Doggie Exercises

It's been too long again since my last update. I also looked and realized that a post I made was saved as a draft and not posted. Grr. I need to double check things lately, I'm in such a hurry it seems to get everything done that I'm assuming the computer is obeying when it's not. :o) Vinny is healing well. The vet said his large bone looks good, but that the smaller bones aren't looking as good as she'd like so she gave us an exercise to do with him for a week. We take his paw and fold it under and hold it for 30 seconds and do that over and over as much as we can throughout the day. He's being a good sport about it, especially when there's treats involved. Since she's not happy about how his small bones are healing obviously she's not ready to start taking pins out. We found out that the pin removal should be relatively simple, she'll give him a sedative and then poke open the skin and remove a pin or two. That was a huge relief for me, because one of the vets tried to tell us that it would be an operation each time he had pins taken out! EEK! Not only is that expensive, but that's hard on a puppy. Eventually though she'll take the big screw out and that one will require that he goes under. I'm not looking foward to that. But he'll be fine and we'll get through it. We thank all of you that have been able to help and who have supported us through emails and comments. We really do appreciate it, I know I keep saying that, but it's true. We're doing all we can right now and through your help, we've been able to cover x-rays and the visit when one of the pins was migrating out. Every little bit has helped. I'm waiting to hear back about an interview I had last week and today I'm putting another application in. I'm just trying to remain hopeful that things are going to turn around. I can't believe how BIG he is getting. I have to upload some pictures in flickr today. He's looking like a little handsome Boston boy. I'll get some pictures up and check the email, I want to try and send out replies today for those who have sent us messages, I just got backed up last week when my husband had a bad ear infection and had to have a cracked tooth pulled. Then our oldest daughter had some mysterious rash that was itchy and spreading from an "allergic" reaction to "something". The doctor could give us no ideas, just three bottles of medicine. Isn't that the way it always works? Sigh. If it's not one thing, it's another. Vinny sends his love.

Pictures

I'm stealing away a few more minutes. I was starting to feel sick when I realized I hadn't eaten anything. The mornings can be rough as I'm on my own and don't want to involve the kids too much in Vinny's care because they get nervous. They're afraid they'll accidentally poke his eye helping me get his collar back on. They're afraid they'll bump his arm and so forth. Vinny could care less, even though the side of his elbow has that pokey knot (the plate?) that is making his skin reddish and sore looking, he's trying to paw at his rawhide and at us to get attention. I took him out to pee, which he did just fine and I could see he was using his leg to get to where he wanted so that's a good sign. That's a puppy for you. He has that youth going for him and hopefully it wll make for good healing. He's really, really, really in a chewing mood lately. I imagine those puppy teeth are driving him nuts so I sat down next to him while he was in the harness today so he could chew his rawhide until it was soggy. Blech. Maybe that's why I haven't eaten yet, soggy rawhides don't look too tasty, but to him, they're lucious. Vinners would potty no problem outside, however, the little booger did his business almost instantly when I put him into his crate so I could eat and straighten up. I'm not sure if that's his way of getting out or if he's more comfortable going in his crate. I hope not, that's a bad habit to get in to. I do know though that he always had to do his three circle spin before doing his business and now it's hard for him to do so since we have the leash so short to avoid him jumping or running. If anyone has an suggestions or advice, send it my way. Good thing I'm used to the poop dilemna's with four kids and having worked in daycare and preschool a bazillion years ago. It's a glamorous life, I know, I know, you're jealous. Here's some pictures of Vinny, some before his accident and some obviously after the little guy had surgery. This was taken in Michigan when we were at my grandma's for the 4th of July. Richard was already in love with the little guy and couldn't spoil him enough. I think this is one of my favorite pictures at the moment. Vinny was 8 weeks old in this picture, I've been marveling at how big he's grown in just a month. Vinny was a soccer star and hopefully he'll be one again. He loved to chase the ball down the court or field and attack it, even pushing it along with his head and paws. Here he's playing ball outside a community hall in Kentucky when I drove my grandma down for a family reunion. He is a thief because he stole many hearts that weekend. His tummy was so fat and full from people sneaking him ham and biscuits. This shot was taken outside a gas station, it was appalled that the kids went without him. He was raining and he wanted to get out and get messy. This was at the hotel in Kentucky after being in the car for 13 hours. He was so good on the road, sleeping most of the time and running around during our stops. As soon as we settled into the hotel though, his Boston Terrible side came out. Whoa. He was telling us who was boss and what we needed to do and how he was going to chomp our ears off if we didn't play with him. Richard rough housed with him for a long time and he was barking and singing so loud I thought for sure we'd wake up the other guests. Ironically, we found out the guests next to us turned out to be my grandma's nephew that also drove in for the reunion. Oh, Vinny won the match, he chomped Richard's ears after all. These pictures were taken just two days before his accident. He was getting friskier with the cat, jumping up at him and barking to get his way. He used to run up to the cat and then back off when Mow Mow would bop him on the head. He thought if his little growling didn't convince the cat that he should share, maybe his begging eyes would. Here's Lil' J and Vinners after he came home from surgery. It's also his 3 month birthday. Here's a close up of his staples and wound area. He has more on the inside of his arm and 3 on his shoulder. He had a type 4 salter harris fracture right on his elbow bone & growth plate. I'm not even quite sure what that means, I just know it was on both sides of the bone and it was bad. :o( Here's a full body shot. He's gotten so big and I just hope his leg will grown normally. I'll get some more pictures up this weekend of Vinny the Superhero. He goes in on Wednesday to have his staples removed. They're looking pretty good I think and he's had his collar on always unless we're right there. Again, we're so humbled by the help he's been given, by the encouraging emails, and all the great advice. Thanks so much. Vinny sends snarfly kisses. **Rory, we saw your comment but it was accidentally deleted. Thank you for the love.

