Elvis came to us from a shelter; he was a “stray” and supposed to be Golden Retriever mix. One of our foster homes took him in temporarily to get him neutered and have his health assessed, but plans changed. Our vet found a large tumor on his spleen – he looks like he has a pot belly but that is actually his spleen. Since this will rupture at some point (probably sooner rather than later) we decided to not uproot him again and to not subject him to surgery. Elvis is a true gentle giant; he loves everyone and everything and is always willing to make a new friend. He has some issues with his hips, but medication is keeping him comfortable. He has learned to bark at the door and to sit nicely outside the kitchen while it is occupied but his mischievous side pops up and always makes his foster mom laugh. So until the tumor ruptures he is ‘chillin’ with a prima donna Eskie, a bossy Schnauzer mix, a former flying monkey and a mellow Beagle. Sometimes these dogs surprise us… Elvis came to ODH with a large splenic tumor, he was to be a short-term hospice. He settled into daily trail jaunts and a friendly group of dogs and cats and just didn’t change. Two years and a month later, the tumor finally grew large enough to affect his quality of life and he was sent on his way with a great deal of love. Dogs don’t know that they have cancer unless we tell them, and he evidently was too happy to leave as predicted. His ODH mom is so glad she had that time with him. Elvis passed away March, 2015.