Snow

Frozen precipitation in the form of white or translucent

hexagonal ice crystals that fall in soft, white flakes.

Snow!!

Oh, happy day.

:)

 

Merry Christmas!

Scampering and cheer. 

It doesn't get any better than that.

Merry Christmas, Mercy!

 

 

Secret Santa!

Our friends at French Bulldog Rescue Network are at it again.  That's right,

each year at Christmas time volunteers gather all kind of goodies

for gifting special care packages to each frog in the entire foster roster. 

Here's just one happy picture showing  how very 

exciting it can be for the Secret Santa recipient.

Mercy is part of it too.  She and her best pal, FBRN grad. Brook, helped choose a little a' this & a little a' that to be delivered to a foster frenchie nearby.  Be sure to have a look at all of Santa's little helpers at FBRN's facebook page...  Secret Santa 2012.  You may even find a picture of the Harvey Manor elves (Mercy and Brook!).

 

Give a needy dog some holiday cheer.

Visit any canine rescue website to make a monetary donation.

There are many wonderful organizations

doing the work of helping man's best friend.

The following are some of our favourites

and only a few of many.

Boxer Rescue Ontario

French Bulldog Rescue Network

Adopt A Boxer Rescue

Pugalug Pug Rescue

SNORT

Homeward Bound Rescue

 Boxer Rescue L.A.

Feeling fine

All of the sudden and out of the blue, little Mercy-bear showed some lameness and significant discomfort at her right front leg.  Always at the ready for addressing whatever is needed of their charge, her foster home took action. 

Medicines were administered, a rest day was put in play and guess what?

Mercy is feeling fine!

 All better.

Fine, fine, fine!

Ah, ha, ha, ha...

Mercy and her foster sister, Brook, enjoy each other immensely. 

Brook, Brook-Brook, the Brookie Monster

is a frenchie (about the same size as Mercy)

and a French Bulldog Rescue Network graduate.
Both girls have overcome mobility issues and
get along just swell, each with a unique gait
that is theirs alone.  Nothing but cute.

Behind you, Brook, BEHIND YOU!!

Mine!

 

 

We've said it before and we'll say it again,

Mercy loves her fancy orthopedic bed.

She knows it is hers and don't try telling her otherwise.

Here she is AH-sleep.

This is how she does it.

Sweet dreams, little alligator.

:)

FUN-IN-A-BOX

Does this look like a creature with scheming on her mind?

"Now look at this trick,"
Said the cat.
"Take a look!" 

 

Then he got up on top
With a tip of his hat.
"I call this game FUN-IN-A-BOX,"
Said the cat.
An astute observer would likely answer Yes!

 

It's all good times all day long for wee Mercy.

She continues to insist that foster brother, Brownie, get involved.

And slowly but surely, it's working!

"In this box are two things
I will show to you now.
You will like these two things,"
Said the cat with a bow.

We can only thank little Mercy for her fine guidance.

She's irresistable.  She speaks dog.  Mercy has taken a large part

in the job of getting Brownie ready for adoption.

For more about Brownie, visit his bio. at

Boxer Rescue Ontario's available dogs page.

www.boxerrescueontario.com

 

Then, out of the box
Came Thing Two and Thing One!
And they ran to us fast.
They said, "How do you do?
Would you like to shake hands
With Thing One and Thing Two?"  

 

 

 

 

 



Jack-o’-lantern encore...

While it's true that this shot was posted last October,

it's worth a second look.  Isn't it?

Jack-o'-lantern a la Mercy!

 

 

Welcome Great Pumpkin!



Time for a promotion

On this day two years ago, a little dog called Mercy

arrived to her foster home for hospice care. 

That date was made her birthday.

And here we are celebrating her promotion to 3-year-old. 

 

From good friends and true,
From old friends and new,
May good luck go with you,
And happiness too.

 

 

Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Dear Mercy!
Happy Birthday to You.

 

In other news

All is swell in the wonderful world of Mercy, to be sure.  Her foster parents have been keeping watch as is their job, to make certain that their wee houseguest is tip-top on all fronts. 