Update

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Sorry it has been a few days since my last update. I've barely had time for a shower lately and I'm so tired all the time. Friday was a really good night, he slept through most of the night. In fact, I woke up worried about him since I had hardly heard a peep and I had to go check on him which of course just woke him up. But Saturday and Sunday were really rough. I don't know if it's because it was the first two nights without his pain patch (he hasn't been acting like he's in pain) or if he is just utterly tired of the crate routine. I think Richard and I got like two hours of sleep at a time with lots of cleaning disasters. Let's just say, I told Vinny, what happens in the crate, stays in the crate. :o) It wasn't a pretty sight though, that's for sure. We're trying our best to get him back on a normal eating and bathroom routine. We've also been taking turns sitting next to him on the floor while he wears his harness. This way he gets to be out a little bit but we can make sure he doesn't try to get up and run or jump. He's doing a little better at night but now his injured arm is looking funny. Yesterday I noticed that there's sort of a knot or protusion right on the side of his elbow area. At first I thought it looked odd and I didn't remember seeing it before. Then I told myself to not be hyper-focused that his swelling is finally going down and perhaps we're just now seeing the little bone there and it looks bigger because there's a plate or pin there. Richard assured me that the pin wouldn't just come loose so I'm not sure what's going on. He's not running, jumping, or playing. He'salmost always in the crate (sometimes he does though shake his head or try to move around in the crate) and when we take him out to the bathroom we carry him and then let him lightly walk about to go. They said he could do that, as long as it was carefully and not too much. This morning the area looks a little red and if I lightly touch it, whatever that is behind the skin does feel rather pokey. I'll really be in bad way if a pin or plate is loose. I don't think I can handle that, and I can't imagine how that could happen, Richard says they drill them into the bone really good. They didn't say that when the swelling goes down that we'd be able to see anything there, if so, I wish they would have so I'm not worrying about it. I think we're taking him in later just to be on the safe side. His follow up isn't until Wednesday and I don't want to take a risk by waiting that long. Of course, they want $100 just to look at it. When there's a will there's a way. I've been watching the vet shows on the animal channel where people's animals have had even more expensive surgeries and they just make it work. Although, it seems those vets have been willing to break up the fee where as mine didn't even give us an option other then signing him over. I'm still upset we had to go through that nightmare. It's better to be safe then sorry though, so we'll just have to do what we have to. As I write this, he's been whiny at me from the crate. I did have him in our room to keep him from being disrupted, but with his arm being a concern for me, I want to know whether or not he's moving about. He's finally quiet after I gave him a "Shhh." I've been watching the Dog Whisperer I can't believe I'm admitting this and Cesar Millan was saying that whenever an accident has happened with a dog, the owners often feel so terrible that they overcompensate and carry anxiousness over to the dog and become over protective. This in turn makes the dog feel insecure and he also doesn't sense you're in control. I don't want to become so over protective that I'm driving myself and the dog crazy. :o) I love his outgoing, frisky, and friendly personality, there's no way I want to see him become nervous and anxious because I can't let go of some horrible accident that happened to him. Cesar said dogs live in the moment, not in the past and not in the future. So I do have to let this go. Reliving it in my head and worrying about what might happen later isn't going to do anyone any good and I don't want to be that person. I've been firm with him when he needs to calm down, he's not going to get his feelings hurt, I'm keeping him from hurting himself. Once I stood there at the crate and calmly told him, "Vinny, no. Shhh!" I saw a big difference. Whew. I of course have upped his Cheerio intake just a little. I can't help it. He's like my baby. I'll try to get some pictures up here later or at his Flickr set, I just wanted to post an update while I had a moment. Thanks again to all who are Vinny's friends, Melissa & Vinny

