George was a classic dog coming to the hospital for a classic treatment:

As you can see, he was a bit worn with age and hugs (kind of like the chair he was photographed on).  :-)

His person didn’t want to change his insides, and she loved the bells in his ears, but she did believe he needed a new fur coat, and a nose and mouth too.

He flew to the hospital and we discussed fur transplant options.  I sent photos of those options to his person:

We all agreed the top brown was best, which meant ordering a black to match. So George relaxed for a few days while that was all arranged.  Given that his black fur was on top, I wanted to be able to do those sections first.

Soon George was recovered in soft new fur, and even had his pink tongue in place:

Next some adjustments to his tongue, and a nose!  And we needed to adjust his tongue so it was, as his person wrote, “a bit more salmon, not as anemic lol.”

“This is perfect!” George’s person wrote. 

He didn’t have far to fly, just a short hop south and he was home again.  His person wrote:

Thanks so much for restoring my first friend! And, thank you for sharing your gift to folks like me!

Yes, that’s his name, with the apostrophe. :-)

Butter’s the dog had a run-in with the family dog and definitely lost the battle – along with a leg, an ear, and his nose and muzzle!  Here are the diagnosis photos his family sent:

We started his treatment with a bubble bath, to remove saliva, clean out his wounds, and get down to his original fur color and texture for transplants later on:

Next he got restuffed, with his heart of original stuffing, to provide courage for the coming surgeries:

Butter’s was one of the lucky ones who I could find near perfect matches for his skin and fur.  So surgery proceeded well.  Here he is modeling some new nose options (post ear and leg attachment and muzzle reconstruction):

His family chose this one:

Here are a few of his “chubbiness testing” photos:

And here he is, just before he flew home last week!

His family wrote “he’s never looked better!”

This is another tale from the archives.  I figured I hadn’t spoken about a pound puppy in a while. :-)

Toscha’s restoration was originally supposed to be a surprise.  Her person’s boyfriend sent the first email.  It was titled “Poor Toscha is dying”.  He wrote:

My girlfriend’s stuffed animal, Toscha, is on her last leg. She is a vintage 1985 Pound Puppy, who has been through it all. I want to surprise her for her birthday by having Toscha fixed, because she has to last another 35 years.
So how bad is it? Well, the pound puppy logo has lost all color; there are numerous holes all over her underside and many places where her fur and fabric are extremely thin; her neck is broken and held in place with a small piece of fabric; her eyes are just black pools as all the paint has rubbed off; she’s missing an ear and can’t hear too well; her paws have seemingly no toes; her cheek is split wide open; her mouth has been sewn shut from having her teeth all knocked out when she was younger.
Do you think you can help Toscha? If you think you can and it helps you, I can also try to find some organ donor puppies on EBay and send them to you with Toscha.

These are some of the diagnostic photos he sent.

She wasn’t quite as bad as he’d described, and she was definitely treatable.  I sent a LONG list of treatment options (think full page single spaced type).  He ended up forwarding the treatment proposal to Toscha’s person, rather than doing it himself as a surprise (usually the wise move).  He wrote to Toscha’s person:

I’m sorry I couldn’t do this myself… Let me know if I can help more… There’s just lots of details, and Toscha is very precious cargo <3.

Toscha’s person wrote to me directly nearly a year later, asking if I could still care for her.  My answer, of course, was yes.  There were still specifics to work out though.  Toscha’s person wrote:

This is great news! I have two donor dogs I will be sending with her. In regards to your questions I want to go with the following options.
1. For the eyes you can either paint them or use the donor eyes whichever is best.
2. For the ear, you can build it or use one of the donor ears. The donor ear might be a better match and easier though.
3. Please use transplant fur for the holes and tears. I want her to last so anything that needs fur go for it. Then please put the lining underneath all of the fur. I want her protected for the future. I would like the original stuffing both in the heart and then what is left mailed back with her when she is all fixed. I hope that is ok. I have something planned for the rest of her stuffing. She has been my baby and I want it.
4. She will need the spa treatment with new stuffing and heart. Like I said I want the rest of the stuffing so please don’t get rid of it. please be as gentle as possible and if washing causes any more tears or issues I can pay to fix with donor fur and reinforced by the lining before she makes the trip back.
5. For her tattoo you can keep her original. I kinda like the wear and love. If it has to be fixed please transplant it.

