My name is Skye, I’m a 5 year old miniature Dachshund with anxiety and hip dysplasia. Since November 2021 I have been one of The Red Foundation’s lifetime care dogs – what does this mean for me and my family? Well let’s start at the beginning!

When I first met my new family, I was so scared of…well everything. I barked at them for an hour, not sure if I should say hello. But this didn’t put them off, they still kept coming back to visit me and just sat there with cheesy treats in their hands, so…. I decided to sit next to them for a sniff and I got even more treats! 

Let’s fast forward to when I decided I liked them and they picked me up. Exciting you say? Well for me this was very stressful because I hated car journeys. I barked the whole way home and then for the first 3 weeks, would only settle if I sat on my new Dad’s knee and yes this included barking through the night which led to my new mum sleeping on the floor next to my bed. I was so scared I didn’t even want to go outside for the toilet so this was the first goal.  Within 5 weeks I started trying to run outside BUT this highlighted that maybe me lifting my leg wasn’t anxiety, but another medical issue.

This meant the next goal was the car! Apparently I had to go to the vet, I will let you imagine the Dachshund Diva expression…Hmm I was not impressed with the car at all, so we started off just playing with toys and having treats in the car… after a while I decided it wasn’t so bad after all. Next the car needed to move with me in it. So what did they do for safety? booster seat? Nope! I can see too much so i barked and squealed, Maybe a seatbelt? nope, I was shaking like a leaf. OK now let’s try a fabric style crate with a bed and blanket- ohh yes I’ll give this a go.

The journeys got a little longer each time. Then the next task was leaving the house, going in the car and seeing a vet. I was terrified; barking, shaking, howling… but the vet was nice to me, she gave me time and treats… well grated cheese. My new family showed a video of how I run… the vet decided this could be a hip issue and I needed Xrays. Obviously, it goes without saying that the vet confirmed my anxiety diagnoses but said I’m just barky, not aggressive and there was a loving personality in there…. I just needed help.

So where does the Red Foundation pre-existing condition support come in?

They pay for:

Umbilical hernia and spay – I had a stable umbilical hernia so the vet said this could be repaired when I was spayed at 18 months old. The Red Foundation paid for my hernia repair, spay and any aftercare I needed. Even when I needed some more pain relief than usual, this wasn’t a bother – just whatever I needed

My anxiety – I have daily anti-anxiety tablets, without these I would have been unable to make any progress and my quality of life would be much worse. Ive come such a long way with the help of my family and The Red Foundations behaviour team who we can still turn to if needed.

Then there’s my hip dysplasia – I needed X-rays which checked my hips and knees – this confirmed diagnosis of hip dysplasia (luckily my knees are ok!). I had daily Metacam, but have now swapped to monthly Librela injections and fortnightly hydrotherapy/laser sessions. Without this I am in a lot of pain and due to this I hadn’t exercised enough, so my muscle mass had declined a lot. Initially I had home exercises to build muscles mass, then weekly hydrotherapy which reduced to fortnightly after a few months when muscle mass had increased. With this, it means I can play with a lot less pain and have an amazing quality of life compared to before!

I don’t need surgery on my hips right now but as my new family say, I’m so lucky to have the Red Foundation because I may need surgery in the future.

So how have I improved thanks to the Red Foundation’s lifetime care and my family?

Well I now love the car! If we go to on holiday, I sleep all the way and just wake up for a stretch and toilet break. I also have dog friends which my family carefully selected and thanks to my Librela, I can play with them! We reached our goal of walks near home when no one else is about, I actually wag my tail whilst having a sniff and no longer wee just because a leaf blew across the pavement – without my anti-anxiety medication I become anxious in new situations so these enable me to assess situations much calmer and listen to my family.

So what is my next goal? To go on a quiet walk but when there’s a couple of people about….. wish me luck!