Not exactly royalty...

Where do I begin this story?

Hmm...let's back up a few months, to when I first saw her walking down our road. She seemed sweet enough, though perhaps a little lost. As a matter of fact she began to walk with me and my girlfriend as we went for an early evening walk.

I admit, it was a case of mistaken identity from the get go. You see, I was sure she was the gal from up the road. The one that lived at the very tippity top of my BIG hill. She even followed us all the way up there (and it's a looooong way up). But she wouldn't stay. And if a dog could laugh, when we got to the top, she would have. The expression on my face had to be priceless as I did a double take. I had tried to lure this little Boxer back up to what I thought was her home. Seems I was mistaken, as the Boxer at the top of the hill came out to greet us and her. For now we will call Neighbor Boxer, Casanova, though we were formerly introduced to him later. Yep.

There I stood, looking from one Boxer to the other. Neighbor Boxer and Dumped Boxer. They were identical in color, though this new little gal was smaller, and, um, just that. A gal. . And as time seemed to tell, a dumped, half starved, formerly beaten, VERY timid Boxer gal, not too thrilled with the idea of being taken in and tamed by our family.

Now to name this poor, half starved, not the neighbor's , Dumped dog.

I would love to say I had an epiphany and was struck with this brilliant, perfect name for this little gal. However, truth be told, we have some good friends who have a boy Boxer and his name is Duke(no, not Casanova from the tippity top of the hill). Their Boxer (or Boster as their three year old says) looks just like our Boxer (though she could barely have been referred to as a possession of ours at that point) so, you guessed it, we named her Duchess. Like royalty. Sounds rich doesn't it? Hold that thought.

We began to feed the poor thing hoping she would see our kind and gentle ways (when the boys weren't chasing each other, whooping like wild Indians and pretending to re-enact world war II). We were hopeful she might actually tame down...

Not a chance. She wouldn't come near us. She would eat her food when we weren't around.

She would come within a few feet of us while we were petting our dear Beloved Shep (our 13 year old Great Pyrrenes who recently passed away).

Or when Neighbor Boxer came down to visit she would get a little closer to us. (We found out Neighbor dog was not named Casanova, but Bruiser and boy did he have a crush on Duchess. Hmm...we should have thought about that a little more.)

... once or twice she would run up and lick my hand then make a hasty retreat.

Days and weeks passed by. Shep left us and she got even more skittish. It wasn't looking good for our family to have a new Canine pet. A stray that we fed yes. But not a pet.

Then she disappeared. For two days we saw neither hide nor hair of her. Christmas morning Sports Boy went to put out her dog food just in case she showed up. And what do you know. There was Dumped dog Duchess curled up in the corner of the playhouse on her sheepskin rug. Not moving. Not running away. With ice frozen on her fur. It didn't look good to us. Smarty Pants Son, who is really a tender heart, immediately went outside in the snow and carried her in. Her back left leg was totally useless.

Two days later we were at the vet with Dumped dog Duchess, three kiddos, an x-ray of a broken leg, a mom wondering what to do and a cell phone about to be used to call dad.

Did I mention, like fifty times, that this was a DUMPED dog? We love animals. And we take good care of our animals. But we are not made of money and the vet was talking big dollar signs. Chinga, chinga, ching.

Dialing hubby. " Hi honey..."as I relay the vet's info...the dog's info...the dollar info.. The kids are looking at me...I am glad this is not my decision to make...and I am also glad that I have a tenderhearted husband.
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So, now we have a formerly Dumped dog named Duchess. She has had surgery and a pin put in her femur near her hip. The vet thinks she probably got kicked by a horse, not hit by a car for the bone to be so fragmented but no outside damage. They wired the splintered bone pieces together along with the pin. And she is tame now. She lays on a blanket in the middle of our living room. She is the center of attention. Hubby calls her sweet heart. She is so tame, we have to carry her outside to go pottie, because it is too cold for her to want to go out there on her own.

Nice.

Then, last night, her injured leg started bleeding where the pin broke through her skin. Ick-ola! Not to mention ouch! Back to the vet we go with formerly Dumped dog, now for sure called Duchess.

Vet, "Yes, another x-ray will be needed."

Me. "o.k."

Vet, " The bone fragments have come unwired, but the pin looks good and is not moving. Don't worry. It's normal for the pin to poke through". (ick again). "She'll be fine."

At this point the vet is holding up the x-ray and pointing to the pin, and the new bone growth.

But I am not looking at the pin. I am looking at a bunch of little spinal cords and other body parts in the abdomen of my dog.

The stray we picked up.

The formerly Dumped dog, Duchess.

I look at the x-ray, then quickly I turn to our vet and say incredulously. "Are those spinal cords..."sputter, sputter ..."...are those puppies? Is she going go have puppies?"

My vet smiles, and says "Why, yes she is. Wow! Really soon!" He says. "Like maybe within, oh, I'd say a week to ten days."

Nice.

Have I mentioned how terrific Boxers are?

Really.

I hear they make great pets.


~~~And on a very important side note. Chasity had her x-ray today and the bones are healing nicely. She is not going to need surgery and, unlike my dog, the x-ray did not show her to be pregnant.~~~


Warmly, Debbie