I started this business for two reasons: I love animals and I wanted to stay home with my baby boy (now in grade school; and now our toddler girl). As you read "Blondie's Story", you will see how dedicated I was to her - and how dedicated we will be to your pets as well.
- Cheri Alford, Owner

Blondie's Story

Blondie came to me from the animal shelter August 29, 1998. She was this skinny little cocker spaniel in the kennel - and very friendly. She just melted my heart and I knew I had to have her right then and there. They said that she was 11 months, but she looked older to me. I took her right to the vet to get her checked out. He thought that she was three - five years old, based on her teeth and gums. She and I became fast friends. I still remember coming home after work and she standing on her hind legs at the window looking out at me (one of my bedroom windows was on the side of the carport). As soon as she saw me head toward the front door, she would race to get there and greet me.

October 1998 I came home to find that she had had an accident in the house. She had left a little surprise on the floor and was just sitting there next to it when I came home. Obviously I wasn't too pleased, but when I tried to get her to come to me she wouldn't move. When I picked her up, she would just slump back down and I soon realized she was unable to stand.

I took her to the Emergency Vet facility to see what was wrong. After some x-rays and tests, the vet came in to tell me that Blondie had Intervertebral Disc Disease - like a slipped disc in humans. I was given three options: do nothing, have an operation, or enforced cage rest for eight weeks. I opted for the enforced cage rest - especially since the vet said that that takes care of it a lot of the time; surgery should only be a last attempt. Even though Blondie was on enforced rest she was still with me: if I was out in the living room she would be there too; at night she would be by my bed (I knew she missed sleeping up there with me). After the cage rest she wouldn't be able to jump up and down anymore, so I had to close doors when I wasn't at home - she was relegated to the office and kitchen. I met my future husband in December 1998 and he could tell right away what Blondie and I meant to each other.

Fast forward to December 1999. Blondie had been doing really well with her back since she was restricted from jumping up and down on things. However, something else was wrong. I took her to the vet and after several tests and having to go to a specialist, we found out that she had hepatitis. She needed to go on about three different daily medicines.

March 2000. I was in San Francisco at a conference when I got a call from my husband. He had gotten home from work to find that Blondie couldn't move. He had taken her to the Emergency Vet clinic and they told him that she had blown a disc in her back. She would either need to be put down or have an operation. Knowing how much Blondie meant to me and that it would be hard for me to make a decision being so far away, he opted for the surgery. It turns out that in 5% of these kinds of cases, the dog is still paralyzed. This was the case with Blondie - her disc explosion was so forceful it mangled her spine. Now he was faced with a choice again: put her to sleep or care for a paralyzed dog. He opted for the second choice. I cut short the conference and came home two days early.

Blondie recovered very nicely. We got her a wheelchair and she was back to her old self! She would zoom everywhere - she was so cute! However, the only problem now was that she had to be manually expressed three times a day. In some wheelchair-bound dogs no expression is necessary, in some only bladder expression is necessary, and in some both bladder and bowel expression is necessary. Blondie fell into the third category. My husband was unable to do it - he would get too sick. So, I had to manually express her three times a day.

Around February 2001 things started to go downhill. I had to keep her out of her wheel chair more because she was developing bed sores where her diaper and saddle were. I'd put padding there, but it didn't help - she would still bleed. She soon had to go on daily antibiotics. I was still expressing her, but it became apparent I would need help once I started getting bigger because of my pregnancy. My husband would pick her up and I would express her and he would put her back in her bed. Still her sores were getting bad despite the twice daily cleanings and antibiotics. She was rarely in her wheelchair anymore.

Then came November 10, 2001. She had one bed sore that was so deep and big that the vet said it would need to be cut (the dead stuff around it) and stitched up. He said that it wouldn't get any better - the other sores were going to be getting just as bad. We decided at that point to let her go - she seemed to be asking us to. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. We stayed in there with her the whole time, though. I gave the vet's office her wheelchair so that they could give it to someone else who might have had a paralyzed dog.

Despite the ending, I would not trade the world for the time I had with Blondie.