Meet Tinkerbell: Eight month old, purebred Labrador Retriever, female, spayed.
Named by our 4-year-old son, Tinkerbell fits her to a T-smart, zippy, spunky. Tinkerbell came to live with our family when she was just 8 weeks old. We were smitten from day one. Due to medical reasons (which I will explain in further detail below), it is with huge heartache that we have to consider rehoming this sweet girl if we are unable to find funding for surgery. Before I go into that however, I’d like to explain why this sister-puppy has our hearts. She is so friendly! Her little butt wiggles uncontrollably just at the sight of any kid, adult, male, female, other dogs… everyone! She does not have an aggressive bone in her body (including lack of food aggression). She loves to play! The kiddie pool in our backyard has been used more in these past several months by Tinkerbell than it has in the past four and half years by our children. Especially in those hot summer months when the sun beat down on her black fur, we’d find her just lying in the pool with a huge puppy grin to cool off. In open water she’s a bit tentative with the act of swimming but once she’s comfortable, it’s her happy place.
Tinkerbell has been quite spoiled in our family. She gets to be with us almost all the time. I am a stay at home mom with two little boys. She hangs out with us inside and out, loves going for car rides, playing at the park with us and loves to be anywhere we are! The downside is being alone is definitely NOT a strong point for her. She gets really sad and is quite vocal when she knows we’re leaving and she is not invited. She has been alone for about 2 hours at a time-during which time she is either in her crate or in the backyard. Luckily, a Kong frozen with peanut butter and an antler to chew on help with separation and usually she’s quiet by the time I get back.
She is super smart and has learned very quickly!! She is housetrained. She obeys (usually): sit, down, here (comes when whistled at), drop, leave it, shake, in your bed. Because she loves to be with us, she typically will stay near and loves helping me take garbage cans to the curb off leash. Prior to us learning about her injury, she LOVED running off leash around our park as I walked and would consistently check in with me when I called her. Initially we walked daily and she did great with a harness. She’s both food motivated and wants to please, which makes training her fun and quite easy!
Reflecting on all the wonderful things about her makes it that much harder for us to even consider giving her up! Tinkerbell has a chronic limp. In spite of working with her vet, restricting activity (no long walks, no chasing balls, no playing with all her puppy friends), trying out anti-inflammatories, we have yet to see improvements in her limp. If you ask her, she’d say, “What limp?” She jumps, runs, plays, and won’t tell you she’s hurting (except an occasional yelp), but I see it especially when she wakes up after sleeping, or when she walks up or down stairs (we’ve been carrying her, but occasionally she sneaks in a couple). Her orthopedic vet recently did a CT scan and found Tink has bilateral elbow dysplasia, fractures in both of her elbows and a lesion on her humerus. She needs surgery that my family cannot afford.
Our family has two young, active, rough and tumble boys. We are an active family and live in a house with stairs. Because of that all, it is super important she has surgery to allow her to have the best quality of life she deserves.
If you would consider helping us fund Tinkerbell’s surgery, we would be forever grateful. She’s a special part of our family and we would hate to have to give her up.
