Sugarloaf has been adopted! Sweet Sugar, as she will now be known, has found the perfect family. Rick and Carla lost their beloved 11-year-old Bulldog recently to congestive heart failure. They were looking for another dog who could lift their 4-year-old Stella out of her grief funk.
Sugar was the perfect choice for that. Seconds after meeting one another, they were both running around like new pups. They love playing with each other and sharing their mom and pop.
Sugar’s journey in rescue started with great pain and difficulty. We are so blessed to see her leave so full of life and joy. Congratulations, Sweet Sugar!
Some days in rescue are especially memorable and life-changing. Today was one of those days.
Sugarloaf had been picked up as a stray and had a severe vaginal prolapse. The shelter notified us and allowed us to pull her so we could get her medical treatment ASAP.
She had to be carried to the Jeep and she slept most of the way to the clinic. Upon arrival, Dr. Larsen and her staff were ready to go to work on helping this sweet girl. They immediately prepped her for surgery.
They did her spay first and Dr. Larsen said she looked like she had recently had her first heat cycle. They worked for over an hour to correct the prolapse, but they could not get the vagina back past the pelvis. They removed about an inch of the vagina and stitched it back together and still could not get it back in position, in spite of a lot of forceful pushing. The staff coated it with sugar in an effort to reduce the inflammation (who knew?). We went through 2 pounds of sugar and one giant tube of lube.
It was finally decided to stitch her vulva closed except at the very bottom so she could urinate. This will give the vagina time to calm down and the swelling and inflammation to dissipate. They will try again on Thursday and it should be much easier. They followed up the surgery with a laser treatment.
Sugarloaf is estimated to be about a year old and seems so calm and sweet. We can’t wait for her to recover and see her full personality. As you can see from the pics, someone unfortunately cropped her ears. One is shorter than the other and a little more rounded. Imagine how much hell this poor girl has already gone through in her short life. And it’s just more reason to love her for all she has been through.
The vet clinic staff will take turns checking on her throughout the night and give us updates. We want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and donations today to help out Sugarloaf. It was one of those unforgettable days in rescue.
P.S. Foster girl Teddy Bear rode with me today and was very interested in Sugarloaf after her surgery was over. She is concerned about her too!
2/17/20 Update: You can tell she is still weak, however. Her back legs are sore and don’t work as well as they should, but she’s eating well and enjoying brief walks. She shows more energy every day. Thank you all for helping her!
2/26/20 Update: I have come a long way in a very short time. Two weeks ago, I was picked up from a shelter and I was badly in need of emergency surgery.
Today, I left the vet clinic and went to my foster home. I have already met and played with three of the others dogs there. The other foster dog and I ran and played until we could not go any more.
My foster dad says I know nothing about house training, so that is the first priority. I did show him I could walk fairly well on a leash, but I get easily distracted by things around me. Hey, it is only day 1 of the rest of my life and I’m determined it will be a wonderful life!
3/4/20 Update: Sugarloaf was so aptly named. She just oozes sweetness!She has adjusted well to her foster home and is doing great with her house training. She is getting better on a leash and she likes it even more now that her foster brother was adopted and he doesn’t try to drag her around.
She is discovering her playful side and enjoys playing with all kinds of toys as well as her foster brother. She was very excited this week when the mailman showed up with a very special package for her. She now has a very beautiful collar, harness and leash from P Dawg Accessories For Bulldogs.
11/30/20 Update: Sugarloaf made it to her foster home just in time for Thanksgiving. We know that she is thankful for that! We will spend the long weekend getting her settled in and acquainted with the resident Bulldogs. She has already met two and has done very well.
She would be so much easier as an only dog, but she loves to play so much. She would miss that if she were an only dog. So we will keep working with her to help her stay more under control.
She still enjoys snuggle time with her foster mom and pop and other dogs.
2/7/21 Update: We have been working with Sugarloaf on her impulse control and getting her to stop before her behavior escalates beyond a point of no return. It is amazing what a little Trazodone and lots of treats can do.
The medicated baths and Benadryl I was giving was just not helping. So we made a trip to the clinic. She got a medicated bath, a Cytopoint shot and three new medications. By the next day she was already improved. The bumps are gone, but if you look close you can still see lots of bald spots.
She has been doing great with her medicated baths and should be back to normal soon. She is doing better in the behavior department too. She and her foster brother still play some, but they no longer get carried away and lose control.
