Buddy & Lucy
By Beth Raguine
My husband, Anthony, and I adopted two doxies from Dena at Southern California Dachshund Rescue in March of 2000. Buddy was two years old at the time and was very shy of people. It seemed like he had been abused by his former owner and he did not know how to play or even what grass was. Lucy was four years old. She had been adopted out once before and returned to Rescue, because she snapped at a child when her owner let her run wild at a party the first weekend she was adopted.
The past two years have been absolutely a joy thanks to our "kids." Buddy took some work, because he had separation anxiety (now that he knows what it means to be loved it has stopped). But he is absolutely the sweetest little guy. All he wants to do is sit on your lap. He gets cranky if he does not have two hours of undivided attention each night!
Lucy is our little guard dog. She thinks she's a police dog in disguise. She doesn't like small children, and she is very possessive of my husband. She had a bit of an aggressive streak, which we worked on with her. She is now our little princess - spoiled rotten, and loving it.
I had to write and tell you about our latest challenge with Buddy. Like too many other doxies, Buddy suffered from compressed disks in his spine. He lost use of one of his back legs one day. We took him to the vet, and the vet put him on meds. Next day he was paralyzed in both back legs. By the time we got him to the neurologist at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, we were told he had maybe 20% chance of walking even with surgery. We went ahead with surgery and it was successful.
Within two weeks, Buddy was hobbling about on his own. By week three, he was actively moving one of his back legs; and by week four, he had full control of one back leg and about 80% control of the other. At his one-month follow up, the neurologist was amazed that he is doing so well. She thought the best we could hope for would be spastic walking, but he has actually regained feeling in his legs and control. We are so proud of our little Buddy and he continues to get better!
I just wanted to share this message, because I want to get the word out for people to not give up hope when this happens to their pet. Unfortunately, it is such a common problem, and we really didn't know what to do when it happens. I scoured the Internet looking for tips and support. Thankfully we have pet insurance (please recommend this for people who adopt a dachshund), which helped with the bills. We look forward to many more wonderful years with our little Buddy and Princess Lucy.
My husband and I are considering adopting another doxie or two. If we do, we will be contacting Dena. We are also talked my mom into adopting from Dena (she owned one for 12 years).
Thank you, again, and take care,
Beth Raguine
Buddy