The telephone rang . . . it was my daughter. Her little black dachshund couldn't walk on her hind legs. She was paralyzed! This was the second time that this happened, but this time it was worse. She had no feeling at all, was totally incontinent and very scared. Diane (my daughter) said that she was going to drop her off at the Vet the following Monday and have her put to sleep. I told my husband and his reaction was as expected. We can't put her to sleep until we have tried everything! So we quickly packed up and left the next morning on our 400 mile jaunt to Marquette, MI. Diane was there with the dogs visiting a friend.

I told my daughter that if we took Marjie, that she would be ours and she wouldn't get her back. That was OK with her. She said that she just didn't have the time to deal with Marjie's problems and she was happy that we were taking her. That was three weeks ago. After taking Marjie to our own Vet, we placed her on steroids even though our Vet didn't hold out much hope for her.
Dr. Foster said that with this type of injury, it is very important to start steroids immediately or they wouldn't usually help. She was right. Even though there is some improvement, we really haven't noticed much in the past 2 weeks. I think that the way she is now is the way that she'll remain.

I had an Eons member from the Dachshunds In Control group offer to take her if we didn't feel that we could deal with the problem. She gave me a lot of suggestions and at one point, we agreed to make the arrangements to send Marjie off to her. Then after thinking about it, I decided to keep her. I have since set into a routine with her and have been in contact with a couple who builds carts or "wheelchairs" for dogs. I think that once Marjie can move around again, she will be so much happier. Having her is like having a baby in the house. We have to constantly change her pad, and bathe her to keep from getting urine burn. I'm so glad that I only work occasionally because I could never do this if I was away from home a lot.

I prayed for Marjie and asked God what I should do with her. I just couldn't get myself to put her down. This little dog has so much personality and will talk to you. We would certainly miss her if she wasn't around. So I think that this is what God wants me to do. Will she ever get better? Who knows. But it would do my heart good just to see her running around the yard again . . . even if it is on wheels.