The Rescued Pup

Rosie’s Journey

It seems like a million years ago when we picked up a Yorkie mix mommie and her babies. That dark January night I had no idea that I would go on such a crazy journey with one of the tiny pups.

Rosie, one of six, was an energetic puppy and we noticed from the first time we held her how hard and fast her heart was beating. When the pups were about 8 weeks old we took them to be fixed and Rosie was adopted out a few days later. Her first vet visit with her new family revealed a heart murmur.

We took Rosie back out to our vet and the heart murmur was confirmed, an EKG was then ordered to determine the cause of the murmur. PDA was the diagnosis. Rosie was given a diagnosis that we had until her 1st birthday to get her surgery before any permanent heart damage would occur.

We promptly started a Go Fund Me page, www.GoFundMe.com/FixRosiesHeart and started beating the drums letting everyone we knew know about this sweet puppies medical needs. Unfortunately donations were slow to come in, and then Rosie had a couple of episodes where she was struggling to catch her breath. We rushed her to her new cardiologist and after an exam and additional EKG it was determined that she had less than a month before permanent damage to her heart would occur.

To say that I was wrecked is an understatement, all of my sharing, the sharing of our supporters and there was no way we were going to raise the funds to cover the surgery costs thinks were looking dismal, and then an 11 yr old boy that lived across the county from our rescue found out about Rosie’s plight. He went straight into action in his own community and started spreading the word about Rosie and her need for surgery. This young man set up a refreshment stand and asked for donations for Rosie as he happily handed out free cookies and lemonade to his neighbors. He also printed out flyers from Rosie’s GoFundMe page and posted them on all of the community mailboxes. Our rescue had no idea this was happening, we just started to see donations coming in on a regular basis. Finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

I had the opportunity to speak via email to the young man’s parents and tell them how amazing it was that he was going to save her life. It was Father’s Day and I had mentioned that I would love to surprise the young man by bringing Rosie over to meet him. I received a message back that said the local news team was on their way to do a piece on the story and his refreshment stand, so I grabbed Rosie, gave her a quick bath, and off we went to meet her HERO!

The interview was great and it seemed like Rosie knew who was working to save her right as soon as she got out of the car. She covered the boy’s face in kisses! The interview aired that evening and within 15 minutes of airing we had met our goal. We ended up going a little bit over our goal which was a blessing because Rosie’s surgery had complications and also went over it’s estimated cost.

This Monday, July 13, little Rosie has her follow up appointment for her surgery. I’ve invited her new family, her HERO and his family to come to the appointment. This is truly the beginning of an exciting chapter for so many lives and the end of a journey that ended up touching the hearts of thousands of people. Thank you Dom Loco. <3