Kris got a call about a dog that had taken up residence under a picnic table at a local BBQ restaurant just outside her neighborhood. She was told that this dog wouldn’t come near any of the rescuers that had tried to catch her the prior night. In fact, she had gotten spooked when the sheriff showed up to help, and had a near miss of being hit by a car – darting across a busy road to avoid people. She had been in the yard of the BBQ restaurant for several days, enjoying the meat remnants that the employees were leaving for her each night.

The rescuer that called Kris was told that there was no room at the Barber house so while Kris would help catch the dog, she couldn’t take her. A few ladies showed up to see if there was a possibility to catch her without spooking her out into the road. This sweet dog barked at the approaching people but never left her spot of safety under the picnic table. Kris approached with a can of cat food that piqued her interest and prompted her to come close and wait for Kris to back up. Once she went back to the edge of the parking lot, the dog gobbled down the cat food. The dog then approached the ladies as they all sat very still, never making eye contact. Fortunately, she did not seem to see any of the ladies as a threat. It wasn’t long before the dog started taking food out of the ladies’ hands, so the red slip lead was dropped over her head and she was caught!

She looked relatively young, did not have a microchip, but was extremely sweet with beautiful yellow eyes. She seemed very happy to be in Kris’ truck and not fending for herself any longer. As with most of the rescues that Kris has been a part of, its either she goes to animal control or home with Kris. You guessed it! She went home with Kris and as usual, Hailey, Chuck and Kris talked about where she could stay. Every room was taken up with a rescue or sanctuary dog and there was no real way to see what her temperament would be with other dogs, so we introduced her to Gunther, a little pittie mix that had been rescued a few weeks prior. The plan was that they’d share a room.

Kris discovered pretty quickly that this sweet dog was not a fan of other dogs. She tolerated Gunther because he was confined to his crate when he was inside. She was never aggressive but she did bark at him quite a bit. Once he was adopted, she was quite content having a room of her own.

When she was spayed, Kris requested to have the large lump on her hip removed, thinking it was simply a lipoma. Unfortunately it not a simple removal. The lump was an “infiltrative lipoma.” The way the oncologist that was consulted explained it, it is like an ice berg. The lump is above the surface but the unknown under the surface can grow into nerves, organs, bones – pretty much anywhere. The vet removed some of it during the initial surgery but the tests (MRI for 3 sections of her body) would cost thousands of dollars, just to see if there is anything that could be done. Kris & Chuck decided to forego additional treatment & feed her a healthy diet, give her lots of exercise and a loving place to call home while she is with them. Ultimately, infiltrative lipomas can cause premature death, unfortunately. However, vets have seen some of the dogs that were given a poor prognosis completely heal themselves. Sunshine is a bundle of joy and lives every day to the fullest. She is the epitome of a happy dog and will live her life out as a sanctuary dog with RTTRS.