I've had people ask me what happened to Harley's leg...here's his story.
Kind of a long story but a good warning story for people selling to homes with small children.
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When he was around 3 months old a woman bought him from a breeder in north Florida for her 3 yr old daughter (duh). Well, the way I understand it, the toddler was unsupervised and threw him on the floor like a toy and broke his right front leg. He was taken to the vet and I guess the vet pinned it. It was broken at the top by the shoulder. He was sent home with antibiotics.
Then I heard he was kept alone in a garage with feces and flies while the woman went to work. Mind you...this is a puppy.
Well the woman ended up taking him back to the vet (thank God) and abandoned him there. So he lived there and became their mascot for around 3 weeks until a client said she wanted him. He was too cute to resist, of course. She paid the balance of the vet bill and off they went. At this point he still had 4 legs but wasn't able to use the right front. He just carried it.
Next part is the woman lived alone in a fancy condo in Cocoa Beach and didn't have enough time for him either and couldn't get him potty trained. (another "duh") So she took him to visit my animal loving next door neighbor who called me and said "Vickie, come see what I got over here".
I walked over to see this little yorkie puppy running on 3 legs, around like a maniac, with an orange rubber squeaky dinosaur too big for his mouth, just asking for someone to chase him and play.
I was in love. Now I didn't have a dog and didn't want a dog....until then. When my husband saw him....he agreed and Cracker Jack Toy/Tripod became Harley Davis.
He was now almost 7 months old. And I paid the woman what it cost her at the vet.
I took him to the same vet who had been treating him and he started him on a new antibiotic with hopes the leg could be saved. He wasn't in any pain so we were of course hoping for the best. By the time he was 11 months old the vet advised amputation as the bone had deteriorated too far and was beyond repair. Carrying around a bum leg would only cause him to get injured. I can't tell you how hard I cried at making that kind of decision.
BUT....I brought him home that night. I couldn't bear to leave him overnight. So with pain meds and the vets phone number we went home. I walked the floor with him in my arms the whole night massaging his ears and comforting him through the initial pain.
That little rascal...by morning...hopped off the couch and ran to his water bowl for a drink and had a bite to eat. Like nothing ever happened.
He's been on 3 legs his whole life so he doesn't know any different. He can run every bit as fast as Angel and plays tug-o-war and even wins often.
He's a very happy little guy who just turned 5 years old Nov. 30th, 2008.
Oh yeah, my vet is so wonderful that he didn't charge for the surgery at all. Just for the meds.
He's quite the celebrity whenever we go in there.
And thats his story. Sorry it's long but there's not many ways to shorten it.
I have pictures of him before surgery with 4 legs, immediately after surgery still under anesthesia, as well as graphic photos of when the bandages came off and you can see the surgical staples and then him running around now on 3 legs for anyone interested.
Thanks for asking.
Vickie
Here they are playing tug-o-war
ClipShack - Yorkie tug-o-war
Listen to the TV in the background too. Its funny how it worked out.