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ALI (PEGGY SUE) 6/28/03
#168

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Ali's Foster Journey - At the Rainbow Bridge 1/9/05

Pertinent Information
Approx. 8 yr. Old Brindle Female
72 lbs. with Natural Ears and Docked Tail
Spayed and  UTD
Shelter Surrender
Being Fostered Near East Lyme, CT
Adoption Donation $175

1/10/05 - It is with much sadness that I write this note. My sweet Ali went to the bridge on Saturday morning. Her seizures were getting worse, even though we kept increasing her doses, and my vet and I made the tough decision that it was her time. I could see that she was slipping, and in the last week, her legs had been giving out. I love her with all my heart and I could not see her suffer any more. I stayed with her the whole time and sent her peacefully, telling her how loved she was and that she would never hurt again... Bless my Ali, she taught me that it is possible to overcome many tough things in life and love unconditionally those who love you. We will miss her...thank you BAR for giving us the chance to love Ali and treat her the way she deserved.

9/23/04 - My sweet, sweet Ali. She had a rough spring/summer...in late May Ali had some terrible seizures.
Luckily she survived and we have her on medicine that we give her every day. We don't think she has fully come back to herself (for instance, she does not want to play anymore with her brother Tyson) but she never lost her sweet nature. Needless to say, we're very happy she's still around and hope to never see her go through another seizure. Other than that, she enjoys sleeping on the couch all day, getting lots of yummy treats and hanging out with the family!! Ali sends her thanks & love to everyone at BAR.

4/26/04 - Ali here...want to send my love to a certain 10 year old boy and his family who took excellent care of me while I was on "vacation" in March. :)  I sure hope he sees this. I also want him to know that my family, as silly as they can be, loves me very much and they were really glad to see me return from my trip. Especially Tyson, who wouldn't stop talking to me!
I am doing GREAT - had some minor surgery on my ear and it has healed nicely. I'm still hairless, but my family appreciates me this way. Tyson, and I get along great, even though he insists on pushing himself under the covers before I get a chance (once I step on him, he usually moves!)
Hope everyone has a great summer.

12/2/03 - Ali is still doing very well at our house. She and Tyson play until they are exhausted. She still does not have much hair, so we will need to go back to the Vet to determine if she has some other issues. I keep wondering what she's going to look like...? With or without hair, we couldn't be more happy to have her in our home. Ali wishes everyone a safe & happy holiday season

10/14/03 - I can't believe Ali has been with us for a month! It was a rocky start, but we have all settled into our groove. She gets more hair each day, it's been a very slow process. Her whole underside is still very bare, but she's got the cutest gray face. Ali and Tyson will play for hours, chasing each other around the house, wrestling on the floor or on me (on me is the preferred way). Its really great to see them both so happy. Ali has had a few accidents in the house, but I think it was probably because we weren't paying attention to her signals. She is definitely stubborn!! Sit is about the only thing I'm sure she knows, although, we take her outside off-leash and she comes when called (most of the time). I'm thinking that I may take her to obedience classes...speaking of obedience, Tyson and I are in class with Missy (#252) and her Dad. Missy is extremely cute and has a great personality! Would I expect anything else from a Boxer?
I'm also happy to report that Ali is fine with cats. My cat, Floyd, who is used to playing chase with Tyson ~ being Floyd chases Tyson :) ~ has been trying to get Ali to play the same game without any luck. She just stares at him and ignores him when he comes into the room. I know that's a good thing, but I don't think Floyd sees it that way, he wants to PLAY!
She does the best "hopping" dance when she gets excited, with her ears flapping away. Oh, and she is the loudest snorer in our house! It took us a few sleepless nights to get used to it, but we all sleep right through it now!
She's just so sweet and we are very glad to have her as part of our crazy family.
Thanks for giving us the chance to give Ali a loving "forever" home.
Julia, Pete, Garrett, Tyson, Ali and Floyd

9/14/03 - Ali's new family called with their one week update and things are going very well.  The first few days were a little rough as Ali wasn't sure she would share her toys with her new brother, Tyson.  But a few days of love and patience and now she know that this is where she belongs, and she is fine.  Good luck Ali.

9/7/03 - Ali was adopted today at PetRock by a very nice couple who have waited patiently for her.  We wish them all the best.