Over the last many months Mercy has been experiencing a recurrent bladder infection. In addition, her personal physician has discovered crystals in her urine on at least one occasion.  After making a few adjustments, the most recent urine test came back clean.  Going forward and over time, we will re-test in order to ensure the issue' is licked. 
Of course, the little creature lovingly nicknamed the alligator hasn't a clue and shows no indication that she is feeling anything other than her crazy, merry self. 

Always in the middle of things and often up to no good, Mercy very nicely rounds out the doggity group at her foster home to three.

Summer in the City

Mercy is a very lucky dog.  She has been keeping up her swim therapy schedule at her foster dad's brother's beautiful outdoor pool.  Wowie!

Before going completely overboard...  full disclosure: 
After nearly 2 years of weekly swimming lessons, Mercy is still not keen.

The little alligator puts in the time, exits the water,

is removed from her gear, lets loose with a good old shake festival

and then...

Done!

We. Are. Outta here.

In the summer, in the city.
In the summer, in the city.

Who's the Boss

As was previously posted here, an additional foster dog arrived not long ago to join Mercy at her foster home.  Also mentioned was the fact that a certain boxer (it was Mercy!) was not too sure about the new houseguest.  We are happy to report that that same little snarkypants (still Mercy) has changed her tune.  You will see below and without a doubt, our girl has taken to taking very seriously her participation in the fostering of Brownie. 

Who's the boss?

Once again, the answer is Mercy.

O brother?

After a few days of getting her snoot bent out of shape due to our new houseguest, Mercy has decided that she will help look after her foster brother, Brownie.  Here's another sunbathing boxers shot:

Mercy, resident dog Colby and foster boxer Brownie.

Don't worry, alligator, you're still the baby!

K9 Rescue Me

The largest outdoor festival for dogs in all of North America, Woofstock, goes on in Toronto today and tomorrow.  Sunday's events include the 9th Annual K9 Rescue Me Walk-a-thon. 

Mercy and her new pal, Brownie, are collecting pledges for the big walk.  These two share the same foster home.  Here they are enjoying some sunshine along with resident boxer, Colby.

Mercy and Brownie are raising money for the very charity that has given them their second chance, Boxer Rescue Ontario.  This is the biggest fundraiser of the year.
Please visit our Giving Page to make a donation.  Your support means one more dog can be saved.  Many thanks for your kindness!

It's a girl!

In an effort to make it known that Mercy is in fact a girl, we put her in a new collar.  
Here she is, all "Hello Kitty Sunshine".

With big thanks to Niki at Peachy Keen Pets, Mercy looks adorable.

Now.

We'll see if this remedies the oft mistaken identity.

 

Movin' right along

...in search of good times and good news,
With good friends you can't lose,
This could become a habit!
Opportunity knocks once let's reach out and grab it,
Together we'll nab it,
We'll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it!

More from Mercy's first days in rescue:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010

Can Mercy ever boogie on those little legs!
Mercy has settled in and seems to be a bit more relaxed. We are working on the house training and she is about 80%, she does cry when she needs to go out, sometimes it is just hard to get to her before she goes. The meds for her kennel cough are working well and she is coughing a lot less, so she is feeling a lot friskier, you can really see her puppiness coming out. She has had a few "Boxer burns" in the backyard.

We introduced her to our dogs today. She was a bit nervous at first, but got a lot more comfortable after a bit of time with them. She is particularly fond of our Pug who she wants to chase and wrestle with, she hasn't quite figured out that he does not like to chase or wrestle!

We took her to the park tonight for a change of scenery. She has trouble walking on the concrete because she walks on the sides of her feet, so it seems to get a bit uncomfortable for her after a bit and she will sit down and wimper, so we just picked her up and carried her, good thing she is so tiny! It is amazing how heavy 20lbs feels after you have carried her for about 3 blocks! That being said it was worth it, she loved the park and as soon as we put her down on the grass she started ripping around and trying to play with the dogs, she had such a good time. It is amazing how fast she can go on those crooked little legs!
By the time she was done she was way too tired to even try to walk a little of the way home, so she got another arm chariot ride back home, (carrying her is a great workout!)
She is out cold now, tired puppies are good puppies!

-

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Mercy has some new wheels

Thanks to some wonderful dog lovers Mercy has some new wheels. Lesley & Theo, dog rescuers extrodinaire, have lent us a doggie stroller to help Mercy keep up with the rest of the crew. This makes it a lot easier to take her to the park and on walks since she can't walk very fast or for very long.

