Juniper

When a regular foster family for us reached out with a picture with a white circle and said "There's a dog living in the woods behind our house" asking us for help, there was zero chance of us saying no. We asked for assistance in trapping Juniper from Duck Team 6, a Dallas nonprofit and rescue that specializes in trapping and helping dogs find rescue support. 

Their method was incredible. They coached our foster in setting a routine for this terrified soul and when they came out to set the humane trap, it was a matter of under an hour and Juniper was officially in Redstone's care. 

Although she is not a husky, we were not about to turn her away. We help other working breeds of dogs, and Juniper needed us. 

Her abdomen was heavily distended and we suspected she was pregnant... While we took the weekend to gear up for potential puppies, we got her into a veterinary appointment the Monday following her safe capture. She was, in fact, not pregnant but suffering severe heartworm disease. Her abdomen was distended from fluid displacement due to the damage of worms that were several inches long living in her heart. 

She was placed on a prescription diet to help her overworked gastrointestinal tract from weeks of living in the woods before our foster found her. 

Juniper had to go through months of medical and emotional rehabilitation. She had never lived in a house before based on her fear of simple, everyday things like a dishwasher or walking through doors. The foster family did an amazing job getting her acclimated. 

Unfortunately, Juniper's heartworm treatment did not go according to plan. She began having seizures after her injections. The suspicion was she had thrown a small worm embolism somewhere that caused her to loose blood supply and in turn caused the seizures to happen. With this she also had a fever response and she was hospitalized for several days. 

Despite all of this, her medical complications, and her age... Juniper found a family that needed her as much as she needed them. She was adopted by an elderly couple that had recently lost their dog leaving a void in their home. Extended family was nearby to help with any ongoing medical care appointments Juniper would have, and she got to be spoiled and pampered having her people home nearly 24/7. 

For a dog that was once living in a thicket of poison ivy, her story ended up with one of the happiest endings we could have possibly hoped for her to have.