The Amazing Story of Isabel

H ow we got Isabel.

If you are a dog lover like my husband and I are, you have to be familiar with Golden Retrievers. They are the most incredible, loving, devoted and beautiful dogs God ever created. Well, our Isabel is NOT a Golden. You may be thinking why even mention Goldens? Because the fact that our Isabel is not a Golden is an identifier for her specailness. Let me explain.

We had a Golden Retriever to beat all Golden Retrievers. We had him 10 years, and he developed brain cancer and we finally had to face the decision that all dog lovers have to go through. We lost our Nicholas in October of 2001. It almost destroyed my husband and me. It was as if we had lost our child. That is his picture in the corner.

Well two weeks later we felt the need to try to fill the holes in our hearts. We went to the County Rescue league and started searching for our new dog. Whatever dog we chose, had some really big shoes to fill, and of course we were cautious but very ready to give our love to a new "child".

The child we chose was our Isabel. She is a Belgium Sheepdog mix. She is black as night and Nick was Golden. She is going to be 50 pounds, Nick was 110 pounds. She will be knee high and Nick was waist high. Uh oh, how will this work?

When we first met our Isabel she was in a cage in a room with a Miniature Pincher, she seemed a little intimidated. A small little fluff ball of black fur. When we paid any attention to her she would roll over on her back and make a little fountain for our viewing pleasure.

She did it! She stepped right into Nick's shoes and won our hearts 100% and filled the holes that were so painful. We love our Isabel.

W e had Isabel for four years. She is devoted to my husband. They are walking buddies. They are traveling buddies. They are always together. Isabel was the fastest dog on legs. Squirrels had long since learned not to test her. They would lose. She was the queen of her domain.

We had some friends visiting us from England at the time and we had been gone for several hours. When we came home it seemed that Isabel was not herself. She was exhibiting symptoms in dogs that we were very suspicious of what me happening. "What's wrong baby?" Oh wouldn't it be wonderful if they would just say whatever it is. But we tried to evaluate how she was acting and decided she must have somehow hurt her leg. Her left back leg was not right and she was limping. We took her for a short walk to try to work it out and she was more than willing, very happy to be going with her daddy out for a walk. She did fine on the walk and came home without the limp.

We had our dinner and by the time the meal was over Isabel had lodged herself up against my husband's legs and was in obvious distress. We got her out from under the table and tried to get her to walk and she just stumbled about. Her back legs weren't working. The symptoms in dogs we were fearful of were now terrifying us. Within 10 more minutes she couldn't walk at all!

We called the emergency Vet's, it was about midnight, and told them what had been going on, and they insisted we get there NOW! We carried Isabel to the car and laid her on pillows and she was whimpering with pain. It was awful. When we got to the Vet's 20 minutes later. She was much worse.

T hey examined her right away, and said she had lost her reflex that allows her to stand on the bottom of her feet. She would put the tops of her feet down when assisted to stand by the Veterinarian, she looked very concerned and said we needed to act quickly. Like I said it was about midnight. By 3am she had had a CAT scan, a myelogram and was prepped for surgery. They explained to us that the cord was badly damaged. Her disc had ruptured and it went inward hitting her spinal cord like a bullet. There was obviously a lot of damage but they wouldn't know how much till they were in there. But for sure, her life was in jeopardy, if the damage started moving upward it would affect her heart and lungs and she would die. Our only choice was to have the surgery. What would you have done? We had the surgery.

After a couple of hours the doc came out and spoke with us. Isabel was stable but not out of danger. It would be "touch and go" for next few days. The cord damage could still travel upwards. If her spinal cord began to die she would also die. Oh and one more thing. She is paralyzed in her back limbs. She can no longer walk.

Every time we came to the hospital we came with all her foods and treats because she would not eat for the technicians and she was losing weight. We would sit with her in her cage and hold her head and marvel at her surgical incisions. It was really quite frightening. She also had a foley catheter, her urine was very thick and concentrated because she also would not drink for them. She was just very depressed. They were also giving her pain killers to help her cope with the recovery. Once we had arrived though she would drink like a little starved dog and even take her food and treats, although not in the usual amounts, but we were so happy to see her eat and drink and we were rewarded by her urine clearing right up and looking normal. It's amazing the things that bring you happiness.

But when it was time for us to leave, she would cry and just break our hearts. The technicians would try to distract her, but we knew she wanted to be with us.

Well, needless to say, This story has a happy ending. Isabel is completely unaware that anything at all is different in her life. She is very happy and well adjusted. She now runs and plays like she always did, but now she does it on wheels, like a pro. She is very active on and off her wheels. She can move like lightning just pulling forward with her front feet. Just let her hear the rustle of her jerky treats in the kitchen and she is at your feet in seconds. She loves to go for her daily walk and she runs and sniffs and lives life large while she takes her dad for a walk.

She is the Bell of the neighborhood. Before her accident Jim and I knew the direct neighbors on any side of us. But now we know the whole neighborhood and several streets away. People will come out of their houses to greet Bell and check how she is doing.

Before the accident Bell was very timid and would actually hide behind Jim's legs when someone would approach. She doesn't want someone to approach her that she doesn't know, but she is thrilled to see her friends in the neighborhood and will run to them while on a walk and they appear.

Bell knows she is well loved and is secure in the knowledge that she owns our hearts.