. When Cora was about 6 weeks, mom and the pups were picked up and taken to a shelter. She did ok at first but really started to struggle. They took her for *some* testing and then stuck her in a foster home. They didn't dig too deep into what was going on with her. They made the decision to amputate her leg and I took her in as a foster while she was still recovering from that. It was very clear to me she had major issues and that she was a huge fighter who wouldn't give up so I adopted her so she'd get her chance.

She couldn't walk much at all, and only went in circles. She cried constantly and didn't like to be touched at all. she had troubles eating because of the numbness in her muzzle, blindness and weak bite. She kept learning and fighting and even then, when she was pretty dang miserable, would play. So I began to take her to various vets and specialists who weren't hopeful. The only one who gave guarded hope was the neurologist.  He said her brain damage was not degenerative so she wouldn't get worse, he just wasn't sure how much she could learn. A few months after her first amp she fell, badly injuring her stump. It was really horrible. it's rare to have a stump left on the front, and with Cora it was a huge mistake. it was inevitable that she would fall on it and injure it. In a way, it was a good thing because it turned out the stump had been a chronic source of pain and with it gone Cora was a much happier girl. She began to learn and grow.

Cora now- Cora is doing great. She loves being outside and exploring. She does that on 3 legs. We are on hiatus from her cart until I can figure out how to control the dam thing. Cora is like a hyperactive drunk when she's in the cart. She zigs and zags and does circles and I can't keep up and she has crashed it a few times. She travels with me and adjusts really well except when there are scary dogs around (Thanksgiving was a bit rough). She has food allergies and acid reflux and those issues worry me more than her being a tripawd. She still continues to learn. This summer, her big adventure was wandering all around finding things she could get her front leg up on. She gets along with both my cats and most of the time with Floyd. We had a pitbull living with us for several months and she got along ok with her, but she found it stressful when the pitt and floyd would play. There's another dog that comes over fairly regularly and it's pretty annoying with Cora but Cora handles herself well. Cora also likes visiting the dog park. She has her bad days when she is out of sorts, most of those are related to either over stimulation or food allergies. As she ages she becomes more and more cuddly. She is not the dog who hated to be touched and she demands attention from me. She also likes getting pats from other people as long as they know to talk to her. I don't usually have to warn her I am patting her, but I have to tell her "I'm letting go" because she leans all her weight into my pats and if I just let go, she splats which sort of ruins the moment. 

By and large she is easier than Floyd who still is reactive and ...well.. insane. For example, people are letting off fireworks tonight and Cora is fine. Floyd is a wreck. So, there's the update. For those wondering if your dog can handle amputation, think about Cora. Imagine a tipsy, blind, 3-legged tripawd. If she can do it, your dog probably can too!