| ADOPTED
MARCH 1st, 2003!
Yoda
came into rescue at about 4 months old. He  was
found running along the streets of Northampton County, PA
and shortly afterward found his way to TOTTSHR.
Little
Yoda was perfect in every way except one—his right front
paw is misshapen, thought to be the result of a congenital
defect rather than an injury.
In
January 2003, Yoda visited the orthopedic specialist to evaluate
his paw. In an attempt to minimize the surgery he may need,
the doctor wanted to try immobilizing his wrist to see if
that will ease the pressure caused by the awkward angle of
his growth plate and, ultimately, to see if the new leg position
will have a positive effect on the structure and angle of
the wrist as he grows.
Here
are photos of Yoda sporting his rakish blue bandage and his
"party hat" (a term his favorite vet tech uses to
refer to the Elizabethan collar that prevents him from eating
his bandage).
On
March 1st, 2003, Yoda found his new home with Penny and Gil
and their husky gang including Meeshka, Nova, and Sam. Sam
is also a member of the Toby Friends club. You can read about
Sam by clicking here.
Yoda
was renamed Loki and is living and loving his new family.
His
new home writes:
It
was really love at first sight when he was posted on the TOTTSHR
web site under the "available" dogs. Little Yoda,
with his cute puppiness, just stared through my heart and
I said to myself "gotta get me another gimpy chewable,
and he's the one".
Of
course, I had to convince the hubby that we really needed
4 huskies, and another one with special needs at that, but
that was pretty easy. We did want to make sure that we had
the resources to care for what we had before we made a decision,
and finally in February we did decide that we had plenty of
room in our hearts and wallets to make sure he had all the
love and care he would ever need.
Sam
(bionic hip puppy) was not too keen on having him around at
first. He was the PUPPY, and nobody was going to take his
place, but after a careful (and long) sniff, they made a truce
and began to play like old friends. Soon, Meeshka and he were
playing tug o' Sammy; he and Sam were inseparable, sharing
the foot of the bed with us curled up in balls to give them
enough room. At first we had to remind Sam to play gentle,
but soon it was Yoda that needed the reminding.
Yoda
was soon christened Loki, named after the Norse god who personified
mischief, deceit, greed, temptation, malice, and similar notions.
He was a major character in Norse myth, almost always playing
the role of the antagonist. However, he could also be helpful
and beneficial, even if he usually had to undo the maliciousness
he had wrought. It was the perfect name, and fit him well.
After
being splinted for 3 months on the advice of the rescue's
orthopedist, in hopes that it would keep his foot in a normal
position so that surgery could be performed once his growing
had stopped, we took him to our orthopedist (the same one
who gave Sam his bionic hip), and found that while his leg
is perfectly fine, his foot and ankle are a complete mess,
with bones in places where there shouldn't be bones, and no
bones where there should be. His foot is growing at a 90-degree
angle and tipped, so even though his doctor is certain the
fusing and plating of the ankle would be successful, his foot
would still bear the brunt of his weight on the side, which
only brings complications such as injury and infection.
Loki
will go splint free for now to allow his leg to grow however
it will grow. He still uses it to run and play, but if he
develops sores on the side of his foot, or develops any pain
in using it, then he will have to have that leg amputated.
He will be re-evaluated when he reaches 10 months of age,
after his growing stage, to determine if anything can be done
to help support the ankle and foot if no complications come
up before then.
Whether
he has a deformed foot for the rest of his life, or only three
legs, he will have a forever home here with us as part of
our loving pack. Waking us up each morning with gentle kisses,
or pulling Sam's tail with glee, Loki has come home.
Whenever
Loki will need medical care for his foot, TOTTSHR has committed
to assisting in funding the surgery through the Toby Fund.
We can't thank his new home enough for making this life-long
committment to Loki and his leg. We also want to lend special
thanks to his foster home, who gave him the love and special
care he needed to get to this new life.
You
can also check out Loki's personal webpage: http://209.141.83.162:82/personal/2003.03.02/index.htm
Here
are some photos from the home front in July. The one on
the right shows his favorite type of attack: Lay on them and
they can't get back at you!
Update
from Loki's mom on 8/20/03:
Gil
and I have finally accepted that Loki has a severe problem
that requires he be enrolled in a 12-step program. We've been
ashamed to admit it, hoping that it was just a phase, but
it just keeps getting worse and worse.
First, it was socks. Every dog starts with socks—it's
normal for them to chew on socks. But Loki didn't chew on
them, he just gathered them into a big pile to lay on. Then
it was shirts. He discovered that there was a tiny slit in
the hamper and he could pull out shirts and put them in a
little pile that he lay on.
That quickly grew to his comfy dog blanket. Each morning he
would drag the comfy dog blanket out to the living room, then
gather as many clothes as possible to pile on top of that.
Each evening we would dismantle his growing throne and put
the blanket back, only to have him start the ritual over in
the morning. Towels, shirts, jeans, socks.
He has finally started stealing covers from the bed when we
aren't looking... oh the horror. Dragging comforters up from
downstairs, piling them higher and higher. It's only a matter
of time before the couch cushions and mattress end up in the
living room on his pile. Meeshka barely escaped one morning
when he thought she was a big cushy pillow.
Won't you please help? We've got a spot reserved at the Betty
Ford Cushy Items Hoarding Clinic.
Loki
demonstrates the beginnings of his hoard pile as his accomplice
Meeshka looks on:
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