8/29/03 - Ali sailed through her spaying this week and is now all UTD with vaccinations.  She came home the next day from the vets and just crashed into the nearest, softest, biggest doggie bed.  She was so exhausted from her ordeal.  Ali's new family emailed the day of her surgery to find out how the operation went and they are very excited and anxious to meet her.  Only a little over a week more and Ali will be going to her forever home.  This poor little girl certainly has had her share of misfortunes and deserves only the best!

8/20/03 - Ali (Peggy Sue) has an appointment with the vet to be spayed next Tuesday, updated on all her shots, and to have her nails trimmed.  You know a girl has to look all pretty when meeting her forever family!  They have decided to rename her "Ali" and she will have a brother named Tyson.  Ali will be meeting them at PetRock on Sunday, Sept. 7th.
Ali is looking better and better every day.  Her hair is growing in and she is the happiest little dog I have ever seen.  She gets along with everyone so well.  We are all going to miss her, especially our girl Coco who plays and plays with Ali.  They are just the same size and look like bookends!  But I know that she deserves her own special family.

8/8/03 - Peggy Sue is pending adoption.  She will be adopted in a few weeks after her mange treatment is completed and then she can be spayed and updated on her shots.  So she will be going to her forever home in early Sept.  Good luck Peggy Sue (I understand that her new family will be changing her name) Look forward to her future experiences.

7/28/03 - Peggy Sue went to the vet today to have her mange checked and she is doing very well with her treatment.  She will need to be on the Ivermictin one more month, but will then be well enough to be spayed and updated.  So for the next month, she is just hanging out here recuperating and enjoying herself.  She has been completely integrated into our household and she is healthy enough to be with our dogs all the time now so she has given up her private suite to another foster, Buddy.  She is one of the easiest dogs that we have ever fostered.  She is just so happy to have a nice soft bed, food and affection.  So if you are looking for a low maintenance, easy going girl to share your life with, Peggy Sue might be the one.  It's time to start putting in those applications for her now.

7/17/03 - Peggy Sue continues to improve daily, but still has a way to go.  To the left you will see her arrival pictures, and to the left pictures that were taken today, 2 1/2 weeks later.  You can see that her hair is starting to grow in, but it will take some time for it to grow in fully. 
But the real changes are those to her personality.  She is blossoming like a flower in spring.  She is still on "bed rest"  for another 2 weeks because of her heartworm treatment, but it is hard to keep her down.  She just wants to be with us and the other dogs here so badly.  So we have been letting them get together in the yard for a time until they start to get a little too feisty.  Inside if my husband is not in the office with her she barks to be out with everyone else.  So today we let her in the main part of the house with our 2 dogs and they have been marvelous.  Since we always make our dogs go outside when they start to play, they are used to being calm in the house and the 3 of them together have been angelic!  Peggy Sue is laying on the floor to my left, Joey is in front, and Coco is to my right.  Even as we were eating lunch, they all stayed very calm.  Our Coco has been the best and all we have to say is "No Coco" and she settles right down.  I think that they can sense that Peggy Sue is not completely well.  Her coughing has stopped (a side effect of the heartworm treatment) and I know she is feeling 100% better.  
Next week we will go back to the vet to see how her mange treatment is progressing and have her heart checked and then the decision will be made as to when she can be spayed and have all of her shots. As soon as she is released by the vet, she will be looking for her forever home.  It's not too early to get an application in on this special little girl who will give you lots of love and affection and require very little in return.

7/10/03 - Peggy Sue came through her Heartworm treatment with flying colors!  I'm so glad she had a week and a half here with us eating and sleeping good and building up her strength before the treatment.  I think it did her a world of good.  We will keep you updated on her progress.

7/8/03 - I took Peggy Sue to the vet this AM for her first Heartworm shot and they called a little while ago with some good news. They found that she only has a grade 2, not a grade 3 Heartworm condition.  That means that she will have one shot today and then have another one tomorrow, but will not have to go back in another month for another series of shots. I am so relieved. She is such a sweet little girl who certainly deserves some good news.
Each day she is feeling better and it is going to be hard keeping her quiet for the next month. Her fur is growing in more and more each day and pretty soon we may be able to tell what color she is!! I suspect from what I can see now that she is brindle. We still have a long way to go, but things are looking up for pretty, pretty Peggy Sue.

