Opal and Alexander became the proud parents of 6 beautiful puppies on Monday, October 6, 2008. There are 3 red females, 1 red male, 1 black female and 1 black male. The first puppy was born at 4:30 pm and the last was born at 10:30 pm. They weighed 14-18 oz at birth. Mother and babies are all doing well.
 
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Cara

First Dog Show

Asheville June 09

Kai

Ava

Chuckles

Chuck is an 9 month old red male Doberman puppy from my Opal and Alexander litter.
When he was 5 weeks old I noticed he appeared to be turning out at the elbow,
Upon closer inspection, I realized his radius was sticking out further than it normally
should but the ulna (elbow) was nice and tight to his chest as it should be. I took
him into my office for the vets to examine. He was too young to x-ray at that time.
I called our orthopedic surgeon to discuss it with him. The puppy was not in any pain
and showed no abnormality in gait. He was x-rayed and examined by the ortho surgeon
at 10 weeks of age. Chuck's condition was labeled congenital bilateral subluxated radius. Meaning
both radius bones were out of normal alignment. Dr Hill said his bones were "programed" to
grow wrong in the womb. I was faced with 2 options; put him to sleep now or let him grow up and see if we can fix him.
All of the doctors I spoke to all agreed that surgery should not be done until his growth
plates closed. If he made it that long, then I needed to find a surgeon who could "try"
something to realign the bones. All the doctors also agreed, surgery may not fix it.
I couldn't put him to sleep. He remained sound and pain free until the rapid growth
phases. Then I started him on pain medications. He had to have a lot of crate rest
because activity made him limp more. There were days were I wondered if I was
being fair to him and wondered about his quality of life. But he was so sweet and such
a good puppy. So I continued to medicate and crate rest. Just as fast as the pain and limping
came on, it has gotten markedly improved. He no longer needs as much crate rest or pain
medication. He can play with the other dogs and only limps if he plays too hard for too long.
He really shouldn't be allowed to play that rough but I have allowed it to assess him. I
have been able to wean him off of a lot of his medications except for the MSM in his glucosamine supplements.

I have recently spoken with a wonderful surgeon, Dr Paul Shealy. He feels like he can "improve Chuck's quality of life" with surgery and post surgical physical therapy. At this point he doesn't feel like it he will be able to make him good as new but he can help him. Unfortunately, it seems I was given some bad advice about when the best time was to have this surgery done. Hopefully, I will be able to afford to get the surgery done soon and get Chuck in a forever home.

I am looking to place him in a home that understands that even after surgery, he may be still restricted in his activity. I doubt he will ever be able to be anyone's running partner. He could possibly get a CD and Rally titles if someone wanted to do a little obedience with him. He would be a wonderful therapy dog. He does need a lot of socialization. He is a shy puppy. He approaches slowly and submissively but becomes friends immediately upon contact.
I did not socialize him as I usually do because I didn't know what was going to happen to him
and I tried to not get to attached to him (I failed miserably).He will need to be on high quality glucosamine supplements all of the time. I would like to think that the right person could take the money they planned to use
to buy a puppy and apply it to Chuck vet fund to pay for his medications.

Most people that come to me are looking for a reputable breeder that they can get a healthy
puppy from. Chuck's family history is full of longevity and healthy dogs. He is a fluke. While
I can stand behind the health of all of my dogs, this puppy will need special attention and nay
have more medical expenses. He is almost certain to get arthritis in the front legs sooner than your average senior dog and it may be something that reduces his life span. There is no way to predict by how much. I stand behind all of my dogs and will take any of them back at any time, but I will not refund any expenses for his care.

If you think you might be the right home for Chuck, please contact me.

8 weeks

Kai

Ava

Lila

Vanna

Cara

6 weeks old

5 weeks

4 weeks

3 weeks old

2 weeks old

1 week old

Newborns