Golden Retriever Hope

Hi friends and fellow tripawds,

My mom and dad are resting now after the big Paw Rade in N. KY where they set up a booth for tripawds.com.  I just wanted to share with you some of their comments:  “Wow!  I’ve never seen so many dogs in one place–and all of them dressed in Halloween costumes!,” and “Good grief, we sold sooooooooo many dog treats, and “Wow, that tripawd dog, Charger, really brought in the donation money!  It was great that his owners, Gail and Dave, let us pimp him out!” and “My throat hurts from talking with people so much!”  Anyway, just wanted you all to know that it was a beautiful day–I was there in Spirit, you know–and they took a gazillion pictures, which they will share with you after they recuperate from the day.

They talked a lot about me, Jerry, and the tripawds community and said, “these are caring, compassionate people who will help you get through this…”  People really listened to mom, as she’s a real talker.

Anyway, I was happy to hear them say that they are doing all of this for me, and called it “Mission of Hope.”  It will be only two months on Tuesday that I left my earth body behind…seems like much longer to mom.  She still cries a lot….

Your furever friend,

Spirit Hope

Hello, my Tripawds friends.

After my last post, I turned off my computer and cell phone and have been lost in memories of Hope and her long battle with cancer.  I really needed that time to quietly grieve and plan what I really wanted to accomplish with Mission of Hope:  Did I want it to be an outreach mission, a fundraising arm of Tripawds, a mix of the two or what.  It seems like I’ve always been the event/fundraising go-to person for any group I’ve been associated with, but fundraising won’t be part of my plans for the “Mission.”  I feel events will be the best opportunity to talk with people about the organization, and maybe later, going into schools, libraries and ???.  There seems to be an endless number of opportunities.

After telling only a handful of people about Hope’s passing, I’ve been blessed to have them direct other tripawd owners to me to learn more about the organization.  This morning, the company I order dog food from offered to run a story on Hope and on tripawds on his website, which is really growing and is being picked up by local media.  (If you have a chance, his company and website is www.nakeddingo.com.   Two blogs he has already written about organizations I help with are entitled “Biscuit” and “Kodiak.”)

As an FYI, I’ve found that when you do events, you really have to have something to sell so that people will want to come into your tent.  If you are an information only group, people are afraid if they approach you that you will talk their arm off!  If you have just a few inexpensive items for sale, you can engage them in conversation and talk about the organization as they shop.  Fortunately, I’ve found a few tripawds dogs that owners will loan me for the day of the event.  Who can resist petting a happy three-legged dog!

The other day I purchased a lot of end of season kid’s trinkets at 90% off at Hobby Lobby, and I’m working on printing the tripawds logo with Jerry on cardstock that I can cut into bookmarks; both items will be a free handout to get people into my tripawds booth.  I have my tent, table, handouts printed from the website, etc. ready for the next event!  I don’t know where all of this will take me, but hopefully it will attract the attention of the media and an awareness of the awesome tripads.com website and wonderful families that make up this community.

If any of you can just download some info from the tripawds website to give to your vet and surgeon, that could be the first step in your own Mission in honor of your pet, which is hopefully still with you, or in memory of those who have passed.  If your doctor has a bulletin board, leave a business card or space permitting, a postcard that can be printed from the tripawds website.  Do you go to dog parks?  Again, print something from the website to hand to people who want to know more about your tripawd because they either have a tripawd dog or know someone who has one.  Does your area have an end-of-season swim party at a people pool?  Do you take your dog to pet stores, restaurants that allow dogs, or a doggie bakery?  These are places that you spend money and asking for the store to tack up your info about tripawds is pretty easy!  Do you have a relationship with a rescue?  If so, ask them to put the tripawds logo on their website.  (I hope that’s okay with you Jim and Renee.  I haven’t done that yet, but know of groups that would do that for me if you give the go ahead.)  Tripawds is not in competition with any animal group; giving info about the organization benefits whomever you are talking with–from vets and surgeons to people you might bump into on the street.  I suggest you have a small supply (to start with) of business cards, postcards, and fliers in your car.  You’d be surprised at how many places you will find that will thank you for the information you leave with them.  (Ask then if they have a weekly employee meeting and ask them to share the info you leave with employees during the meeting.  Sometimes you have to lead to people to opportunities!)

If anyone is doing an event and would like to know what I have ready for my (first) event, just let me know.  I have a PTA/Cub Scout/rescue background, so I can usually find or make things I need pretty cheap!  And I just now thought of something else we could hand out in our booths–sample (quality) dog food or treats from independent pet stores.  Since it’s free, maybe we could squeak by with the store’s business card stapled to the food–it’s worth a try!  🙂

I apologize for the length of this blog, but I just had to put into words the thoughts that have been going through my mind over the last week.  The pain of Hope’s unexpected passing is slowly being healed by the celebration of her life and how her spirit will live on and help others.  And, I apologize if my event ideas have already been posted by someone else.  I still haven’t ventured to all the web pages….

Thank you for your support and prayers…they are appreciated so very much.

