Happy Birthday Skye!!

Well, today is the big day, Skye turns 3!  Of course, I have no clue when her actual birthday may be, or even if she is 3 yrs old.  Back in April the vet guessed she was 2-3, but her puppy antics has always made me wonder if her teeth were lying.  But I love October and the number 6, so today is the day.  We went to work this morning and she got to play with her pals, but I decided to hold off on the big party.  Instead, both dogs got baths!  Yay!  Actually, the baths were in preparation for the mini party we are having at home tonight.  I got back from work and put sweaters on both my adorable dogs so that I could take slightly ridiculous pictures of them, and they both promptly fell asleep on the couch.  That was 2 hours ago, and neither have made any attempt to wake back up.  Apparently they didn't get the memo about birthday fun, so the poor humans had to find things to occupy themselves with (hence the blogging).  While I wait for them to recuperate, I figured I'd tell the story of Skye from the beginning.  We're all dog lovers out there, and I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I do.

Once upon a time there was an Animal Control Officer who found a stray dog in the city.  Surprised?  I doubt it.  She was a tiny pitbull in heat, missing a good amount of fur, and had an eye infection.  She was brought to the nearby shelter, where she was named Remy and started on medication.  When the infection cleared up and the heat cycle ended, she was SAFER tested and found to be sweet, but not as motivated as a typical pit to connect and please humans.  She did love squeaky toys, and seemed fine with other dogs.  Upon her vet recheck, it was discovered that she had bilateral entropian eyelids, which required a pricey surgery that the shelter could not afford.  Luckily, another local shelter had the space and funds available to help Remy out, so she went to the Animal Welfare Society of Kennebunk, ME.  I was employed there at the time, and my foster dog of 3 months had just been adopted.  I was happy to help Remy after her surgery, and told my coworkers I may end up keeping her, as I'd always wanted a blue pit (but I was only 1/2 serious).

When Remy arrived, she looked incredibly small compared to the pictures I'd seen (I took the above picture her first day), and she also had kennel cough. This meant postponing her surgery, as well as putting off a real dog intro, to determine how likely I'd be to keep her.  Fast forward a few weeks, and Remy, now Skye, has had her eye surgery and made a few dog pals. She clearly hasn't got a clue what to do around dogs, but is more timid than anything else.  All seems to be going well, until I notice her nipples are swelling.  The original shelter had spayed her, yet she was showing all the signs of a pregnant dog.  After a little digging, it turned out that they had only meant to spay her, but sent her to us before doing so... oops!  My coworkers begin making bets about how many puppies, and calling dibs on the little bundles of joy that would soon arrive.  But an x-ray showed no pups, and the vet pointed out that she had a c-section scar, possibly from a prior failed pregnancy.  After another 2 weeks there were still no pups, and we decided to spay her.  Luckily it was a false pregnancy, as Skye has turned out to be a huge handful all on her own.  I adopted her while she was at the vet being spayed, as my family had come to adore her, and she in turn adored Parker.  I keep looking forward to the day she finally settles down and turns into the lazy, dopey dog she is inside.  Of course at that point I'll probably go ahead and adopt another wild adolescent to keep me on my toes.  And we'll all live happily ever after, The End.

Since the dogs are still asleep, I'll post a pic from Parker's birthday, and we can pretend it's from today!  I think this really captures them...

Last thing, I promise!!  I had the amazing opportunity to go back to AWS for their annual Strut Your Mutt, which raised $60,000 at the event.  All that money goes to the medical fund that allows them to help dogs like Skye.  They also have a vote for the next year's "Face of the Strut" and Skye is a contestant!  If you have a minute, I'd love it if you could vote for her (or another worthy dog), as a birthday present!  Thanks, see you next time!

http://www.animalwelfaresociety.org/sym_2010_photos.html
(she's near the bottom)