Night Two

It's official. I have a newborn baby in the house again. OK, not really but it feels like it. Yesterday Richard came home with some sedatives from the vet (apparently the surgery came in $16 under, so they gave us $3 after the meds. Getting money back? That's a nice change.) He took one look at me and asked if I was OK and if I needed anything since I was still in house clothes and my hair was a mess. Apparently a shower would be good too since I had puppy poop on my shirt as well. Heck, I didn't even notice. How I look and how clean my house is right now isn't even on my radar. Sound familiar? Richard brought home another surprise as well. Since it was Vinny's 3 month birthday yesterday he brought home dog biscuits? No. Rawhide? Certainly not, he'd try to grab them with both arms. A new lovey? Nah, it would just get poopified. Well, what else could it be? DOGGIE ICE CREAM!!! And did he ever like it. I swear this dog is so spoiled and the fame just might start getting to his head too. I do say though he is the cutest Boston in the whole galaxy, but I'm a bit biased. The doggie ice cream must have been good luck too because not more then 10 minutes later I thought we either had a major case of Boston farts or he finally did his business. Good thing he had training pads in the crate, there looked to be like 2 days worth of poop in there. Ih ope you're not eating. If he could talk, he'd sigh and say, "Boy, I feel better." How can a dog so small poop that much? Speaking of small. I was looking a pictures from must a few days before the accident and now. I can't believe how fast he's growing and how fast things have changed for him, for us. He's looking so big. It worries me in a way though, I want his leg to grow properly, but I know we're doing all we can to insure he heals well. The sedative was like magic at first, he slept so nicely on his side keeping pressure off of his arm. He slept for a long time and then we gave him his nightly anti-inflammatory after some water. He was so relaxed but still being himself, giving out kisses. Last night though, he woke up starving like he has been and he never could quite settle back down. I think we got up with him three times, just giving him lovins, checking on him, and trying not to cry from his begging to be on the bed. We gave him another quarter of the sedative but that didn't seem to help this time, she said if we had to, to give him a half. So we tried a little more and it was a tad better but not much. He must have slept too much earlier. I don't want to have him on a half if I can help it either. I think part of the problem is the darn collar. He has a hard time getting comfortable with it on, so we're going to get a different crate today. Heidi aka Vinny's first mama and a local Boston breeder in the area said she could get us a nice discount on an open crate with dividers. I hope that will make him more comfortable. I've been trying to rest when he's resting just like you would when you have a baby. This is a really difficult time because he naturally wants to play and get out and he just can't. We take him out for breaks but when we do we're hyper vigilant and constantly nervous something bad is going to happen. :o( Our family really wants to thank all of you for caring. Some people we know have mentioned that if it were them, they'd put the dog down so they must be heartless. There's no way they'd spend a bunch of money on a dog or ask for help. They aren't heartless, but I don't think they can understand what it is like to love your pet so much, he or she is part of your family, until they've been there. To have those of you who understand give us get well wishes and do what you can to help, it's truly touching. We've gotten many wonderful and encouraging comments here and at flickr as well as emails. All of Vinny's furry friends are greatly appreiated. To those who could donate, we're very humbled and we mean it when we say we hope we can give back someday soon to help other animals & their people who are in a similiar spot. A big thank you to John and Tami. Without them, he would have never had his surgery. A humble thanks to Ali, Letta & Piggy. I've been very humbled by her kindness. She is a genuine person that cares. It seems we have quite a bit in common and I know if I met her on the streets we'd be friends. She also made Vinny's blog look great. You're the bomb! Please check out Alley Cat Designs for a new look for your blogger blog. You're too generous. Thank you to Andy of the Boston Photo Blog and to his two pups Bandit & Bo. We really appreciate your comments and spreading the message for us. Thank you Amber & her Boston baby Kyla. You're also an angel and I appreciate the nice emails. To my friend Kathy, girl your heart is gold. I know times are difficult for you too. Your advice and get well wishes are appreciated and we thank you. Thanks to Fallen Muse. I have no idea who you are, but we thank you for helping Vinny. Another big thank you goes to M of Sarcomical with Lucy, Ricky & Shiloh. I'm very touched that you'd come over and help Vinny. We can't thank you all enough. So far Vinny's fund has $125 to help with his care. I hope to hear back from the surgeon soon about how much future pin exchanges will be and I also hope to hear back from IMOM and The Pet Fund as well. Without all of Vinny's friends & supporters letting us know about these resources I'd feel lost. The vet said that his next visit for staple removal is covered, we just have to come up with funds for x-rays and pain medicaiton if it's needed. I'm going to talk to them about pet insurance too, to get an idea of it works and if it's an option even for us since he's already been in an accident. And another shout out goes to the flickr community who have offered support, given me great suggestions, and shared their own stories. You've answered my questions and I've learned quite a bit. One 9 week old Boston pup accidentally fell 5 ft when he leapt from his owners arms and fell down off a porch. He fractured both front legs on both sides of the bones! The vet said they had two options, put him down or attempt surgery. Now he's doing so well you'd never know he had BOTH legs broken. I'm so happy for them and hope the same for Vinny. Of course I don't mean to leave ANYONE out, and I'll keep making sure to give credit and thanks to you all. Vinny gives everyone snorts and kisses.