We had our X-Ray appointment with the vet today, and the general consensus of all the vets that were on site was, "Wow, I have never seen anything like this." The vet team from Beaches is going to do some collaborating with some specialists to decide what the best course of action for Mercy would be.
The X-Rays show the significant malformation of her front legs which is quite obvious to anyone she meets, but they also revealed a very misshapen rib cage and terrible hip dysplasia. The ball of her left hip is almost right out of the socket. She is not in a lot of pain, but because of the hips, it is almost certain she has at least some discomfort. We came home with some pain/anti-inflammatory medication for her to take each day which should prove helpful.
Mercy has absolutely charmed everyone she has met at the vet clinic.

Day 1

A blogspot called The Tale of Mercy was created by Mercy's first foster home in order to document her journey.  The following is the first post of 10 that were written by her loving foster mom before we took over Mercy's care and began The Quality of Mercy.  Stay tuned for the 9 updates that came after.

Mercy has arrived

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I had been told all about Mercy, seen the pictures and thought I was prepared for her arrival. But meeting her in person was so much different than looking at her pictures in an email. Nothing had prepared me for her sad little eyes and the actual real life effect of watching her walk on those terribly deformed legs.

That being said Mercy doesn't seem to realize that she is any different than any other 1 year old Boxer,never mind that she weighs only 19lbs, and stands about 18 inches tall. Mercy still wags that stubbly little tail and wiggles her little body every time you look at her or say her name, she is just happy to be here.

Mercy likely has a long road ahead of her, we went to the vet tonight and

she does have kennel cough and will need to go in for x-Rays to determine more

about her legs. She was the perfect little pup at the vet, and behaved wonderfully,

charming everyone she met.  I will keep you updated on how things go and the

progress we make with her diagnosis.

Jump, jump, jump

Makeshift jumpy castle.  Of the morning.  Every morning.

Jump!

Blow wind, blow

Blow wind, blow
And go, mill, go:
That the miller
May grind his corn;
That the baker may take it,
And into rolls make it
And bring us some
Hot in the morn.

Lots of wind in Mercy's neighborhood this week.

All manner of things blown about, house creaking & shaking, 
tree branches falling from the sky, windows a-rattling.

What's a small frightened dog to do?

Why scuttle to a safe spot, of course. 
Let the hubbub pass.
How about a biscuit while we wait, please?

There was a little girl

There was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,

She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

 

Poetry

by Longfellow

Keep young and beautiful

A little health update on our small foster friend. 

Mercy paid a visit to her personal physician last month

only to discover that she had a bladder infection

and was passing crystals.

Nana Ellie (on the floor in the hoodie)

was there in a show of support. 

After a cycle of antibiotics, a follow up urinalysis came back clean

and she was returned to wellness in full.

That's not to say that her foster home can let go the supervision

needed for Mercy and her "condition".

Here's a super cute and spot on reminder...

Mercy made fast friends with a neighbourhood dog called Scuba.

Look at our girl go! 

While she would have loved to spend the entire afternoon

racetrack driving with her new pal

(Mercy is much much speedier than you think), 

foster mom was the party pooper whereby

Mercy/mummy were first to depart the stupendous playdate
in order to avoid over doing it.

Indeed, later that evening, Mercy-bear's little limbs were tender.

Pain medicine is always at the ready should it be necessary.

It's not often that it is since her people know her

well enough by now to recognize how much she can and cannot do.   

A balancing act, to be sure...  Mercy loves taking on any

and all activity included in that of a dog's life. 

It's up to her foster family to keep track that she doesn't

unintentionally hurt herself.

Foster siblings are a big help too...

Count big brother, Colby, in for creating a dog pile
and sleeping one off.

Take care of all those charms
And you'll always be in someone's arms.

 

Happy New Year!

No doubt about it;  Mercy has had a good year.  Many thanks to the little alligator's friends, family, fans, and followers.  You have made her happiness possible.  All dogs are good dogs and should be so lucky.  Canine Rescue gave Mercy a chance and did she ever run with it!  May the good times continue. 

Though she wasn't awake as the clock struck midnight,

Mercy kept busy for most of the evening on January 31.

Welcome 2012!