Heidi’s story

The story of Heidi began well before she came to me, and it was a bleak history. Heidi was part of a hoarding situation with 11 other dogs. She and those other dogs were rescued, but some never made it out of the shelter. But this semi feral little girl was one of the lucky ones as she was transported up to a wonderful organization in Oregon. I had already adopted two dogs from this same rescue so I was very familiar with them. But I was not looking for another dog, especially not a tiny one. However, you know how fate can be.

Heidi’s photo showed up on the web page of the rescue. What I read about her indicated she was a sad little dog who was terrified of people and had to have a rear amp due to an injury that was never treated.

I offered to foster her.

So, in October 2019 Heidi walked through my door, a couple weeks post amputation.

If I am honest, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had another shy, fearful dog so I figured I could handle her. But boy, she was tough. She was terrified of everything. If I touched her in her crate, she flinched. She routinely growled at me. She bit me and hid from me. And yet, I still felt some connection. I decided to adopt her.

And that is how this 10 pound tripawd came into my life. And we never looked back. Each day was a step forward followed by several steps back.

But in a year she has blossomed in ways I never would have expected. What I have before me is the happiest little dog I have ever known. She is my shadow and follows me everywhere. She meets me at the door doing the happiest little 3 legged dance ever.

I am enamored of her resilience. She overcame so much, losing her leg being only one part of her hard life. I always felt bad when I saw tripawds. I felt bad for them because I thought their lives must not be great. But Heidi changed that perception for me. She showed me that losing a leg doesn’t slow down a dog at all!