My name is Darcy!

Adoption Fee: $200


Fostered in Mississippi


Age: 11 years


Weight: 9 lbs.


6/1/12 – WOW – how time flies when you’re having fun! It’s hard to believe that Darcy has been with us for a year and a half now! She had a LOT to overcome when she first got here, but she’s really come a long way. People who saw her when I first got her, can’t believe she’s the same dog. She went from a frail little lifeless 5 lb almost completely hairless little thing that sneezing CONSTANTLY, to a beautiful regal Queen that now weighs in at 9 lbs and has a full coat of beautiful hair – even on her tail!


Darcy is one of those typical rescue dogs that knows how good she has it and appreciates EVERYTHING you do for her. She loves her foster brothers and doesn’t pay any attention to the new foster pups that have come and gone. If there ever were a “perfect” dog, Darcy would certainly be a contender!


Darcy is still on her special diet of Natural Balance Potato and Duck and she still takes her thyroid meds twice a day and a ½ a Zyrtec once a day. She is now taking the Atopica 3 times a week and she takes Metacam for her hips most every day. She gave us quiet a scare the other day, when it appeared that she had lost control of her back legs. But the vet thought it was arthritis in the hips and put her on the Metacam. She’s been on that now for about 2 or 3 weeks and it seems to be working very well. She’s able to use her back legs and can even use the doggie steps again.


Darcy has no interest in sleeping in the big bed with Foster Mom and the other pups. She much prefers to sleep in her own bed that FM bought just for her. And it appears that the other pups know that the bed was just for Darcy, as Darcy is the only one who ever sleeps in it. But even Darcy wouldn’t sleep in it until she was sure that it was for her. She had been sleeping on a blanket in the floor before I bought her the little bed. When I brought I home, I put it on top of the blanket so that she would know it was for her. When I came back into the room later, I found Darcy laying on a small corner of the blanket that was sticking out from under the bed! It wasn’t until I patted it and told her that it was for her, that she jumped in it and snuggled it and claimed it as her own!


Darcy uses the doggie doors and the pee pads (when she doesn’t feel like going outside) like a champ! She is also a stickler for a “routine”! She insists on having breakfast at 4:30 every morning, even on the weekends! But once she gets her belly full, she will go back to bed and sleep as long as you want her to! She has truly evolved into the Matriarch of the family – a position she doesn’t take lightly!!


6/21/11 Darcy’s been in her foster home for 6 months now and it’s time for a complete history and profile. I don’t think I realized when she first got here just how worn out the little girl was – she pretty much slept for the first 2 months that she was here. And of course she sneezed CONSTANTLY – so violently at times that she would hit her head on the floor – it was literally uncontrollable sneezing. And she constantly chewed her paws – to the point that she would hurt herself and cry out. Her little paws were so swollen and red, it was hard for her to walk on them.


After her stay with the Louisiana Specialist Center and a round of antibiotics and steroids, it was decided that Darcy has chronic allergies and should be placed on allergy meds (Atopica) and a special diet - and special it is! She cannot have any beef, chicken, dairy or gluten products. I have her on a combination of Natural Balance ‘Fish and Sweet Potato’ and ‘Duck and Potato’. A 5 lb bag of this food costs $14.99. She gets the Natural Balance treats (14 oz bag for $5.99) and I use the Natural Balance canned dog food ($2.29 a can) to give her meds. The combination diet and allergy meds have greatly reduced Darcy’s sneezing and chewing of the paws. She still licks her paws at times, but I suspect a large part of it now is habit. It is very important that Darcy’s special diet and allergy med regime be maintained in order to keep her allergies at bay and avoid future costly treatment.


Darcy will be on thyroid meds (twice a day) for the rest of her life. The thyroid meds cost about $35 for a 3 month supply. She will also be on Atopica (or some other allergy med) for the rest of her life. She took the Atopica every day for about 5 weeks but now she is down to twice a week which is the preferred dosage. The Atopica costs about $65 for 30 pills which is about a 3 ½ month supply if she stays on the twice a week regime.


