With her calm, sweet demeanor, Mallory was ready to make friends. From the first moment she stepped off our transport bus, she leaned against the legs of our behavior associate, Darci, and overwhelmed our staff with how mellow and affectionate she was. But it was clearly that the 125 pound Great Dane was in need of medical attention.
As beautiful as Mallory was, she was also dirty, covered in ticks, and had a huge mammary mass. She appeared to have been bred many times. And when a veterinary technician accidentally dropped a metal bowl near her and Mallory did not respond, it became clear that she was deaf. Our medical team got to work right away.
Just a day after arriving, Mallory was brought into surgery. First, she was spayed, ensuring that she would never again go through the risks of giving birth to another litter. Our medical team performed a surgery called a gastropexy, which is performed to prevent a life-threatening condition that can occur in large-breed dogs when their stomach twists upon itself. Finally, they removed the mass on her mammary gland and submitted it for examination to find out if it was cancerous.
It was a long day of surgery for Mallory, but our medical team knew it would just be a matter of time before Mallory started feeling much, much better. They helped her through the next few days of her recovery, making sure she was warm and encouraging her to eat and keep her strength up.
A few days after Mallory’s surgery, the results about her mass came back. The lesion was cancerous. The news was grim, but luckily, it didn’t appear that the cancer had spread. It also appeared to be solar-induced, which turned out to be good news – it meant Mallory had a longer survival rate. Her new family would have to be careful spending long periods of time with her in the sun, but she still had a lot of life left and we knew she would make an amazing companion.
As Mallory started to feel better, her days were increasingly filled with joy. She started to go for short walks, and as her strength increased, was able to participate in daily playgroups to socialize with volunteers and other dogs. (Here’s a video of Mallory with our president Kurt Krukenberg, enjoying a few minutes of snuggle time!) Despite being deaf, Mallory was quickly able to pick up on hand signals and her deafness didn’t seem to slow her down. She was gradually weaned off her medications, and once she was completely healed from surgery, was ready to find her new home.
Mallory spending time with one of our amazing volunteers right before she found her new home
After just two days on our adoption floor, Mallory caught the eye of her new family. They had previously had a deaf Great Dane, and had been looking for another one to join their family and fill the Great Dane-sized hole in their lives.
We are so incredibly grateful that we were able to provide Mallory with the care she needed and find her the most perfect new home. Thank you for helping us give her a second chance! To help us continue to make a difference in the lives of animals like Mallory, please donate today.
One Comment on “A Great Dane Gets a Great Home”
How wonderful! Thank you for taking such good care of her.