What a long day

It's wonderful having Vinny home now, but the hard works starts now. Here's a picture of him with one of the vets. My stupid camera sucks with shutter speed lately and lighting after it was dropped. Sorry for the quality, I don't have time to fiddle with my camera now. I'm going to try and get a quick update out before Vinners yells for me. It was such a long night. We picked him up at noon and he was doing great. The vet was true to his word, he was all licks and trying to put his head on us, which was impossible with this silly collar. They took the bandage off which makes me so nervous since he really tries to thrash around in his crate and I'm afraid he's going to aggravate the staples. He cried and moaned and whimpered the whole time in the car and he was literally going INSANE. Richard had to hold him by then, and really hold him good, I was a wreck thinking he'd hurt himself. We got home thinking he'd be better and he wasn't. We put him into the great after some lovings but then he peed. I've been removing the top of the crate so as not to take a chance in hurting him if he tries to fight or the collar has a hard time getting through the openng. It was also easier to rinse out that what. Waylon has a great like Vinny's older sister so I'm going to go check that out. I like that I can see him better that way. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. After he was carrying on some more mama got out her secret stash just to see if my piglet would respond. What is the secret stash you ask? CHEERIOS. :o) Not only did he want a cheerio but he wanted to devour my hand off. The poor little guy was STARVING. I gave him some servings of good and he was just devouring it, we didn't even have time to take his collar off to make it easier. He ate FOUR small bowls of food, I was concerned he'd throw up but he couldn't stop himself, he was famished. I called the vet to see when was the last time he ate and they said at 3 a.m and 8.am. Now, I can't help but wonder if that meant that was the ONLY time he ate since he was admitted on the evening of the 31st? Good lord, no wonder he was starving if so. Here you can see his funny new haircut (what's with the little mohawk strip?) and his pain patch. He drank really well too. I do think he IS doing really well and in fact I'm worried he's going to hurt his leg. He as trying to use his arms to grab Richard last night, like he always did. He was trying to chew on his, lean up to kiss us, do his little sassy growl at us, it's good to see him our in Vim, but he has to be calme! I suppose I'm just super over protective right now, I can't help it. But they didn't give me anything to sedate him. I'm going to ask the vet today when they call me back about that. His bottom also looks a little swollen. I'm not sure if the meds irritate his stool and that's why, but he's never had this problem before. He does have a pain patch though. He was putting some weight down on his arm when he ate or tried to walk a bit when we took him out. But he's only tried to walk, not go. I don't want him doing that, even though they said some light walking is OK, because he tries to stand up on his rear legs (he's on a leash) and what if he fel down on his leg? To me, that's close to jumping. Vinny, Vinny, Vinny. Maybe he should be called Evil Kienevil sp? He kept eating all night and again some this morning. He seems to prefer eating from MY hand or Jake's. Jake was so thrilled when Vinny reached out to give him his paw. Awww. He's also very THRISTY. I'm glad to see his appetite is good. I only take his collar off for very short periods because if I don't he tries to scratch it quite a bit with his good arm. But what he really wants is to put his head on us. I think he was one of the pups in the litter that laid on his brothers body, because he's always wanted to lay on you when he sleeps. Here's some pictures right after we got back home from the 4th of July weekend. He tried to limp over the stairs as he held his underside. I knew what he wanted. He wanted to sleep in his bed aka as our bed. We cuddled him and told him good-night. He wasn't happy at all of course. He woke up sometime in the middle of the night and then whimpered back to sleep. By 5.am he was bossing us around, as anyone would if they have gone to the bathroom in their bed. That was an interesting coorperation between Richard and I, since he had poop on his collar, nails, towel etc. He was already very stinky when he came home and shoowee, his Sylvester smells hideous, which Vinny thinks is great, the stinkier the better, right? But this morning he really broke my heart as he limped over to the bed as I held his belly and helped. He sat there right next to his side, like, "Mama, why can't I sleep on my bed?" Sniff. I let him up for about 2 minutes as he lay down and I gave him lovins' that had to put him back. That vet should call me back soon. **Update, the vet (a different one each time), suggested diaper cream for his bottom, he had loose stools before due to the antibiotics. She's checking to see if he might need a mild sedative and she also said slight walking is a good sign that his arm is doing better. We keep him from romping so that's good. I was just worried for him to use it at all. The next few months are so important in making sure his leg heals well. If all goes well, he should be jumping and running one day with just a %10 to %20 weakness in the bone. I think since he's a puppy it's a bit tricky, he's full of thunder, pistols, and friskiness. Talk too you all soon and thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