Darcy gets the occasional belly ache and will not eat her food. When she skips a meal, I give her ½ OTC Zantac and she’s ready to eat again by the time the next meal time comes around. Because of Darcy’s dietary restrictions, she cannot take any heartworm prevention that is in a beef flavored tablet. She must take the pill and/or the topical form.


I have also discovered that Darcy LOVES pumpkin (plain canned pumpkin) in her food and she is not shy about letting you know about it if you forget to put a teaspoon in her bowl at meal time!


I have noticed that Darcy has some hearing and sight problems. She is still very functional and can navigate her way around the house and in the yard, but there are times when she will bump into something that’s not in it’s usual place and/or if it’s not a solid object (like the door to the x-pen that’s left open). There are also times when my two other Yorkies are barking and fussing up a storm and Darcy doesn’t hear the commotion. Because of her hearing and sight issues, I always try to let her know I’m in her general vicinity before I reach down to pet her or pick her up, otherwise she gets startled. She has never reacted aggressively to being startled though.
Darcy is not a lap dog. She will lay next to you and let you pet her on her own terms, but when she’s had enough, she will go off on her own. She LOVES her crate and often times prefers being in the crate to being on the furniture. She needs the “doggie steps” to get up on the furniture, but can jump off the furniture if there’s a soft landing available (like a throw rug).
Darcy is great with my other two boy Yorkies. She pretty much just ignores them and they really don’t bother her too much either. She’s not aggressive, but she will stand her ground if needed – guess she learned to be a bit scrappy from spending time on the streets! When she first arrived, my big boy (9 lbs) ran up to her too fast for her liking and she promptly gave him the “smack down” – after that my boy realized that he couldn’t “rush” her like that and they’ve been just fine ever since.


She and the boys have “played” together a few times, but it’s not a normal occurrence – just when they happen to be in the mood I guess. They play well together and there’s never been a fuss from the playing getting too rough.


There are times when she will go outside and bark at the fence for no apparent reason and there are times when she will go outside in the yard and just stand there – like she’s forgotten where she is or where she was going. When she does this, I send my big boy (9 lbs) out to get her and he will run in front of her and bump her to get her attention and she will then follow him in the house.


Darcy has had very few accidents in the house. She has mistaken a throw rug for a pee pad at times, but this has only happened a couple of times when she first got here. Now she will go to the doggie door and stand beside it when she needs to go outside. She will use the doggie door if she has to go badly enough, but she prefers having the door opened for her!


Darcy sleeps in her own kennel at night and never makes a sound until you wake her up in the morning. After she has her morning meal, she’s ready to lay back down but she will follow you from room to room, making herself comfortable in each room as you move. In other words, she wants to know where her human is at all times, but is not underfoot or intrusive about it.


2/14/11 - Hello! Darcy here…I’m feeling much better so I told Foster Mom that I would address my fans. Since I’ve been home from the Specialist in Louisiana, my sneezing has gotten MUCH better. I still lick my paws a lot though so they’ve decided to try me on a different allergy drug called Atopica. They said I might not be able to tolerate it, but I’ve done really well on it for the last 2 weeks. My feet still itch and sometimes I chew on my feet so much that it hurts. But the doc said it might be a month or so before the new drug takes affect. So keep your fingers crossed okay?


Foster Mom calls me a little Princess, but I prefer to be addressed as THE QUEEN! The boys that live here thought I was an alien when I first moved in – guess they’ve never been around royalty before, huh? They’re getting used to me being here – I really just don’t pay much attention to them – that’s just the way us royals are.


I’ve heard Foster Mom talk about me to other people and she says that I am THE BEST GIRL EVER!! She says that I go outside to potty or if I’m in my pen while Foster Mom’s at work, then I’ll use my potty pads (if I really have to) but most of the time I just wait til Foster Mom comes home and lets me outside. I’m not real sure about those swinging doors that the boys use to go outside, I much prefer for someone to open the big doors for me!


Oh and Foster Mom just thinks it’s really great that when it’s time for bed, I just go over to my bed and let her cover me up and she never hears another word from me until she wakes me up in the morning. I’m not so sure why she thinks that’s a big deal – I do believe this is the life most Queens live!


