Bravest Fur*Baby Award

Sooo .... I felt that it would be appropriate to introduce you to our little*man who gets the bravest Fur*Baby award (@ least in my opinion).  

Our Fur*Baby: Guiness

 As A Puppy:

Now:

Since that first picture, he has been through quite a lot. Not only has he doubled in weight, but he has also had 3 major knee surgeries. 

Guiness' Story:

We had talked about getting a dog for months but every time I would  find a breeder for miniature poodles that was in driving distance, they would require veterinarian references. All poodles that we found on PetFinder or in Rescue groups, said that they should not be put in homes with children, or they ALSO required veterinarian references. 

This was something we could not provide because neither Rob or I had ever been the primary caregiver to a pet ... so one day we decided to check out a local puppy store that I knew always had miniature poodles in stock. My sister was visiting us and she was more than ready to go and look at pretty puppies for an afternoon. 

We walked in and were considering whether we wanted to meet a Bichon Frise or two different poodles that we saw. The Bichons were just very sleepy and tired, but these two poodles that we saw were active and ready to play! One was an Apricot Color and the other was this black and tan colored poodle. The Apricot poodle (pictured below) was sooo tiny and young. He would have been needed to let out at least 3 times a day and was just SO cute. 

But then we decided we wanted to meet with the other black and tan poodle who was a little older, but when Rob put his finger near his cage, the poodle actually followed it and jumped around all over the place! When this poodle came in, he started attacking my purse and played with all of us like crazy. Then as soon as Rob picked him up, he relaxed right away and was ready for a nap. It was the SWEETEST thing I had ever seen. So .... we made the hard decision to take the black and tan poodle home ... and appropriately named him Guiness! 

He had SO much hair because they wouldn't groom him until he got his Rabies shots. Hahaha. He looks hysterical!

So back to the knee surgery thing: after about 2 months of bliss with our puppy, he was playing with a toy and went to jump up next to me on the couch but didn't quite make it. When his legs hit the floor, his left knee popped right out and he started screaming and squealing. It was the most awful sound I have ever heard. I felt completely powerless to do anything for him. I just held him until he stopped crying and called the vet. We went into the Emergency care facility and were told that he has luxating patellas. 

This essentially means that his knee caps do not have a solid enough 'home' within his knees to stay in. He ended needed surgery in both back knees so we tackled one at a time.  His left knee then needed surgery again 6 months ago because the groomer had caused it to become loosened.

This brings us to Today and why he gets the brave Fur*Baby award. We went to the surgeon for another consultation because our vet said that his knee is popping out on the left again. He now needs a 3rd surgery in his left knee (which equals four altogether). My brave boy goes in for his surgery next Thursday. Please keep him in your thoughts and I will be sure to let you know how my brave Fur*Baby does. 

In the meantime here are a few more pictures of him including some from his past surgeries.