Nellie

Miss Nellie came to her Old Dog Haven family just after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her vision was poor, but it turned out not to be as dire as first thought and her people are now managing it—they moved black furniture out of her way so she doesn’t stumble into it, and she now jogs right to her ramp on the back porch! Nellie’s mom swears she counts the steps to get there! She’s also on a good feeding schedule and keeping at a healthy weight. She even looks forward to being brushed and having her eye ointment administered as a nightly routine because it comes with treats!

Nellie’s Final Refuge people share that, “Nellie lets us know what she wants, when she wants it in the cutest way…she does a little grumbly-whiney thing in such a polite way and it’s usually at specific times of the day so we know what she needs. This girl even puts herself to bed every night. She isn’t a cuddler (darn it) but she is a good bed dog…so much so that she doesn’t like getting out of bed in the morning! Fortunately, I get to sleep on about 1/3 of the bed versus a sliver of it!”

Nellie fits in well with her forever home and her people enjoy her to pieces. She’s the best car dog ever, and she just attacks her toys with absolute joy. She has a Pomeranian friend, Dita, and her people hope to add another member to their pack at some point. Her people tell us, “Miss Nellie is a joy to have since the passing of our little guy, Tuffy. She is the best medicine for our hurt hearts. We all love her so much!”

Update from Nellie’s Final Refuge Mom:

“Eventually, both of Nellie’s eyes needed to be removed.  After the surgery she adapted very well since she was fully blind at the time of the surgery. We added a ramp down the stairs for her safety. She surprised us one day by playing with a tennis balls on her own. That’s when we discovered that Nellie loved playing blind fetch. It’s so funny to watch her tracking the ball by sound and doing baby zoomies in the middle. She was good for about 15 minutes and then nap time. It was very good to see her play.

“We were then ready to bring another forever foster in so we got Eggar. The cutest poodle in the world. Seriously. We ended up with 3 dogs that really wanted nothing to do with each other. So we made sure the beds were spaced well apart and there were plenty of them.

“We had Eggar for 14 months and sadly lost him at the first part of this year. I’m still stunned.  So when we noticed Nellie was slowing down and eating less we did an end of life assessment. Nellie was regal until the end. She never liked to be held tight or cuddle, but just as she was getting drowsy, she turned to me and kissed me 3 times.  She thanked me for letting her go. I cried, having to send her to the bridge, but she let me know she was ready. This was on a Wednesday.

“The next Monday we had to do the same thing with Dita, so we made the hard decision and let her go also. I have never lost 2 dogs so closely. That’s 3 dogs in about 6 months, my heart is tired. But it won’t be long and we will foster another (or two) dogs soon. We love that we can give them the love and dignity and comfort that they deserve, no matter how hard it is on us.

“I want to thank everyone at Old Dog Haven for everything they do. It really does take a village and it’s the best thing to be a part of!!

Nellie, Eggar, Barbara (My Mama) and I thank each and every one of you!!”