Foster Mom has realized that I really don’t hear very well – but then again who needs to hear when you have servants to take care of your every need.


1/11/11 - The test results came back and they indicated that Darcy has chronic allergic rhinitis – which basically means she will always have problems with allergies and it’s just going to be a matter of “trial and error” to get the right meds to try to control her symptoms since there’s no “cure”.


She seems to be doing better! We are cautiously optimistic! The sneezing has really decreased the past couple of days. She still licks her paws quite a bit and when talking to the vet, he said this may be caused by food allergies and to try a food without chicken or beef (maybe duck or kangaroo!)!


For now, she's on Metacam (5 days), Zithromax (5 days), and Zyrtec (indefinitely) once a day - and she is still on the thyroid meds twice a day. She will stay on this regime as long as she continues to get relief.


She is doing SO good with her potty training too. She will go to the door when she needs to go out - I've been watching her real close so she hasn't had to "bark" to let me know yet! She goes on her pee-pee pad when she's in the Xpen.


She seems to be opening up more - she will now bark at me when I get home - telling me that I'm not moving fast enough to get her Xpen door open!


Darcy is a joy to have and her foster mom is really enjoying having her. She just hopes the "trial and error" period doesn't last long and we can get her on the right meds with great results!


12/5/11 - Darcy was referred to a specialist and had her appointment today. She has been sneezing and sniffling with drainage since she entered YHR and the vet has come to the realization that this behavior may not be because of allergies. She is at the vet now and they will do a rhinscopy with biopsy and a possible CT scan to see if she has any foreign object lodged in her nasal canal or maybe a polyp. The estimate at the Louisiana Veterinary Referral Center for Blood Work/Biochemisty/Electrolytes, Thoracic Radiographs, IV Catheter, Anesthesia, Rhinscopy w/biopsies, CT Scan, hospitalization and treatment is $2,500 to $3,000. This is just the estimate and it could be less or more, but we do know that it will be costly and Darcy needs this done o find out what is going on and make her feel better.


12/27/10 - Darcy was a stray that was picked up by a high kill animal control. From the shape of her, we can only assume that she had been on the streets for quite some time.


Darcy was a sick little girl when we got her into rescue. She was missing a lot of her hair, more than likely from allergies and she was constantly sneezing and coughing. Her teeth were in bad shape which resulted in 6 teeth being pulled. While she was “under” for the teeth cleaning/extractions, the vet planned on spaying her as well, but discovered that she had previously been spayed.


Darcy is improving with everyday and is feeling better. It will take a little while before she is top notch, but just the warm bed, good food and medicine to help her get better are working wonders on this little lady. She is a good sweet girl and has been sleeping a lot in her warm cozy bed , but I’m sure she is just so exhausted and making up for the stressful time she spent on the street.


The vet said that he can see a little clouding in Darcy’s eyes. She sees things in general, but details aren’t all that sharp. She gets around fine and can spot her food a mile away.


Her foster mom has noticed that she does not shy away from new people and seems to love older men. What can she say, she likes the older, more distinguished gentlemen.


Her foster mom said that she is a very good girl and was so easy to acclimate to her home. She is co-existing fine with the other pups in her home, but hasn’t really shown any signs of wanting to play. This could be because she still isn’t feeling well, or she might just do well either with other pups that don’t really need her to play with them or as an only baby.


Even though she likes being close to her human, she is also independent. There are times when she’ll just go off by herself and lay down and not smother you.


Darcy shows good signs of being “housebroken” especially for a girl who had lived on the streets for a good while. She does her “business” outside when taken out regularly and goes on a pee-pee pad when in a smaller area. But she needs to be watched when out and about in the house, because she can confuse a rug or blanket for her pee-pee pads! Her foster mom is working on this with Darcy.


Darcy is quite adapt at using the doggie steps to get up in the “big” chair when she wants to be close to her foster family.


Darcy would love to find someone who is home most of the day as she is ready to put her life on the streets behind her and settle into her retirement days in a new permanent home that will love her and spoil her. You can make a difference in making sure the rest of her life is PERFECT!