What is a Hero Dog?

Very simply, any dog that has been to hell and back and retained their zest for life and their ability to love unconditionally is a Hero Dog. This title is not given lightly... Simply learning not to pee on the carpet does not a Hero Dog make! Here are the stories of two Hero Dogs that I've had the privilege to share my life with over the past few years.

Trey the Wonder-Dog

We met our Boxer Trey in the fall of 2008 when she was a sad, sick, 7-year-old ward of the Seattle Humane Society. She was epileptic, had a urinary infection, and a golf-ball-sized lump hanging from her left shoulder. No wonder the Humane Society gave us a steep discount on her adoption fee.

Over the next several years Trey blew a tendon in her knee and needed a Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO), she survived more than half a dozen cancerous tumors, and had rather strange surgery on her back-end to solve her urinary issues. Trey turns 11 this year, and hasn't had a major medical issue in a long time. She's a sweet, kind, loving old Boxer with just a little "puppy" that shows through when she's feeling particularly happy.

Why is Trey a Hero Dog?

She survived an extended stay at the Humane Society, survived cancer repeatedly, and took great care of her little sister Fiona.

Fiona joined us as an unexpected Christmas gift in 2010. Her owners had brought her in to Bellevue Animal Hospital a few months prior to have her put down because of her extreme food and environmental allergies. The doctors all refused to hurt this beautiful soul, and so one of the staff members fostered her until we took her home. Indeed Fiona's allergies were terrible, but very strict control of her food and environment together with judicious advice and medication from her vets made for easy management of the issue. Then disaster struck.

In July of 2011 Fiona was diagnosed with Lymphoma, which is virtually incurable in dogs. Since then Fiona has been through every chemotherapy treatment available, and a few types of alternative medicine as well. Unfortunately the battle was lost today (May 1st, 2012) but Fiona kept her sweet temper and beautiful smile through it all.

Despite narrowly avoiding a death sentence and battling incurable cancer for nearly a year she was still the sweetest, kindest dog on earth. Except that she tended to bite lawyers and bankers. You go, girl.