Vinny's Coming home

We just talked to the vet and they said that our Vinny Vin Vin can come home at around noon. Wow, I didn't think it would be so soon. I'm a little nervous and super excited all at once. Gosh, how we've missed him that last two days. The vet said that Vinners is doing well, he's almost doing too well, he's very active in his cage, more so then he'd like for a puppy with a fractured leg. He would like to have see him more calm and sedate like. I imagine they will send us home with pain meds and something to calm him. His arm is NOT in a cast, but its bandaged. (I'm thinking because they have to keep removing and reinserting pins over the next few months that cast is not going to work? They didn't go over that stuff with us before surgery, so I have a lot of questions.) When I heard how well he's doing I knew that we've done the right thing. A huge smile came to myself, I'm like a silly kid here. I think we're even more excited to bring him home then the first time! It's funny because I could totally picture him in this crate thing being a silly guy trying to get lovins' from all the vets. That's definately our Vinny. I want to say thank you to everyone that's been pulling for Vinny, that's prayed or given positive thoughts and for those that have been able to donate. Someone said they wish they could have sent more, but I can truly say the smallest donation helps. It's wonderful to know that people understand what we are going through and what it's like to love your pet so much you'd do anything you could to help them. I know that Vinny has made many dog buddies and we've enjoyed all the pictures we've been given so far. We are especially tickled by the Boston Terrier pictures. Bostons have truly captured our hearts and I can see so much of our own little Piglet in the antics of your Bostons. I do have hope today that our little guy is going to make a full recovery and be his super star self. I wanted to also thank all of you for the great suggestions and ideas. Ali shared with me a website about disabled dogs and other animals and how they live great full lives. I too believe that a "crippled" animal is worth saving and loving and having a home that cherishes him. For inspiring animal stories you can check out Rolling Dog Ranch. Going through the pictures and stories of the furry friends has helped us quite a bit. Other pets have made it through worse situations and are doing wonderful and I'm so glad that there's places like Rolling Dog Ranch that will pay for all the treatments those animals need and give them a wonderful home. I think that's a great place to donate too and I hope one day I can be able to do so after we get our Vinny on the healed path. I saw too many stories to share with you but the one about Oscar the wiener dog had me teary and smiling all together. My great Aunt had a wiener dog with three legs and he was such a clown and not hindered at all, I couldn't believe how fast he could run and how he could jump all over. Then there's Travis would a fused jaw. He's so beautiful and it seems he's living a good life now inspite of his issues. There's Pappy whom the Pappy Fund is named for. Bossy Birdie is inpiring too. Another wonderful person that's been involved in Boston Terrier rescue sent me information about IMOM You can apply with them to see about receiving help for the care of your pet. I might have never known about them had she not taken the time to email me. I also think it's really great that something like IMOM is out there. As far as I knew, there wasn't much one could do if their pet needed treatment that could help them but it was out of their finanical means. I'm learning quite a bit through this nightmare and I just want to pass on the kindess and knowledge I've been given. Bookmark that site if God forbid your furry baby should ever need care you can't afford. I made a long list of questions I have for the vet so I don't feel rushed or forget anything. And thank you to one of my best friends, who also bred Vinny, for doing his puppy shots; We're also saving quite a bit of money there. The vet also said everything went so well that the surgery came in at the estimate of $2900, which was paid for by my brother-in-law, his fiance, their cat (who has cancer), and their Jack Russell, Billy. Whew. Now we will take it one day at a time and hope that we can keep on top of vet bills for the future treatments. Thank you so much to all, I can't wait to go get him; I'm off to get ready and I'll take plenty of pictures. By the way, I'm sure my posts have had run on sentences, typos and the like but I've been too tired and scattered brain to care about checking. Excuse me for that, last night though I did finally get some sleep. Talk to you all soon, Melissa and Vinny

