My name is Summer!

Adoption Fee: $500


Fostered in Louisiana


Age: 2 years


Weight: 6.2 lbs.


12/12/11 - Ahhhh, Summer, the best of all four seasons in my opinion; but, of course, I’m biased. Seems my favorite season has passed and we are now in the midst of Winter. Just because I’m out of season, does not mean you can’t apply to adopt me. If you are one of those sticklers for perfection and can’t have a dog named Summer in Winter, you can change my name to Ms. Claus for all I care, just as long as you love me and give me a home and a last name.


Now, it’s not totally that simple; I mean, I am a female and we have demands. Here’s a little about myself for you to review and see if your family is a match for me:


I love sleeping in the bed with my foster mom and foster siblings and can jump on the bed and sofa, although, I shouldn’t do this - so stairs would be nice. I am a very sweet gal who LOVES to play with other dogs. Only thing is that I tend to gravitate to the males. Females just seem to bother me, so I’m thinking I would like to be the only fur-female in the home; however, I do fine with female and male humans. I will cuddle and give kisses, but am not that clingy, have to be by you all the time girl. I can be pretty independent and like to do my own thing. The only time I tend to be submissive is with loud noises. They tend to startle me and I get a little scared and hunker down. I will need a secure fenced yard to run and play in and since I am a spry young lady with a very noisy demeanor, I will have to be watched like a hawk around open doorways or I might run off.


Now, I’ve told you all about me and my needs. Contemplate this and if you and your needs are a match, fill out an application and let’s get me a permanent home for x-mas. I’ve never had my very own stocking to hang over the fireplace and I was hoping this year would be my first.


Love


Summer a/k/a Ms. Claus


10/23/11 - Summer is doing fantastic!! Her hair is growing back and she loves to run and play!


10/12/11 - All of Summer's sutures are out and she is doing very well. Her lab work and chest xray were done yesterday are now normal.


SUMMER SENDS A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED HER AND PRAYED FOR HER! We have been able to raise all of the money needed for Summer's vet care! Thank you so much!


10/6/2011 - Summer's vet was able to remove some of her sutures. She is healing well, but some areas need a bit more time. She now weighs 6.2 pounds!


9/24/11 - Summer was released from Texas A&M today. She is resting comfortably.


9/23/11 - Summer is scheduled to have her wounds closed today. She is still tentatively scheduled for discharge tomorrow. The surgeon said it is possible that will be changed depending on how she does today.


9/20/11 - The report this morning is great! A note about some remarks and concerns that have come to us regarding Summer's condition. Resistant bacteria is everywhere in our environment. Since Summer is improving, it is entirely possible that this is a bacteria that she was exposed to but her system was able to resist it; and that it was not the cause of her pneumonia. Since the pneumonia is improving, they will not risk her with an antibiotic that could harm her. There were other bacteria in her lungs and in her wounds and those were not resistant. The resistant bacteria that was found has a low potential for infection to others. It does not mean that she is a bug machine that is going to contaminate the environment. Rest assured that Texas A&M is very thorough and we will give full disclosure about her condition prior to adoption.


9/18/2011 The report from the student assigned to Summer this morning is encouraging! She sent a picture which is posted here.


Summer's wounds are draining less and have good granulation tissue. They may be able to close one up in a few days. The other one is much more invasive and it make take a few more days after that for it to be closed.


Her coagulation is looking much better since yesterday so they took her off of plasma and are now using hetastarch.


No news yet on the sensitivity. She is eating anything they put in front of her! She has a nice cushy bed in her little cage she said and whenever anyone walks up to her she promptly stands up and wags her little tail.


9/16/11 - 6PM - Little Summer is really showing everyone at A&M how much fight she has! She handled the anesthesia well today. The wounds are looking much better. Her lung culture did show methicillin resistant bacteria but they are waiting on the sensitivity report to decide on antibiotic changes. So far the cultures of the wounds don't have anything significant showing.


They feel that they will be able to close her neck wounds sometime next week and she may possibly be discharged around the end of the week. Of course that is just a guestimate but it is good to hear that they can look ahead to discharge!


