My name is Casper the Friendly Dog!

Casper came to Ruff Start Rescue under heartbreaking circumstances, facing severe malnutrition, multiple injuries from bite wounds, skin infections, and a deep laceration on his foot that required urgent surgery. Despite his tough journey, Casper’s good spirit has remained as bright as his snowy white coat—earning him the name Casper The Friendly Dog, as a nod to the most famous good spirit.  
 

Casper’s resilience shows through every cuddle, fast tail wags, and gentle hugs. He always wants to stay close to his foster family for snuggles and affection. Even after undergoing two major surgeries in one day, Casper is recovering beautifully, and considers snuggles as an essential part of his care plan.   

 

While most of his time so far has been spent healing, there have been a few opportunities for training and playing which went very well. Training will be a breeze for him, as he is a quick learner, eager to please, and very food motivated.

 

He can't go on walks yet as he is restricted to limited activity, but when Casper is hanging out in the yard with his foster family, he stays right next to his humans and sniffs/explores wherever they're walking. He's just so happy to be with people who care about him. He'll be able to go on walks soon and the vet says he will still have full function in his foot with no issues! 

 

He is stuck in a cone until his stitches can be removed on the 12th. Between the cone and one limb bandaged from surgery, he can't hold his own bone right now, but he loves it when his foster mom holds it for him so he can lay down and chew on his bones! 

 

Now surrounded by love and care, Casper is steadily gaining weight back, his wounds are healing, and every day, he's learning what it means to be truly cared for. Despite everything he's endured, Casper's affectionate nature shines through. 

I told some RSR members last night:  " Casper's spirit just cannot be broken or brought down-he is such a resilient and happy boy! Most fosters I get post surgery are always loopy/sad/confused. When I picked him up this afternoon, he was the first dog I've had post surgery whose tail began to wag instantly and he came into my chest for snuggles, like- 'oh good, you're here! Look at me, I'm okay still!

He is doing really well given the circumstances. He put himself into my lap for snuggles and fell asleep there for a while when we got back to the house. He's so affectionate and snuggly.

They were able to stitch up his paw and neuter him today. I'll remove the bandage in two days and they'll remove stitches in two weeks. They did have to shave half of his face and random spots all over his body to take a better look at all of his cuts so his haircut is a little funny. He'll need very limited activity for the next couple weeks, but the foot should heal just fine which is amazing news!”

Casper the Friendly Dog  is from a local reservation. If you are interested in getting to know this animal better, please fill out an adoption application. An adoption application is the best way to show your interest in an animal and is not a binding contract.

To learn more about Ruff Start’s adoption process and the care our foster animals receive, please visit our How to Adopt page.

If you are unable to adopt but want to help this animal and others in our care, you can donate   to support the medical and veterinary needs of all Ruff Start Rescue animals.