Vinny's out of surgery

The vet at AEC just called to say Vinny's surgery went well. She said it was one of the most difficult fractures she's tried to put together, but in the end she's happy how it turned out. She put many pins into his leg, I'm not even sure how many yet. He'll have pins removed and reinserted over the next few months to insure that his limb is able to grow, but it might still have some impediment. He'll also be highly medicated over the next few months with NO activity. My heart breaks over that. O, how he loves to chase us around, go up and down the stairs and play his "bad dog" game where he'd grab something he wasn't supposed to have as if to say "I'm a bad dog, I'm a bad dog come and get me". He had JUST learned to play fetch too, he was so fast and frisky and daring for a 3 month old puppy. He practically hopped like a rabbit. I can only believe that his spirt and sassiness will help home come back to full recovery. I can see him in my minds eye standing on his hind legs trying to jump up to sniff for treats when we were eating on the couch. He loves cheerios. Just yesterday morning he came with us to our church to send our oldest off to camp. He was sad that he wasn't going to get to go in the van with all the boys. Ugh, it's hard also because my 16 year old son will come home to see Vinny on bed rest and I know it will break his heart. He's such an animal lover. When we were in Kentucky two weeks ago he saw a dog he thought was a stray and he wanted to take her home so badly. He kept asking us why anyone would let a dog wander around the streets. The dog had stitches as it turned out and we were told it was a neighbors dog down the road and it had been recently fixed; he was upset that she wasn't being pampered and he thought kidnapping her should be considered. :o) It hurts me to think of my little Piglet confined to a crate for so long, but it's such a short time compared to a full healthy life. He might even be able to come home tomorrow. This means no car trips of course, so good-bye to our idea of Adventures of Vinny the Pooh for awhile (We mapped out of the places he's already been.) I can't tell you how much it means to me to know so many are thinking of Vinny or praying. Even if you can't donate, and I understand as we're in a very tight spot ourselves, your positive thoughts and suggestions of options are very accepted. One suggestion from my dear friend, Kathy, a nurse, was to see if we have a veterinary school in our area for less expensive care. Of course, if the healing process goes terribly wrong and we can't gather enough donations, we'd have to let someone else from a rescue center take him, but I have hope it won't come to that. And I don't think it will. Today I saw the worst and best in people. One man, who has no idea what he's talking about, added insult to injury by suggesting somehow that I'm reckless or careless and my own kids are mean or cruel. It's anything but that. Even if that neighbor boy had accidentally dropped him if Vinny tried to jump (and he did try to jump right out of your arms sometimes, which is why we didn't let kids pick him up and our own kids were very cautious) , it was ACCIDENTAL. I had just sat down. Accidents DO happen. Any person should know that, especially a parent whether of a child or a four-legged baby. I can remember when I fell down the stairs with one of my babies, I had just slipped, I did nothing wrong. Thank God I was able to take the whole fall and everything was OK, but I felt so terrible, even when logically I knew I had done nothing wrong. For a full day I have been so upset with myself, even though I know bad things happen. Why did I let some kids in, when I never do? I thought I'd be supermom and let my son have a friend in when he rarely gets to. Would that have changed things? Maybe the extra kids were an accident waiting to happen. Or maybe not. He could have just have easily leapt from my own arms as he's tried before. Or perhaps the little guy could have gotten under my foot like he'd do and I could have stepped on him? You just never know, things go wrong. I think to myself, gosh, Melissa, you should have just turned around a moment sooner or had taken him potty before his time. In the end, I know I take good care of him and I can't beat myself up over it. I'm tortured with the what if's all on my own with "mother's guilt", so I don't need mean people trying to smear me and make us seem like horrible people and insulting my kids. Like I said though, I knew I might get some criticism, but I thought more in line with people not sure about our accepting donations, I never knew someone would be so mean and slanderous. I certainly am not a neglectful parent nor would I neglect my precious Vin Vin. Then I was reminded of good people in the world. Even when our pocket books can't spare any change, we can still reach out to others in kindness or mercy. We can share suggestions, kind words; a smile. We can share our own stories or talents. Today another angel came into Vinny's life. Her name is Ali, and she's brought me much encouragment. I'm not one to flatter but I have to say she's one of the sweetest people I've *never* met. :o) She's helped to give me some hope today and restore my faith that there's good and giving people. She's going to give Vinny's blog a newer handsome look and I'm excited about sharing pictures of him and seeing what she comes up with. Her design site is full of fantastic blogs she's done and I know many of my friends have looked around for blogger templates, so I hope you bookmark her site for when your looking for a new look on her blog. You can see Ali's designs at Alley Cat Web Design. Our family appreciates her donating services and helping to get the word out. She'll probably get tired of me "praising" her, but today, she was truly a godsend to me. To have things go so badly in the blink of an eye just is shocking to us, literally we've been a bit of a wreck in this last day, little sleeping, little eating, and today through her kind words I was given some peace and I truly felt like she might be part angel. All of my friends have been great, I thank all of you. My dear friend and Vinny's prior mama just feels awful too. Vinny came from the home of two of our best friends and without her support and suggestions I'd be a bit clueless. To the mean person who keeps trying to send comments about how irresponsible we are, accidents happen. She too had a dog that broke its leg shortly after a move to a new house. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as Vinny's, but she turned her attention away for a brief time and he landed wrong into a hole in the ground and broke his leg. He was 8 or 9 years though. Her lastest Boston Terrier was always trying to leap off their very high bed and she'd be worried like I was about Vinny, but so far she's been fine. Her Bostons leap and jump everywhere. A few weeks ago her Holly Bear jumped onto someone else's lap to get to mine. I had mentioned to her many times that he loved to jump quite a bit and I'd get worried that he might stumble in a land. He learned to jump off the bed or couch at 9 weeks, he loved it. I was sure he'd be learning to jump up onto to the couch soon. I'll never look at jumping the same. It only takes a second for everything to change though, but I think most of us know this. Sigh. This has been a long day. I still can't believe this has happened to the poor little guy. I can't even wrap my mind around it yet. We are so thankful though for our friends, family, and for all you animal lovers that are reaching out to us. Even the tiniest donation helps and of course, your thoughts, prayers, and suggestions are encouraging. This will be a long road for Vinny, but our family wouldn't be the same now without him.

