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Mandy is a 6-8 year old, 48 pound, liver and white female with beautiful brown eyes. She was rescued from the Houston animal shelter after having been out on her own for quite a while. She was filthy and emaciated with fur so matted she had to be shaved. A quick trip to the vet revealed that Mandy was heartworm positive and battling infections in her ears, her bladder and on her skin. It was also discovered that Mandy has significant hip dysplasia and, to add insult to injury, a bullet lodged in the soft tissue of her left thigh. Neither the bullet nor the dysplasia seem to bother Mandy though! She prances all over her foster mom's house and yard and likes to wriggle her butt when she sees a friendly face!!

After several months in foster care, Mandy is on her way to recovery! She has gained 5 pounds and continues to gain strength in her legs. Mandy had such a large load of heartworms that her treatments were split into two sessions. Both have been completed and they appear to have been successful. In a few weeks, she will start on preventative to ensure that she never has to worry about heartworms again! Mandy's ear, skin, and bladder infections have cleared up with the help of antibiotics but she continues to battle an infection in her uterus. When Mandy is strong enough, she will be spayed, which should remove the source of the infection. Mandy was slightly incontinent when she first arrived and had to wear a doggie diaper while indoors (she was housebroken; she simply leaked a little sometimes). This has improved dramatically with medication but she still has some residual leakage. The vet believes the leakage is associated with the uterine infection and may cease once Mandy is spayed.

Mandy is the perfect girl for anyone looking for a loving companion. She prefers to be with people and will follow you around the house to make sure you're safe. She won't pester you if you are busy or are eating at the table and is quite content to chew on a rawhide or lie on the floor and watch you go about your activities. However, if you are sitting on the couch, she will sit at your feet, stare up at you with her big "puppy-dog" eyes and wait for you to rub her chest or scratch her ears. If the eyes don't work, she'll nuzzle you and crawl into your lap! Mandy is great in the car (even when going to the vet) and on a leash. She was kept pretty quiet while undergoing her heartworm treatments but is now able to go for short walks with her foster mom. She is crate trained and sleeps well either in a crate or on a dog bed. She is trustworthy in the house but trash cans are a temptation!! Mandy is great with children and has been very sweet with her foster mom's nieces (1 and 2 ½ years old), even letting them play with her ears! She also gets along wonderfully with other dogs, as she has been neither food nor toy aggressive around her foster siblings (4-5 female dogs and at times 1-2 male dogs). Mandy has not been around cats in her foster environment but I suspect that her gentle nature would extend to them as well. Mandy would do best in an environment where someone is home during the day. She will need special care and tenderness (and a lot of rawhide chewies) as she ages so any children will need to be gentle. Despite all she's been through, Mandy is so loving and sweet; please help us make sure the rest of her life is full of warmth, love, and playful days!!

Contact: Marie Devaney, mariedev@main.com

Click Here To Sponsor Mandy

MANDY'S GENEROUS SPONSORS TO DATE:
Kathie Lima Powell
Tom and Helen Myszewski
Ruth Phifer	In Memory of Mikey
Chuck Zahler
Jeff & Dawn Moecher	A special gift from our Springer, who is also named Mandy