Meet Kipling

After losing our little Bentley in February, we were hesitant about getting another dog so soon. Then one day I was playing tennis all the way in Austell at Sweetwater Park and I found the greatest stray dog ever-a female yellow lab mix. I took her home with me that very day-Mary Katherine (who is OBSESSED with dogs) proudly named her Jessie puppy. She had no tags and to be sure Jay took her to our vet who checked for a micro-chip. There wasn't one. For some reason though we felt guilty about having this wonderful dog who was probably someone's long lost pet, so we placed an ad in the AJC and immediately a very nice man called and claimed her. We were devastated...she had lived with us for only a week, but slept with the girls and we just adored her. Well, after having Jessie in our lives (even for a short time) we were sure that we wanted a new dog and for it to be a yellow lab. We put in application with Atlanta Lab Rescue and Labrador Friends of the South...it took forever to get a response!!! Finally though the director of Atlanta Lab Rescue called us (thanks to a family friend who got our application bumped up) and said she had three male yellow labs, about 1-2 years old who would be perfect with very young children. She thought Kipling would be best for us, but warned us that something was wrong with the way he walked and that they were going to get him x-rayed to see what his condition was. Turns out he was born without a hip socket on one side, which is very painful and impossible to fix (unlike humans). To make a long story short, I was able to pick him up from Camp Woof were he was being held temporarily, about 3 weeks ago. Technically we are still "fostering" him as several vets are currently reviewing treatments for his "hip." Several says he needs to be put down, but apparently one thinks he may benefit from some sort of water/swim therapy at a holistic medicine place called Loving Touch. So that is what we are looking at now. Poor guy takes pain pills twice a day but you would never know he was in pain, aside from the fact that he drags his back legs behind him sometimes. He is so grateful just be alive and you can see it in his face!!! He LOVES the girls and guards them fiercely! He is cuddly, loving and extremely calm. He does like to chew and dig, though. We have to keep an eye on him...but he loves his crate and his "kong" so hopefully the chewing will lessen as we work with him! Pray that we can help build the muscle up around his missing hip to ease his pain! We cannot imagine having to explain to Mary Katherine that yet another dog has had to go "to heaven" or "back to his house."