Hope is a sweet Dal pup who was found weak, malnourished, dragging her back legs, apparently dumped and left to die in a field in KY. She was found trying to crawl to a nearby house using only her front legs to pull herself along. Through our members in Ohio, she found her way to me in Delaware. The x-rays that were taken of Hope revealed that she had a fractured pelvis on the right side. The pelvic bone is pushed toward the spine. The vet seems to think that the injury was caused by someone stepping on her, and that's probably why she was dumped. We also found that Hope is deaf, but do not think the "people" who dumped her knew this. We named her Hope because she never gave up hers.

Hope did really well while in foster, but she would do well anywhere. She started walking using her back legs, but dragging one, and gradually regained full use of both back legs. She will always be somewhat smaller on her right back end, and will never be able to run very fast or for very long or very far. Hope actually hops, bringing both back legs forward at the same time, but it is so cute, and she does it so well! She is an amazing little girl, with the sweetest personality and just a little bundle of love. She will also probably develop arthritis at an early age, but hopefully some homeopathic remedies may help to avoid that happening. Hope loves everyone. While in foster I took her to work with me, and there was no one that did not get their face washed. She is so full of kisses.

When we first took Hope into the rescue, we posted a note about her on the egroups lists. One of the listers saw her picture and immediately fell in love. She emailed us right away and said she wanted to adopt her. The questionnaire she filled out looked like the perfect home until we saw she lived in Florida. We felt that was just too far away, and really out of our area. So first we told her that Hope was deaf, which we had not made known at that time. This did not phase her, she wanted her anyway. Then we told her that she was just too far away and out of our area. She said she understood but could I please keep her informed of Hope's progress. The comment she made was " I just love every polka dot on her cute little body!". And she would email me often checking to see how Hope was doing. The more we thought about it and saw just how much this lady loved our little Hope, the more we knew that this was where Hope was meant to go.

So - on May 27th, 2000, we started the 2 day transport of Hope from Delaware to Florida. Hope was about 3 and 1/2 months old at the time, and believe me when I say it was so hard to give her up. But we have never regretted our decision. Hope's new mom is well aware of her health problems and watches over her constantly. She loves her so very much, and keeps in touch with us, sending pictures and keeping us updated. She thanks us all the time for allowing her to adopt Hope, and tells us how much Hope has enriched her life, and the life of her dal also. And from what we have seen, Hope is a happy puppy, loved and lovingly cared for. For a little tiny pup who never gave up hope, this proves that there are

Happy Endings!
Hope's Foster Mom