Hi!
I’m Harper <3
I came to the Sanctuary after a very kind member of the public found me straying and after some work, they managed to catch me. Although I was microchipped it was unregistered and no one came forward to claim me so the Sanctuary took me in.
Sadly, I was not in good shape at all; I was extremely emaciated, filthy, covered in heavy matting, weak and exhausted and completely shut down and sadly I was extremely fearful of people. I struggled to stand and the Sanctuary carers were very worried about me so they took me straight to the vets to get me checked over. Thankfully my blood tests came back normal and the kind vets took the worst of the heavy matting off me and gave me a small meal that I wolfed down.
I got lots of TLC from my carers and I slowly began to trust people but it took a few weeks before I felt safe and could trust them enough to start moving forward. They saw how much I loved food so they would sit and hand feed each meal to me so I slowly started to come out of my shell and even did demanding barks & stomps to be fed.
These days, I’m a bundle of joy; I have built a really strong bond with my carers and gained confidence around people, thanks to their wonderful patience, and I love letting everyone know when dinner is even a second later than usual!
Health wise I had been improving, slowly putting on weight, had a dental for my terrible and infected teeth; after several extractions I definitely felt better for it! I had X-rays done on my hips as they seemed off and both my carers and the vets were shocked that I have managed so well considering how bad my hip looks! My carer says I cope amazingly well with my abnormal hip joint and happily run and play in my paddock! I am now on daily pain relief to make sure I am comfortable as a big surgery just isn’t an option for me since I manage so well and it could make matters worse, let alone I wouldn’t cope with that kind of recovery!
It is clear I’ve been bred from a lot in the past but now I’ve been spayed which was good as the vets found several cysts on my ovaries. I also came in with a few lumps one of which was very large suspected tumour under my front leg, so I had a tumour removal operation and I recovered well and feel much more comfortable without that lump behind my leg!
Unfortunately, after my vets had a look at my removed tumour, it turns out that it’s a advanced pigmented tumour, believed to be most common with a melanoma. This means that the tumour that was removed is most likely a secondary one due to its abnormal location and that there is still a primary tumour somewhere.
The generally estimated lifespan for dogs with a similar tumour as me is between 6 and 18 months, however this is not set in stone and we all have our fingers crossed that I can stay romping around my paddock for years to come!
After discussing every option my vets and carers believe that due to the size of the tumour, the likelihood that it’s already metastasized to other area and the report on my removed tumours mitotic index indicates that it is a very aggressive type. Because of this and my behavioural struggles, my sanctuary has come to the decision to keep me as a resident so that they can monitor me for any changes while I continue enjoying the best second chance I could ever hope for.
I still can’t cope in indoor environments, and trips to the vets are extremely stressful for me, so my carers have been trying to slowly work on helping me feel more comfortable in these spaces to reduce my stress as much as possible. I love my days here and couldn’t ask for a more loving and patient environment to spend the rest of my days in. My carers are keeping slowly working on building my confidence and trying to get me used to indoor spaces (it’s still a big NOPE from me though!) In the hopes I could potentially go to a foster home if I wanted to but for now that’s still a no from me as I really love living here and getting all the attention and freedom I never had! I love getting into mischief and feel safe and loved here and find anything out of my safe space and routine far too much (I won’t even walk a different route to my field as this is my safe route!) So although my carers continue to work with me I think I might just stay here where I am safe and loved <3
Please Sponsor Me
To help my wonderful carers continue ensuring that I have the best time ever while I still can.
So my sanctuary can be sure that they can pay towards any and all veterinary treatment that I may need.
To give me the chance to feel unconditional love for the rest of my life; after such a horrific start to my life, I have finally found a place where I can belong.
And so I can keep harrassing my carers for fuss, food, love and everything else under the sun!!!