Updating Sparkle

The people next door have finally both said it’s okay to find a forever home as they simply are gone too much, leaving Sparkle on her own.  She won’t stay in their yard as she has no food/no water when they’re away, and she literally climbs the chain link fence to get out. I talked with the husband the end of last week and he said “take the dog,” which I did.  Evidently, he didn’t transmit that message to his wife, who sent over the oldest son to see Sparkle on his way to school. I went over and talked to her and she said they really don’t want the dog, but the kids love her, and I told her they can come over and play with her in my yard (which she so far has not escaped).

Meanwhile, Sparkle is always right beside me whether we’re in the house or outside. She likes to be up on my bed, too, along with Daisy and Cinnamon.  Sparkle learned quickly about our morning cookie routine and waits for her bite to be fed to her.  She’s very quiet for a big dog and loves chewing on my favorite pair of sneakers that I left out – it’s been a while since I’ve had a puppy.

Friday we’re going to the vet for a check-up, rabies shot, etc., and I asked for an x-ray for the leg that the children injured when they were “playing” with her about 3 months ago.  I’m sure it’s healed and nothing can be done to undo the injury, but I’ll feel better knowing what happened.  Sparkle used to hold her leg way up, but she now uses it and puts her paw on the ground when she’s walking, so it can’t be too serious, but I need to know.  I’m also going to have her neutered as I don’t want a litter of puppies to deal with.

UPDATE:  Sparkle's leg was broken when the children played with her too roughly.  There is nothing that can be done about it now -- except to have an expensive surgery by an orthopedic surgeon, which I'm not in a position to fund right now.  She uses the leg, so it's not impeding her movement, but it's not right.  I also got all the shots she needed, and had her chipped, and got a voucher for a discount on having her spayed.

I don’t want to have 3 dogs, especially with my upcoming trip, but sometimes we receive gifts we didn’t know we wanted, and mine is a female German Shepherd dog.