With toes and fingers crossed for hours, our worst outcome has come to life. Not only did we not see any progress after two hours but we went up to four, allowing her “first time” time to push the puppy down.

Suri was such a trooper and never once went into distress. Tail wagging and kiss giving for the entire time, our sweetie calmly made the journey to the vet for a c-section. The x-rays showed the puppy hadn’t moved a millimeter and was clearly not going to make it into the birth canal. X-Rays always make puppies look much larger than they really are, but the worry was still there, that we had a monster puppy in there. Once the blood work result were in, the surgery itself didn’t take long and within 10 minutes, out they came out with our single puppy.

Suri's sweet baby girlThe first words spoken were “We recommend mom being spayed“. My heart sank! Of course, Suri’s health and the health of any of her offspring is first and foremost. When she went in for surgery, I explained her known faults as well as her amazing benefits to our program. That unless something horrible was seen while in there, that I preferred to keep her intact. The next words were spoken as the technician handed me Suri’s sweet baby – “She has a cleft palate. Do you want to have her euthanized?

This was that “horrible” thing that we discussed in making the decision to have Suri spayed. My heart ached as I said to go ahead with the surgery. But the puppy? I needed to talk to Doc about that one. It was too late in the evening to consult my mentors and as the puppy screamed and wiggled in the towel in my hands, I knew I had to follow my gut on this one. She was a fighter, a healthy, plump fighter! Nowhere near as large as our imaginations had pictured – Maybe 4 ounces? After I noticed that she was able to suckle on my finger tip, I thought perhaps she had a chance. Doc confirmed it, saying that if she can suckle, she may only have a cleft lip. Also, that if she makes it to day 3, she really has a very good chance of making a very special pet. If she has even an ounce of her parent’s temperaments, she will be the most amazing girl ever! And with that, the decision was made – We are going to fight for her. She’s coming home!

Gonna Be An Interesting Week
Her Name Is Hope