You all have been so awesome to Summer and we are so touched. After seeing her and thinking about the way she has been treated, it is so wonderful to see such an outpouring of such absolute love for her! God Bless each of you!


The student assigned to Summer is going to take pictures of her tomorrow! We will post them here on the website!


9/16/11 - 11AM - Summer is holding her own. She is a sweet little one, wagging her tail at her caregivers. She will be going under anesthesia this afternoon for further debriding and dressing change.


9/15/11 - Summer is standing up and eating this morning! They are very pleased with her progress. She will need to be in the hospital for at least another week as they will be anesthetizing her daily for wound care and dressing changes.


9/14/11 - Summer is in ICU recovering from her procedure today. She had her wounds debrided and cleaned, her trachea and esophagus were scoped (no tears!) and she also had a lung tissue biopsy. Her blood pressure and glucose have been unstable and she had a plasma transfusion today. She is a very sick pup and will be there for at least a week. Her hospitalization is now estimated to be over the original estimate of $6,000.


Please keep Summer in your thoughts and prayers.


9/14/11 - Update: Summer will be having procedures done this afternoon. She will be transferred to the soft tissue department after surgery since wound care is their specialty. While she is under they plan to explore her wounds to make certain there is no foreign body and debride the wounds. They feel that they will also be able to close the wounds. They are very encouraged that there is quite a bit of granulation that has taken place over the past couple of weeks. They are going to scope her trachea and esophagus...and also will be doing a wash and culture of her right lung.


The internal med vet is confident that this procedure will go well today. Will update as soon as they call with a report.


9/13/11 - SUMMER HAS BEEN ADMITTED TO TEXAS A&M FOR TREATMENT. HER ESTIMATED BILL IS $6,000. Her infection has worsened and we will update as often as we have new information. We deeply appreciate all donations that are being made for her care.


9/9/2011 - Summer is visiting the angels at the vet’s office on a daily basis for wound care. She still has a horrible cough from the pneumonia and is receiving chest treatments for that and is also on two different antibiotics. Despite all of this, she is eating well and we are so very happy to see that since she is so emaciated at this time. We are also hoping that this good nutrition, for the first time in what seems to be a very long time, will also aide in the healing process. She will still need to be spayed among other things, but until her lungs are cleared and she is feeling stronger, these things will be put on the back burner.


It is obvious to us because of her condition and current personality that she was clearly neglected and/or abused. Still, she follows her foster mom from room to room. Her body is so frail right now and she walks hunched over with her tail tucked, but is so sweet and attempts to wag her tail at people. We can see that sweet, beautiful girl just wanting to come out, and we will make sure that she does and never tucks that tail again.


9/8/2011 - Summer is now out of the hospital and doing well.


9/6/2011 - Summer is still in the hospital but is able to go home at night. She is very, very thin and still has a very high white blood cell count and pneumonia. Her wounds are being treated. She is getting an appetite and is now off of IV fluids. She is on 2 different antibiotics. In spite of all she has been through she is a very sweet pup....very trusting of people.


8/31/11 - I don't blame the Doberman for picking me up and treating me like a squeaky toy. Heck, I did actually squeak when he squeezed me with his teeth. He didn't know any better and didn't mean to hurt me and was just playing. I do, however, blame my previous owners for letting me be treated this way and then waiting approximately 3 days before turning me over to animal control in Texas. I guess the site of my wounds getting more infected as time passed made them see the dollar signs that treating me would cost.


No biggie - the nice people at animal control called Yorkie Haven Rescue and they were there in a flash to pick me up and bring me to the dogtor. I'm on fluids and antibiotics right now and they will debride my infected areas soon.


I'm wagging my tail at everyone who is helping me feel better. It's amazing how I can still be positive and happy after what I've through. FYI, that's just the result of being a DOG.


Oh, you can't see in my current photos, but this incident wasn't my first rodeo. I'm missing over half of my right ear from a previous mishap. I would say that I obviously wasn't living right, but I was actually just living with the wrong people. Well, the bad luck STOPS NOW. As soon as my neck heals, I'll be wearing my garlic necklace around my neck to ward off all the evil people and my foster family will be choosing a permanent home for me that will treat me good and protect me. Are you that family?