Survivor - The Terrier Edition

I could (and usually do) wax poetic about what troopers dogs are. I mean their resilience, especially puppies is pretty freaking incredible.

But terriers? Holy cow. They were bred for tenacity. Like, why don't you go into that badger's den for me kind of tenacity.

So it is no surprise when a terrier beats all odds to survive.

I am not going to go into depth the trauma that "Totsipop" (named since she was all hard and tough on the outside, chasing squirrels and taking on Great Danes, yet yummy soft on the inside, winner of best kisser on her block 5 years running) went through.

Let's just say that rattlesnake was a little more than she had expected to take on.

And poor Totsipop had every known complication you can imagine. But did she give up?

Heck no! She was hooked up to 2 IV lines, fourteen medications and was being fed through a tube and she had the audacity to bark at the hospital cat (I mean she may have been on injured/reserve list but that didn't mean she had to put up with cats! #Imean #getreal).

I can't tell you how many times I warned her Mommy that we may need to say good-bye to Totsipop. But her Mommy just smiled and shook her head.

Nope. Totsipop would make it. Mommy would come and sit for hours with Tootsipop, sometimes when the terrier was barely clinging to consciousness and tell that her all the bad things the squirrels were doing in the backyard.

How the neighborhood possum was starting to dig around their wood pile (which according to Totsipop was sacrilege).

This was early in my career and my training told me that poor Mommy was just in denial, but lucky my heart could see that this owner knew more than my medical tests did. Seeing Tootsipop's crazy wire-hair and those determined eyes, I too knew that a stupid rattlesnake bite to the jugular wasn't going to get her!

Seven days later, Tootsipop trotted out of the clinic, bandaged and without quite the usual spring in her step, but trotted nonetheless.

Tootsipop taught me such a valuable lesson.

No matter the circumstances, hope can be as powerful a medicine as any injections I might have.

On this island, no doggie gets voted off!


If you liked this story, please leave a comment below. I am thinking of putting together a book of all the inspirational stories I have experience in my career and want to know if people would be interested.

Thanks so much and have a great week!