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November, 2005

Yesterday, Oreo, the chained Great Dane mix, was unchained for the first time. I walked her home. She frantically pulled on the leash, but once we got going she was the perfect lady. She only jumped up occasionally to say "thank you."

I'd been going over, every day, to check on her while waiting for my fence to be repaired.

Her chain was often tangled around the post and I would unwind her. Last night was perfect timing in bringing her home because she was badly tangled and unable to get into her dog house when it stormed.

She was scared to death to come into the house. We had to force her in. Now she loves it!

The first thing I did when we arrived to my house (after giving her water)
was to take off her nasty collar. It was pretty tight and her neck was red and a little raw, but not as bad as I expected it to be, nothing that a little salve won't cure.

She is such a cuddler! She reminds me of my rescued Saint Bernard in
the way she has to be touching someone all of the time, leaning
against their legs, or sniffing their hands and making them pet
her.

Oreo and her foster sisters

She's not as big as most Great Danes. I learned from her "Grandfather" who I convinced to help me talk his son into turning her over to me, that she is a Great Dane and Black Lab mix, not Great Dane and Dalmatian as I was previously informed. She loves children and other dogs. She loves to play.

The neighbor said she has plenty of protein. He said, "My brother is a deer hunter and he didn't know what to do with the carcasses, so I said, just throw `em over to that hungry dog over there." It was one of those moments when I didn't quite know what to say, so I said, "That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you." It's a whole different culture in some of our neighborhoods. To him, it was probably an act of kindness; or maybe just a way to discard dead animal skeletons. Who knows?

Unfortunately, when we took Oreo to the vet clinic, heartworm test came back positive. Heartworm is a disease that is spread to animals via mosquitos. Due to exposure, dogs that are forced to live outside have a much higher chance of contracting this potentially deadly disease.

The good news is that we rescued Oreo while she was in the early stages of heartworm disease. Treatment has a high success rate for dogs diagnosed in the early stages.

Oreo is a very special, very gentle, DDB Holiday Angel...

Oreo - a very happy holiday girl

She is just too perfect. I never even had to house train her. Why was she ever chained? I can't wait to meet the lucky family who gets to be owned by this girl!

If you've been touched by Oreo's story, and would like to contribute to her vet expenses or help us free more chained dogs, all donations are gratefully accepted. Thank you!

If you'd like to donate via regular USPS mail, you may print out this form in .pdf format, and send to P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684

Contact Info: Dogs Deserve Better, Inc. • P.O. Box 23 • Tipton, PA 16684 • Toll Free 1.877.636.1408 • 814.941.7447
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