It’s very rare that a rescued puppy farm dog arrives without multiple health problems, usually requiring extensive (and expensive) veterinary care. The most dramatic being the dogs with little or no sight but others like Martie who have serious orthopedic issues. These always require treatment before they can go on to live good lives.
He arrived while only a few months old, rejected by a puppy farm where he’d been born, probably when it became clear he wasn’t going to be any good as a stud, or sellable as a puppy as he had a badly deformed back leg. Donna, volunteer and fosterer for DBARC explains more,
His leg looked as if it was put on back to front. His poor little leg just dragged along the ground as he gamely tried to play with other dogs, so that his foot was constantly sore and bleeding. He was a pathetic sight, underfed, crippled and with dreadful skin, but his bright little face just looked with love and trust at anyone who gave him a kind word. This, despite he must have known little kindness in his short life. It was my privilege to foster this little angel.
DBARC Manager Janet arranged at once for him to have proper veterinary treatment, including X-rays, and the expert opinion was that Martie would have to lose his leg, and this happened as soon as he was well enough to stand the surgery.
The amputation didn’t go smoothly, as major blood vessels were in the wrong place, and for a time it was touch and go, and he was still a very poorly chap when he went home to be fostered by Donna.
“It was sad to see him struggle to learn to be a tripaw while still weak and wobbly. But Martie is a real little trier, and he never was other than cheerful, always ready to wag his tail, to do his best to get around, and although never a robust dog, with ongoing digestive problems that he still has, he steadily recovered from his surgery. This took several weeks.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Martie had captured Donna’s heart and fitted perfectly into the world she shares with her mixed family of animals. He could take as little or as much exercise as he was able to manage. And Donna understood he needed to overcome not only the physical challenges his life presented but the emotional trauma of beginning life in a puppy farm.
“His early life had left him with an unpredictable fear of some locations or situations, and whilst that might freak some people, it didn’t bother me or his many friends at DBARC. So he stayed!”
Donna adopted him and today Martie is a happy little soul, always ready to comfort and cuddle with any new foster dog that Donna takes in. It is for dogs like Martie that Schnauzerfest exists, in Donna’s words,
“Because of DBARC’s policy of doing the best for every dog, with so many people supporting Schnauzerfest and thus supporting DBARC, this translates into veterinary care that is literally life-changing for the dog that is able to be funded thanks to your generosity."