Skye

Skye unfortunately has several issues and birth defects. The owners surrendered her as they thought they may have accidentally injured her neck and couldn't afford further treatment - but THEY DIDN'T injure her!!! We immediately called the family, who we still keep in contact with, to let them know they didn't do this to sweet Skye! They loved her!!!

Skye was a very POORLY bred girl that was born this way. This is what Backyard Breeders & Puppy Mills produce. Most people have no idea what a "good" or "reputable" breeder looks like until they learn the hard way. We truly must continue to educate, so people stop buying from places like this! Pet stores buy from puppy mills, animals live in horrific conditions! BYB can look like a normal family just breeding their personal dogs... Proper breeding practices are not just AKC papered, they do genetic testing, hip/joint certifications, among many other tests, they breed based on the "standards" set forth by breed experts and they typically show their breeding dogs so they are being judged by those who set those high standards. Nothing is 100% guaranteed, but the chances of health issues is so greatly reduced if they follow the standards and do all of the health/genetic/joint tests.

Her skull is actually fused to her spine, it grew that way, so she cannot look to the left or upwards. Her neck is permanently tilted to the left, which makes her walk a little diagonally when moving/running forward. We had an MRI done and found this last year. This defect had never been seen in a Giant breed before, this was Blue Pearl - top notch veterinary hospitals!!!

This is typically seen in toy or small breeds. The only fix would be to literally disconnect her skull and re-fuse it with brackets to straighten it - but then she would lose 100% mobility of her neck & head. She occasionally kinks herself wrong, pinching a nerve which gives her excruciating pain. This has only happened once with us, but is what the original family encountered when they spent everything they had to get her Emergency care. This puts her down for a few weeks of crate rest and pain meds to recover.

Yet, this is not all we found... Her coat was like straw, coarse, rough and in no way had the soft feel of a normal puppy coat.

She has a shoulder defect on her front right side and her pelvis is also grown tilted downwards. It looks like a German Shepherd does in the rear, rather than raised in the back end her pelvis looks slightly tucked. Per our X-rays, her pelvis grew wrong, so her hip ball joints are actually sitting above her pelvis, not connected or inside the sockets! In order to correct this, they would have to also disconnect her pelvis, tilt it upwards, fuse it for her hips to pop the sockets into place.

These would be 4 very extensive surgeries and she was only 6-7 months old when we rescued her. She would need several separate surgeries, one for shoulder and one for skull/spine and lastly hips/pelvis. This would take about 3-4 years with recovery, rehabilitation and estimated at over $35,000 dollars!!! Yet, it'snotabout money- but most importantly, it would be YEARS of PAIN!!!

Skye has adapted to her issues, has no clue she is different and has learned to be careful not to hurt herself. Skye is one of the happiest, most grateful Saints you could ever meet. We elected NOT to put her through this pain and surgeries. She is a "Forever Foster" in our program and with her incredible HERO of a Foster Mom, Mary in Texas! We would much rather her live a life free of pain and torment for as long as we can give it to her!!!

In her condition, we cannot adopt her out. We truly have no idea how long her life will be without pain, nor what her medical expenses would be and we just feel it's in her best interest to be a puppy and live happily for as long as she can! We love her tremendously, she is a fighter and a true inspiration!! Thus she is one of the dogs that your donations support in our program!!

Here's an update from her HERO foster Mom Mary: Update on my sweet foster girl, Skye. I took her to our family vet yesterday for her annual check up and vaccinations. She did great and other than her already known medical problems (neurological, neck, spine, shoulder and hips) she is doing well and is up to 81 pounds. She is such a sweetheart everyone at the clinic fell in love with her