Help for Vinny

On Monday, July 31st, our life changed in a blink of an eye, a tragic freak accident happened to our little 3 month old Boston Terrier, Vinny. One moment all was well, we were enjoying life with our new little furry baby that we brought home on June 24th, and the next minute we were having to choose between putting him down, amputation, or signing him away to the animal hospital. Today started off great, my three older kids were gone, and it was going to be a quiet fun day with just my youngest and Vinny. I let Jake (6) have a quick playdate. Normally I don't let the neighbor boys come into play, our six year old goes out to play with the boys around our yard, but it was so hot, I suggested they have a playdate in the house instead to play video games. Now, I wish I had just never answered the door when the boy knocked, maybe it would have changed things, maybe not. Vinny loves everyone and all the kids especially, he was so excited, chasing them around the house and trying to play fetch, which he had just learned to do two days ago. Vinny was trying to eat the video cords so our son put him on the couch to distract him. Vinny loves to sleep on the couch and jump off when he wants to, but if he wants down, he'll jump off faster then you can blink. Vinny was getting annoyed that he couldn't get his toy and he was making that Boston crazy growl, where he's really being a bluffer, but he wants us to know he-means -business -because- he's -the -boss. I'm kicking myself now for not turning around, but never would I think something like this could happen to fast. I'm still not exactly sure how it happened, all I know is that he either jumped off the couch and landed wrong or our son was trying to help him because he was going down wrong and he slipped out of his arms. Or the boy might have picked him up and he jumped or accidentally dropeped him. At first I might have jumped to conclusions in panic and thought the neighbor had accidentally dropped or let him jump down because I think I shouted, "What did you do, I think you broke his arm!?" I told them they had to leave right immediately, I had to take him to the vet, and they just were so confused, we were all confused, the one little boy's brother said, "My brother didn't mean to hurt his arm." He had been playing video games and didn't even see what happened either. I thought if the boy was holding him, there's a very good chance Vinny tried to jump (which he's done with me even) and the boy wasn't used to that and couldn't hold him, but that's not what happened according to my son, he thought he was coming off the couch. I'm just not sure yet. I know they say freak accidents happen, but boy do they ever. I just wish I hadn't sat down at the email. I had literally just sat down to check my email and make a call, I was in the same room and they were behind me, it happened so fast, I still don't know exactly how it happened and that's the part I hate. I just know it was a terrible accident, the boys were not being careless, and Vinny LOVES to jump. He jumped off the bed and couch all the time, I think this time he just landed wrong when trying to leap out. He'll also scratch you as he wiggles if he wants to jump which is why I don't let kids pick him up. Vinny was screaming in pain, the boys were so shocked and confused, I had three little boys all around the same age, with eyes so full of fear. I hope I didn't scare those little boys, but I couldn't help being a little panicked. I ended up paying almost $300 to be told that the break is so bad, they couldn't do anything; he'd need a specialist and it would be at least $1500. I took Vinny home, with his leg wrapped in the green bandage. They said they gave him a shot for pain, but he seemed to be absolutely miserable still. Richard had just gotten home, and we all just broke down. Thank God our oldest son is at camp and our two daughters were at friend's houses. Jake went right upstairs to his room, I think he was sad and felt guilty, that maybe it was his fault because he put him on the couch. Richard cried, I cried, and if you had asked us a month ago if we would have been so overwelmed over a dog, I would have said no way. We've waited a long time to get another dog. We did research on the right dog for us, we were so lucky to have great friends that breed Bostons, and we waited a year for a spring litter, to get just the right Boston for us at the right time. We were all prepared for him before he came home, everyone has been so gentle and careful. He's as spoiled as can be. Then barely a month later, we are faced with losing him. We just did what we had to and in desparate hope it wasn't as bad as we thought we took him to get him looked at at the animal hospital Our own vet said it would be $60 to put him down, which none of us could bare to do anyways over a leg, (we weren't sure if it was bad enough for that) $1200 to amputate, which we don't have sitting around, and I'd hate to see that happen. Our only other option was to sign him over, they'd fix his leg, and adopt him out to someone that would pay for the care. They couldn't assure me though that he WOULD be adopted. We'd still have to pay the money it would have taken to put him down, to help out with the cost. It seemed so cruel. Either way, we'd have to give him up. It only got worse though. The animal hospital said it would be $2900 to $3200 just to fix his leg, and since the fracture is on a growth plate, his leg might not ever grow properly, and of course there would be follow up care. We just found out we our getting a mortage to become first time owners. Both of us are proud people, but I think we're going to need help with Vinny. He's brought immense joy