UPDATE 1st October
Thank you so much to all of my supporters, we are fully funded and can now push forward for the launch in November where the book will be available on via this site & Amazon, the page is still on Kickstarter if you would like to browse my videos and information about myself, my dogs and my inspirations.
Hey lovely humans, starting on the 1st of September for 28 days, I will be doing my very first Kickstarter campaign.
So, what is Kickstarter and why am I doing it?
Kickstarter campaigns turn ideas into reality. It’s where creators share new visions for creative work with the communities that come together to fund them via pre-sale purchases. As a thank you, there will be some exciting rewards only available on that site. My reason for doing this is to create visibility and help my first book get off to a successful start. This will help me move forward financially and allow my drive, passion, and creativity to build a successful brand that you can also be a part of.
As an advocate for dog rescue I am donating to percentage of the profits to a fabulous uk charity
What can you get for supporting small businesses?
I have some very exciting rewards available, such as limited edition signed books by myself and the dogs. Every purchase comes with a printed colouring sheet and a sticker. There is also an opportunity to feature yourself, your child, or your dog in one of the next books.
Please click the link to check out my page. No money is taken unless the product reaches its funding goal.
When Ronnie broke her leg
May 2022
Ronnie was originally rescued from the streets of Spain, and I adopted her after her first adoptive home couldn’t cope with her. I was fully aware I was taking in an adorably sweet, kind, loving dog with a few issues. One of those issues was bolting, where she would shoot off at high speed and not come back. She also has incredibly long, springy legs like a kangaroo, which she used to easily jump our 6-foot garden wall and fence. After years of training, she had improved immensely, only very occasionally popping over the fence into the neighbor’s garden when a squirrel caught her attention. We would then find her scratching or barking at the front door to come back in. We introduced a beeping collar to prevent her from doing so, and this seemed to have the desired effect and stopped her completely.
Until one morning in May, when my partner and I were working from home, I remarked that I could hear a whining noise, and I believed it was coming from the front of the house. As I walked downstairs to the front door, thinking maybe Ronnie had made one of her Olympic-worthy leaps and was now wanting to come back in, I opened the front door but at first, I couldn’t see anything. I moved to the side of the house where Ronnie was sat by the back gate, whining!
My dog mum instincts kicked in, and I knew there was something terribly wrong. I scooped her up and took her into the living room, where we noticed her left lower back was bent to the side. We immediately rushed her to the vet, where she swiftly had an X-ray that revealed she had rather severely broken every bone in her leg, like a complete snap right across, and would require surgery at a super-vet clinic the next day. A little woozy from the anesthetic and now sporting a large long cast to keep her leg straight, we took her home and tried to make her as comfy as possible.
The next morning, we made the 2-hour drive to the super-vet clinic. They explained that she needed a particular vet because of the complexity of her break. She was going to require a metal spider frame on the outside to support each thin, fragile bone, which also increased the risk of infection. She stayed there for two nights to ensure she was stable enough to bring home. Upon collection, I was greeted by a very excited little pup and a list as long as my arm of do’s and don’ts.
It was difficult once home to manage her care. She had to be watched 24/7 as she was not allowed to lick her wound, and we had to be aware of the other dogs also licking it. She had a boot she could wear only when outside to prevent dirt contact. She wore a cone for a lot of the time, which I could tell made her depressed, especially when she was catching it on walls and floors. She had to be carried up and down stairs and taken outside for toilet breaks. Additionally, she had medicine twice a day and wound salt washes four times a day.
Unfortunately, a week into her recovery, I started to become concerned with her leg and the color it was turning. The vets were fantastic and had kept in contact, asking for updates, and they seemed to agree with me and asked if I could bring her in for an inspection.
Originally, Ronnie was planning on staying overnight… she ended up staying for 11 nights! As I had suspected, she had gotten an infection, and if they hadn’t sorted it out soon, she could have lost her leg or potentially her life. Finally, 11 days later, we were reunited. The joy on her hoppy, waggy body made me well up. But it wasn’t to be our last visit. Since I was not insured, to save money on specialist bandage changes, I made the 2-hour drive every 2-3 days for the next 8 weeks. It did make me laugh as Ronnie never seemed sad to return, and because of her beautiful, easy nature, she was very popular with the staff, nurses, and even the vets, who would come out from their busy day to say hello.
Months later, Ronnie finally healed and was slowly gaining her strength back. To this day, she still runs and walks on three legs. I think the delicateness of the thin bone meant they were extremely hard to heal, and I don’t believe they fully connected as they were originally, but it’s the least of the other evils she could have faced.
She still lives a full and happy life, minus jumping any 6-foot height obstacles.
