This young fellow arrived last Wednesday night, brought out to us by our pet transport company, TLC Pet Transport. He had been picked up as an emaciated stray and held in an Arkansas animal control shelter for over a month. He was facing euthanasia because his time was up, the kennels were overflowing, and the shelter had an 85% euthanasia rate last year. Despite that staggering statistic, the animal control officer and dedicated volunteers are trying to do everything they can to save the animals who end up there. A volunteer named Holli H. contacted us about this three-legged dog who had been named Hobble Foot or alternately, Tripod. We renamed him Tanner.
She wrote, "He is very sweet and smart. He gets along with the other dogs in his kennel, but really needs out. Please, if you think you can help this guy, I will find a way to get him to you."
Holli is one of the many unsung heroes of the animal welfare community, quietly working behind the scenes to save animals one by one. Most of the disabled animals who come to us only make it out alive because an individual like Holli works so hard to find another option for them.
We agreed to take him, and we offered to have him boarded at a local vet clinic until our transport could get there. We figured that would ensure he was safe while also freeing up much needed space at the shelter. So a couple of days after Thanksgiving, Holli pulled him from the shelter and took him to the vet clinic.
Last Monday, he left on the transport and arrived here very late Wednesday night. Despite being fed at the shelter, he is still very skinny. Here's a photo we took that night when feeding him dinner in our quarantine kennel:
We've since wormed him, which should also help him get weight back on.
He is as sweet and loving as Holli said, and just melts in your arms. His biggest medical issue is that stump of a leg, which is raw and bleeding at the end:
We took that photo the next morning, after we let him out in an exercise yard by himself. Typically if a veterinarian is going to remove a leg, he or she will take it off at the hip rather than leave so much of the remaining leg to dangle down. Because Tanner still has the muscles attached to the entire thigh bone, he tries to use that leg, and often scrapes it across the ground or inadvertently pivots on it. The stump also just doesn't look surgically done. My hunch is that he lost the lower part of his leg to a trap.
I am taking him to our specialists at Peak Veterinary in Burlington tomorrow for a work-up and an evaluation of Tanner's leg by the surgeon there, Dr. Kurt Schulz.
Here are some more photos we took yesterday afternoon (yes, the snow had melted but it was still cold!) … in this next one you can sure see the submissive posture:
He does cower and shrink sometimes when he first approaches us, and we suspect he's definitely been ill-treated in the past. But he still very much wants to be loved up, so once we begin petting him and he gets that assurance, he gets all wiggly and affectionate. If we get down face to face with him, he'll eagerly kiss us. Here's another shot showing what a handsome boy he is:
The shelter thought he could be a Spaniel/Beagle mix, which we could see in him … or he could be just a very cute Heinz 57 mix. Sometimes I think I see a bit of Foxhound in him too. But who knows … or cares? Cute is cute!
We'll have a much better idea of what's going on with him after tomorrow's visit to Peak.
Our ability to say "yes" to a dog like Tanner is due entirely to the donations we receive from our supporters. We simply couldn't do this otherwise. So thanks to all of you who make those gifts — Tanner is one very lucky boy because of you. For him, this was an amazing Christmas present!
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Final 2013 Shelter Challenge Underway
The final round of the Shelter Challenge for 2013 began on October 28th and runs until December 22. You can vote every day here. To search for us, type in our name, Rolling Dog Farm, and Lancaster, NH 03584. We just won another $1,000 in the previous round, so your daily votes do bring in serious money for our disabled animals!
Please note that I cannot help with technical or voting problems. I also do not have an "inside track" to anyone at the Shelter Challenge, and I don't know any more about the contest than anyone else does. So if you find yourself having issues, please consult their FAQ page here and their Rules page, which is a pop-up you can find linked on this page.
Thanks for your votes!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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