Miss Molly, Coming Home

This is part one of two of the story of Miss Molly Brown, the Brindle's newest fan, as told by her "mom"

I got a call from the Humane Society of Western Pennsylvania just after Thanksgiving 2011 to ask if I would be available to foster a young pit bull mix named "Sissy" for at least 6 weeks. She needed hip surgery, then a quiet place to recover where the people would be able to enforce crate rest, do physical therapy with her 3-4 times per day, and would be able to keep her on a strict medication schedule.  I asked if I could come meet the dog before committing to foster-I had some concerns about getting her up and down our stairs, and she was the tiniest, saddest little thing, only 28 pounds. Her back right leg just hung at her side, and she was clearly in a lot of pain, but also desperate to be loved.  She was so intent on getting snuggles that she tipped over! 

Of course I took her in, and over the next few weeks we all fell in love with her, especially her new big brother, Axel. The X-rays showed that she had been hit by a car, and needed to have the whole ball of the ball/socket joint on her right hip removed.  There were some healed breaks in her femur and pelvis, which the surgeons decided to leave as they were-she'd clearly been on the streets for about a month after being hit, so the doctors focused on giving her the best quality of life they could without re-breaking anything.

She was a nameless baby, since "Sissy" clearly didn't fit, but shortly after surgery she showed her true colors. Between tipping over a crate with herself inside it, and trying to get up the stairs on her own within 48 hours of surgery, we knew we had a really brave and determined little dog on our hands. Someone on the internet suggested that we name her after The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and it was the perfect name.  Before the 6 weeks were up, we knew she was staying with us forever.  Sending her back to the shelter for adoption was totally unthinkable-she was already sleeping on the bed and bossing her brother around, and it was all we could do to keep her from overstepping the limits the vet set for her.

Post surgery

Molly and Axel

Love!

Molly, girly girl