7/7/03 - Oh what a busy 4th of July weekend Peggy Sue had.  We had a house full of company from Thurs. through Sun. and she was a big hit with everyone.  We are trying to keep her quiet before she goes in for her heartworm treatment tomorrow, but we did let her socialize with small groups of family at a time.  She was particularly good with the 18 month old twins, very gentle and loving.  You can tell that somewhere along the line she was a family dog.  She is very well behaved and listens better than my own two dogs.  She is a great communicator and tells you exactly what she wants.  She definitely tells me when she is hungry by barking in a particular way and she also tells us when it is time for her evening walk.  Other than that, she never barks.  Peggy has been leash trained also, she walks very nicely on a leash and always does her business.
Tomorrow she goes to the vet for her first Heartworm shot and we will know more of her prognosis then.  Say a little prayer for her that her heart has not been too badly damaged and that she will recover very quickly and find a wonderful, loving forever home.

7/1/03 - We got the results of Peggy Sue's blood work today and there was good news and bad news.  Her blood work was fantastic, especially for a little girl who is Heartworm positive  (the bad news.)  The Heartworm is also what compromised her immune system so that she contracted mange.  We start the first Heartworm shot next Tues. and then she will, most likely, have to have another 2 shot one day apart in a month.  The hardest part will be keeping her quiet for the month in between the shots and then for another month after the second round of shots.  She is feeling better every day though since we are treating the mange and the eye infection.
Peggy Sue is becoming more comfortable every day.  She is now staying in the gated hallway and office and is quite content and comfortable there.  I have introduced her to my big old boy, Joseph and they are just fine together.  So it will be a little while before Peggy Sue is ready for her forever home, but it is not too early to get in an application and get the approval process started!

6/30/03 - Peggy Sue went to the Vet this evening for a thorough exam.  They did a skin scraping and she has a case of demodectic mange.  It is not contagious and she will be treated with Ivermectin for the next month.  They also did a complete blood screening to see if there are any underlying problems.  She has a bad case of conjunctivitis in her eyes which is being treated with an antibiotic ointment.  A florescent eye stain was done and found nothing requiring treatment.  Her eyes are cloudy and one does have a cataract, but the vet hopes that the cloudiness will clear up in time, but first we have to get the conjunctivitis cleared up.  Tomorrow we will get the results of the blood tests and the fecal sample and have more information to go on.
This evening when I got home, we had an email from the gal at the shelter who had cared for Peggy Sue and was quite fond of her.  She wrote, "I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of her, because she's such a love and the sharpest guard dog we had. Somehow she always knew when someone was coming in, even before the other dogs. I'll keep stopping on the web site and hoping for good news. Again, thank you very much."
Peggy Sue has been quite quiet at our house.  The only time she has barked at all is when we put her in the crate the first night which probably reminded her of the shelter and she was "on guard."  But since she is such a good girl who is completely housebroken and has not touched one thing in the house, she is allowed free run of a limited area.  In a few days when the conjunctivitis is not longer contagious to our dogs I am hoping to give her free run of the house with the other dogs.  We have been taking a walk every evening after the sun goes down and Peggy Sue just prances around when she sees the leash.  She walks very politely and does not pull.  She was obviously a very well behaved family pet at one time.  Was she cast aside because of her contracting mange??  We will never know.   But we do know that we will do everything we can to get her back into good health and find her a loving family who is willing to care for her forever.

6/29/03 - Poor little Peggy Sue, she was found by a family as they moved into their new house sitting by the garage door.  They thought she would eventually leave, and when she didn't, they took her to a shelter.  We can only guess that the family who owned her moved away and left her, but we will never know for sure.  This is what Boxer Rescue is all about!
BAR was told by the shelter that she was bald, but none of us had any idea just HOW bald she would be.  One of our volunteer families, Simone and Pete picked her up from the shelter and brought her to BAR's Board of Directors Meeting in NY yesterday and then she came home with me to CT.  As we drove along, the song Peggy Sue came on the radio and I knew immediately that this would have to be her name.  She is so pathetic looking, but you can see a cute little Boxer girl face shine through and she just oozes personality  and I know that soon she will be a pretty little Peggy Sue that some lucky family will want to adopt and love forever.
She does not seem to be bothered by her baldness and her skin does not seem to itch, but we will get her to the Vet ASAP to see what caused this problem.  We are keeping her separated from the other dogs until we know more about Peggy Sue's condition, and she is very content to be by herself sleeping on a nice soft doggie bed in a room with a fan, with a bowl of cool water and food and lots of human attention.  Please stay tuned for updates on this baby doll.