So Toscha flew out from Chicago for her complex surgery to begin.  Here she is starting with her spa:

And here’s her old stuffing, ready to go back home with her once she’s healthy. 

You can see why I replace stuffing!

Here is a rare photo of a fully lined patient.  This is Toscha’s finished lining, before she got turned right side out and restuffed:

Lining is usually a thin knit or flannel, in a similar color to the patients original fur or skin.  Here’s Tascha’s heart being made and installed with some original stuffing:

And here are her first photos (not quite ready, but time for feedback from her person for chubbiness and other adjustments).  We ended up using donor eyes and nose:

We needed to do a bit of facial adjustment, as the donors who came with Toscha (and who I used as a sample) didn’t have quite her original shape. 

Then on to face surgery.  Here was the first adjustment, minus freckles:

The response: Yes much closer, the only thing I see different is the crease by the eyes and nose and the freckles … I can’t believe that is her!

A bit more minor surgery….

She looks amazing! said her person. :-)

So Toscha, her stuffing, and one of her donors, headed home.  This second donor hadn’t been used at all for surgery, but had become Toscha’s buddy during surgery and they were now fast friends.

Here person’s reaction?  Perfect!

Dirt the Gund Dog

Dirt’s person is one of you. :-) She wrote last spring:

“I have had him since I was born and he is getting close to 30 years old. He has been with me everywhere I have traveled and lived (my dad even drove an hour both ways to get my dog from my bed when I forgot him going to the airport and almost missed our flight). I am not sure he needs “repairs” necessarily as his is in pretty good shape but I am no expert. His paws are all good and still has both eye buttons, they are just hidden by his fur.

I was hoping maybe a good clean and some re-stuffing as his neck and body have gotten quite limp over the past few years.”

Here are his diagnosis photos:

I bet by now, if you’ve been reading a while, you can guess what I suggested…. a gentle spa! And that’s what he came in for, just a little spa.

Here he is in his bubble bath:

Here’s his heart made from original stuffing:

Here he is clean and restuffed with his fur fluffed. You can see he fluffed pretty nicely…. his seam was open to adjust chubbiness as needed:

We added just a touch more chubbiness (on the advice of his person’s mom) and then closed him up and packed him up to fly home to Colorado:

His person wrote:

“Oh I’m so excited! Thank you so much! You are more than welcome to share his story! My mom and older sister have been reminiscing about how good he looks. They both remember his golden tips that were hidden in dirt and mats!”

And when he arrived home, she added:

“Dirt has arrived safe and sound back home! He enjoyed his spa/hospital visit and has a brand new leash on life and a new tag for his collar with his name! Thank you so much again for everything. Cannot wait to read the blog story on his visit!”

And this is that story. :-)

As you may have guessed from my lack of posts recently, it’s been REALLY busy in the hospital.  As in, complex surgeries are currently scheduling in August.  But… This little hush puppy dog is going to be the feature of an Easter Basket when he gets home, so I thought it was pretty timely to share his story this weekend. :-)

His family actually wrote back in December after he had an unfortunate  run-in with the washing machine. (I will spare you all my opinion of washing machines and stuffed animals… if you haven’t read it, and you want to do so, it is here … and a second post is here.)  In the author’s defense, she didn’t put the puppy in the washing machine. :-)  She wrote:

There is no rush on this repair since he has been sitting in the laundry room for awhile. My 45 year old son rides bikes and this puppy has been with him on all of his MS Bike Runs. Sooo he wanted to wash him and his head got destroyed and it looks like a piece of his fur is missing from the back of his head.

Here are the diagnosis photos she sent:

Now coincidentally, I have one of these same exact puppies!  So I knew exactly what he was supposed to look like, and knew I had quite close fur if he needed any transplants.  We waited a few months for him to come in both because it was the holidays (always riskier for travel) and the hospital was crowded, and because it gave his stuffing time to thoroughly air dry before he went in a dark box for his trip (thus avoiding mildew issues).  He came in last month for wound repair only.  Here he is all better after his surgery:

His person wrote:

He looks new and I think he will look great in an Easter Basket. I am so happy I found you.

So here’s to you, a hopefully not quite so sad puppy.  I hope you (and all of you readers, too) have a happy Easter, are having a good pesach, or are just enjoying the start of spring.  :-)