Gretchen

Gretchen, an 8-10 year old red Doberman Pinscher, was found wandering the streets of Elizabeth, NJ. Her stomach almost touched the ground from the many litters she had been forced to bear. This obviously was a breeding dog, past her prime, dumped into the streets to fend for herself. Gretchen had never known life in a home. She was not housebroken, thought that the hinged part of the door was for exiting, and did not understand the concept of solid walls not being impenetrable to get to the cat on the other side. But we worked and worked and learned and learned. After 4 months, Gretchen had endured her last heat, been spayed (it was an extremely difficult spay due to the many litters she had given birth to) and given a little tummy tuck, was housebroken, got along with cats and had been visiting the elderly in a nursing home. Gretchen had found her calling! She was adopted by a housebound woman who needed assistance with the use of a walker. She needed a special canine companion, a calm one who would not trip her or be afraid of the walker. Gretchen's nursing home visitation experiences made her a prime candidate and she at long last found her forever home. The family reported that Gretchen has been an absolutely wonderful dog. The day after Thanksgiving, however, we received a phone call. Gretchen had started limping and fearing she was developing arthritis, her family took her to the vet. Her diagnosis turned out to be much worse - bone cancer. The vet has given Gretchen 6 months to live. The family opted not to put her through treatment rather to let her live out the rest of her live happily and assist her in trip to the Rainbow Bridge when the time comes. They are so happy to have had Gretchen as part of their lives for over a year and we are so happy that Gretchen, at long last, had experienced the joys of belonging to a real family for the last year of her life.