Barb, John and Spirit Hope

Dear Tripawds  Family,

I can’t begin to thank you all for your loving thoughts and prayers after our golden, Hope, died quite suddenly of liver/kidney failure on Thursday.  We made the decision to let her go peacefully after she didn’t respond to strong, homeopathic meds; her body began to shut down quickly.  The outpouring of emails from you all have touched our hearts, as you all understood our pain and our need for guidance.  You are all strong, brave warriors for your dogs and a solid support system to those of us who need to feel others are there to help us through whatever path we have to take.  You will never know the strength and hope that you have given us as we traveled down that unknown path.

Today, a most beautiful day in Cincinnati, my husband, Hope and another family with a tripawd dog had planned to participate in a dog walk in Greater Cincinnati by setting up an information booth about tripawds.com and golden retriever rescue.  When Hope had her leg amputated on June 17 of this year, the doctor and surgeon didn’t know about tripawds.com and could offer little information on how to help Hope live a “normal life” as a tripawd.  Only by googling “dog amputation” did I find tripawds, and a loving, compassionate community of new friends.

Hope is no longer with us in body, but her spirit will remain with us forever.  She was a rescue dog with a rocky start, but she grew into a beautiful, sassy, prissy little girl.  In honor of her life and a tribute of the adversities she faced, we have decided to continue our mission via an outreach program to offer information and support to tripawd dogs.  We might have missed the dog walk today, but there will be other opportunities to reach families who need the support that tripawds.com and YOU can give them.  We plan to start our “Mission of Hope” by visiting veterinarians and surgeons and leaving information that they can share with families whose dogs are facing amputation.  That’s a frightening time, and I think that’s when people need to connect with YOU, the people who have actually gone through the fears that they are now facing.

Please remember us in your prayers.  This is such a sad, sad time for us; our grief is great.  I know you will be there for us as the road takes yet another turn…

With much love and appreciation,

Barb, John, and Spirit Hope

 

I am sorry to tell you that this afternoon due to a shutdown of Hope’s kidneys and liver, she went to the Rainbow Bridge. When she went to her doctor on Tuesday with urination problems, he said that she looked yellow and gave us several homeopathic meds for her. He received the bloodtest results yesterday, and they confirmed what he suspectd. We were surprised that out of the clear, he diagnosed her with liver, kidney failure. We used the Eastern meds he gave us for two days, but there was no improvement. Her condition actually worsened during that time; she couldn’t move, wouldn’t eat or drink and appeared to be blind and possibly deaf. The toxins were taking over her body. I held her all night for the last two nights; she was non responsive. We wanted to let her go before she starting suffering. What a horrible decision to make. I kept praying for a miracle.

If is with great sadness that we must let everyone know that Hope is no longer here with us on earth; she is with her siblings and Tripawds friends at the Bridge, waiting for the rest of her family.

She was such a very special little girl who had fought bravely two years with fibrosarcoma, only to have her diseased leg amputated on June 17. And now, within the last couple of days to have her kidneys and liver shut down.

Run free, our little Miss Princess Hope. You will always remain in our hearts; we shall never forget you.

Just wanted to pass on something that happened to Hope a couple of weeks ago, in case this ever happens to your dog.

Hope was sleeping on the floor when it was time for all the dogs to go outside.  Hope startled us when she couldn’t get up.  She could just lift her head slightly and she had a look of total terror in her eyes; her neck was rigid.  We were sure she was having a stroke….or worse.

After about 5 minutes of us talking to her and rubbing her body, she finally came around.  Since she has not had a recurrence, our vet said if sounded like she had a muscle spasm around the neck/chest area.  Should it happen again, he advised us to massage the area.

Just wanted to pass on this horrible experience in case it should happen to you….

Hope’s front leg was amputated just a little over a month ago on June 17.  At that time, we were so worried that she had given up on life, as she wouldn’t even try to get up to eat or go outside.

I can’t stress enough how post surgery drugs affect a dog.  Looking back, I recognize Hope’s lack of energy was due to the pain meds which kept her drowsy.

For the last month, Hope has been going up and down MANY steps unassisted and even begs for food on her hind legs–she’s back to her old self!  The twinkle is back in her eyes and her tail wags constantly.  What a happy dog she is!

Even though the blogs on this website talk about how well a dog adjusts after surgery, I didn’t see that happening for Hope.  Hope is a rescue dog, so we are uncertain about her age, but guess her to be around 9 years old.  We felt that losing a FRONT leg at that age would create obstacles for her and imagined ourselves carrying her outside for the rest of her life.  What a wonderful surprise to see her knock the other goldens and labs (all 5 of them) out of her way to get outside!  And she’s become the welcome wagon for people walking past our house.

We continue to give her Standard Process Whole Body Support and fish oil, to keep her healthy.  Hope weighs about 60#, which is a good weight for her, but I would like her to lose just a few pounds to lessen the stress on her legs.  That might be easier said than done, because Hope loves her food!

For anyone who has given up hope, as I did in the early days, please know that things turn around quickly.  Dogs really do adapt well–much better than people do.  They find ways of doing all the things they used to do–they don’t give up and we can’t give up on them.

Barb and “Happy Hope”

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