Lady has been a supported hero since 2015, she most recently had to have her leg amputated due to cancer and is undergoing chemo.
In December 2008 Lady was born and trained at Vohne Liche Kennels in Indiana. She was trained as an explosives detection dog and all of her testing revealed that she scored 100% on all finds. But, after just a couple years on the job in Iraq, she lost the will to work and would seek out shade and rest, rather than explosives. The Kennel Master’s notes state that she would be a better pet and signed her retirement papers in 2013 and I adopted her in May of the same year!
I was lucky to be able to adopt Lady from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International International (SPCAI) “No Buddy Left Behind” Program. Lady is my second explosives dog that I have adopted through this program. The first was Diablo, an amazing Malinois that worked in Iraq until he was 10 years old! Sadly, Diablo passed away at the age of 12 on New Year’s Eve 2012.
In retirement Lady really enjoys chewing on bones and playing fetch. She usually has, at least one, bone or ball near her at all times. She loves to play fetch so much that when she brings the ball back to you she will push it to you with her nose so that you will continue to play with her. All you have to do is tap the ground with your foot and she knows to push it to you. She is a sweetheart who is sometimes very exuberant with her affection, pushing her nose into your hand or arm to get you to pet her. She loves hiking and swimming, but really, she will just play ball all day and be the happiest dog ever!
She has had a few medical setbacks in the past few years. In 2015 she was attacked by a pit bull and sustained extensive damage to her right flank and rear right leg. She handled the surgeries and recovery very well and with amazing grace! In 2017 she underwent two surgeries, within a month of each other. Both surgeries were to remove fatty tumor growths, but the second one also removed a Soft Tissue Sarcoma from her rear left leg. Unfortunately, the tumor was not completely remove, due to it’s location, and returned in May of 2018. In July of 2018 it was decided that to save Lady’s life her rear left leg would have to be amputated to remove. Since then Lady has been recovering beautifully and, again, with grace!
She took to being a “tripawd” so quickly it was mind boggling. She has a light in her eyes that lets me know that I made the right decision. She is bright and happy! She is currently on a very low dose of chemotherapy that she takes daily at home. So, no need for monthly vet visits for chemo sessions or side effects! She will be on the chemo for one year. We are very hopeful that the cancer will not return and she will be able to live a long and full life of sleeping, ball chasing, and loving!
