**UPDATE, June 8, 2006...8:45am... Ralphie came home last night and is doing really well. Dr. Pullen said the surgery went great and although he looked a little sad and confused when I picked him up, he was VERY happy to see me and wagged his tail a lot. 

His post surgery recovery time is a bit intense. He has to have his incision area iced four times a day (15 minutes at a time) and there are stretch exercises he gets 4 times daily as well. He is staying with me in my office at home, on a nice fluffy bed.

He has to be on strict rest with no activity for 8 weeks, which will be tough, because his best friend Freddie at the house loves to play with him and they will miss each other during that time!  He comes in to visit and licks his face and his incision... 

We are just $400 short of our goal and I'm hoping we might still get there! We've had a very tough year with some high vet bills, including a parvo puppy that recently cost us another $2000. If you can cross post and help us reach our goal of just $400 more, please do!  Thanks for all your support...

**UPDATE, June 6, 2006...9:20am...I just dropped Ralphie off for his knee surgery today, so keep him in your thoughts and prayers!  I'm sure everything will go great. He will be spending the night there tonight and I'll pick him up sometime tomorrow. I will write later with an update on how everything went!  Thanks to all who donated. Our total cost for the surgery is $2047.60. We could definitely use more help covering it, but I'm so grateful to have raised as much as we have and thank you to all who donated!

Lisa

**UPDATE, May 15...Ralphie is scheduled for his surgery on on June 6th. We had to wait due to lack of funds and also due to the foster home having to travel in late May, and we wanted him to have the ideal conditions for recovery. It will take 6 weeks of recovery time where Ralphie will need to be crated and resting a good deal of the time, and given special stetch exercises daily in order for proper healing to take place.

We have several sick dogs in the rescue now and we're in great need of more funds to help them all!!  Please spread the word on this and help us reach our goal to cover the surgery cost!

**Update Monday, April 17th noon...Today I brought Ralphie in to see Dr Pullen for a consultation on his surgery and to go over details. He examined Ralphie, looked at the x-rays and thought Ralphie was an excellent candidate for surgically repairing his luxating patella, and that afterward he would have full use of his leg and be able to run around like any other dog!! He does this type of surgery on many dogs and is very familiar with the procedure. My original estimate of cost was on the low side, it turns out (I was ball-parking it based on what our regular vet told me) and I found out today that the actual cost of Ralphie's surgery is $1952.40.  Well, it feels like a lot, but I hope we can do it!  Our rescue does not have the funds to cover it otherwise and we really want to give Ralphie his surgery as soon as possible. When we've raised at least $1200 (our original goal) I'll go ahead and schedule the surgery. In the mean time, Ralphie is doing very well, seems really happy and gives lots of kisses. He is just about over his kennel cough.

RALPHIE'S STORY...

Thank you for visiting this page created for Ralphie the Dalmatian, in memory of Joey, a another beautiful Dalmatian who passed away recently. He was a very special dog and he would be very happy to know that we are back up and at it again, rescuing another Dalmatian who needs us. In Joey's honor and memory, we are raising the funds needed to provide Ralphie with a life-changing surgery to repair his hind leg injury. He has what is called a luxated patella, and it can be surgically corrected so that Ralphie can enjoy running and playing normally again, like any other dog!!  This is such great news for Ralphie. Right now he walks with a a limp and it slows him down a bit.

Ralphie is 3 years old, in excellent health otherwise, and will make a fantastic family pet!  Ralphie found himself a stray at the county shelter, where owners never came to claim him...possibly because of his limp and hind leg injury. Many times irresponsible pet owners don't want to provide vet care that is costly and so they abandon their dogs at the shelter. Ralphie then found himself on the euthanasia list due to kennel cough. Poor Ralphie could not get a break!  That is when we stepped in to save his life and give him the second chance at a happy home where he will be cherished and loved like he deserves.

Ralphie has the sweetest personality, and like our friend Joey the Dalmatian, he smiles... and Ralphie has a way of wagging his tail so hard he wiggles his whole hind end!! 

Once we have the needed funds, we will be scheduling his knee surgery with Dr Pullen at Pet Medical, our friend who worked so hard to try and save Joey.  One of Dr Pullen's specialties is orthopedic surgery.

Right now Ralphie is in isolation at one of our regular vet/boarding facilities in Tempe. He has kennel cough and will need to heal up from that before undergoing surgery. Ralphie is also in great need of a foster home. If you're interested in fostering, and to see more pictures and a bio on Ralphie, please visit our main site:

www.luckydogrescue.org

Thank you for your continued support in the care of our spotted ones in need!

Warmly,

Lisa Maturo