to our lives; to our children's lives, I don't want him to part with him. The vet wouldn't take arrangements, Richard said we'd sign him away. We came so close that the paperwork was drawn up. In one last ditch effort to keep our Vinny the Pooh Bear, Richard called his brother. Thankfully he got through, and his angel of a brother said he'd help. As a gify he and his fiance were going to send our family on a vacation of our choice. We asked if we could trade the vacation in, in order to fix Vinny and give him a chance to stay in our family. So that's how he's getting the surgery paid for. What a relief. I can't tell you the relief and sadness both that we felt at the same time. Will he be the same? Will he make it through the surgery? We have to try for him though. As we said good-night to Vinny, Jake finally broke down. Breaks my heart to watch my son cry like that in front of people. As we left he was inconsolable and he cried like that for an hour. I'm not sure if it just hit him, or if he was confused and thought we were leaving him forever. We assured him, we'd come back for him and that doggie doctors would do their best to help his leg. It's not over yet though, as I write this, he's still in the animal hospital, waiting for the surgeon to come in. As of now, they do believe they can save his leg, we're praying the bone won't be broken worse during surgery, we do know he'll have pins or screws and he'd get arthritis sooner then normal. There could be problems with the growth of the leg, but we'd rather have a handicapped Vinny then no Vinny. They said he's so young, that he should be OK and have an active life. He made it through the night, he's on a morphine drip now and they hydrated him. Vinny's a sweet, hearty little Boston, like most dog owners, we just think he's the best. When he was a day old he was mauled by an older playful puppy, who probably thought she was just trying to play with the new babies and bring them to their mama. He was given stitches and he was fine. He's already a trooper. We can just hope and pray he'll be fine again. I just worry about future care. It's a hard thing to ask for help. My brother in law has been an angel for us, but there's still money owed in the future for follow up care for getting pins out and new pins in. I'm not even sure what it will be. I will be looking for a job now of course as I was planning on anyways, we're going to be putting stuff up for online auctions, but we're asking Boston Terrier lovers, dog lovers and ALL animal lovers for help if at all possible. For those that want to help Vinny we'll be setting up a paypal account for his medical costs, and we will show all documentation for proof. This is not a scam. We're honest people, right now, we're desparately in love with this furry baby, so much so, that we're reaching out online to all animal lovers asking for help. It's not easy to do, but he's worth it. I realize that to some it may sound silly. We might be criticized. I'm sure some of you will think there's better places to donate your charity money. And that may be true. But if you love animals and have ever had to lose one, you know what we're feeling. We just want him to be able to stay with us. He's a great dog. He's incredibly spoiled, we'd do anything to help him. I can't describe the pain we felt yesterday as our lives changed so fast, it may sound melodramatic, but one moment we are just taking it day by day like everyone else, glad to be healthy, blessed to have a great family, and joyful to have our new puppy with us. The next moment he's about to be taken from us. To us, it's not silly. To us, he's apart of our family and we are scared to lose him. Vinny is at the Animal Emergency Center of Glendale, Wisconsin. He's under the care of Dr. Stacie Lipinski. His surgeon, as of current time will be Dr. Dana King. His case number is 86676, for those that want check validity before making a donation. And please don't feel pressured to donate. Positive thoughts and advice are just as welcome. I also don't want my friends feeling like they have to either. I myself have donated to the Save Wampi fund when the cats leg was badly damaged. I love animals myself and I too want to make sure that my money is truly going to help an animal. I will keep everyone updated regularly with this blog and I can assure you that every cent will go to pay for Vinny's vet bills for follow up care. We also want to set up a fund someday when he's back on his feet, to help other families whose pets can be saved, but they do not have the money. If we can help even one family avoid our nightmare of an emotional roller coaster yesterday, I will feel that it is worth it and honors the generosity of everyone that helps Vinny. We will appreciate even the smallest donation, everyone will be added to Vinny's blogroll. If you have pets and pictures of them, please send them, we want to acknowledge each furry friend that helps Vinny. We will be adding your names to his cast as well. If you're the praying kind, please send some prayers for Vinny, he goes into surgery today as of the last time we spoke with AEC. We will update as soon as possible. The paypal account is helpsavevinny@gmail.com If you do not have paypal, but would like to donate, let me know. Here's a picture of my youngest on the day we picked Vinny up. I have tons more pictures to upload and I will share those with all of you. Vinny loves the car and so far he's already been to Michigan and Kentucky and many rest stops in between, we had joked we should get a blog up called the Adventures of Vinny the Pooh with all his traveling pictures. I hope he'll again be able to join us on road trips as healthy as ever. Our family thanks you.