Alumni feature: resilient Penelope now known as "Penelope Pickle-Bottom Prissy Pants"

Penelope has quite the collection of bandannas. Here she is wearing her spring/summer ladybug bandanna.

Editor's note: For the 14 months Penelope was in the care of the Richmond SPCA, she was a favorite with many staff and volunteers. She also became a favorite here on our blog, where the "Angel Pet Spotlight" post about her condition, mega colon, was viewed more than 8,000 times. Penelope's foster home became a permanent, adoptive home on February 16, 2012, and we're delighted to share this update from her adopter, Lauren, along with photos taken by her husband, Martin. 

Since Penelope left the Richmond SPCA in mid-February, she has been a very busy girl. She has traveled to two flyball tournaments to cheer her favorite flyball team, Take Shelter, to victory. She has also battled the rapids of the Ellijay River in North Georgia, and the 90 steps it took to get down to the river from our cabin! Penelope has logged over 1,500 miles so far.

When Penelope isn’t traveling, she can be found in Bellevue visiting her favorite shop, Paws on MacArthur, where is groomed and spoiled by the owner and staff. She can also be found occasionally at Lowes picking out plants, that she thinks will enhance our home’s curb appeal. At home Penelope refuses to be treated differently just because she is much smaller than her three dog siblings. She will only drink water out of the “big dog” bowl, and is in charge of maintaining polite behaviors inside the house. There is no jumping on the table on her watch....

When Penny wears her cheerleader harness, she gets very serious and lets the competition know that Take Shelter is the best flyball team around.

Shortly after adopting Penelope she did suffer a set-back and needed to be placed back on some of the medications that she had taken before her surgery, but I am happy to report that Penelope is now off the medications, and has even surprised her surgeon with her post-operative progress. We still have to be careful about what foods she eats, but other than that she lives a relatively normal life. Even though Penelope is my first dog with special medical needs, I do have two other dogs with special behavioral needs. Surprisingly, learning to manage Penelope’s medical condition has not been much different than learning how to manage fear-based aggression or leash-reactivity.

Penelope has recently begun her training to develop the skills she will need to play agility. Even though she firmly believes that she is too cute to have to work for food, she has been a good sport, and we hope a novice agility title is in her future.

Penelope has such a great temperament, and is a testament to the resilient nature of dogs. In honor of her past and her personality after we adopted her we gave her the “official name,” Penelope Pickle-Bottom Prissy Pants, and we call her Penny for short.

This photo is of Penelope during our Georgia vacation. She is standing on large rock which is on the river bank.

This is a photo of Penelope conquering the 90 steps it takes from our cabin to the river.

This is what Penelope does after a walk or after being outside when it’s warm.

This is Penelope doing her favorite trick “reach.” As you can see she will sometimes also lift one of her hind-legs off the ground.

This is a photo of Penelope playing in the snow shortly after we adopted her. We initially thought that she wouldn’t like the snow, but she had a blast playing outside in it.

Your gift to the Annual Fund helps us save pets like Penelope and provide them the care needed to place them in loving forever homes.

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Comments

[Joe Bishop]

So glad she is doing well. She warmed our hearts while she was with the SPCA, and it sounds like she is doing the same with her forever home. Very cool.

[Linley Beckner]

How wonderful! Thanks for the awesome update on this little lady, and more importantly, thank you for giving her such an amazing forever home. I appreciate that you saw all the potential in the world in her and took her into your family. I look forward to updates as she explores, learns, and competes! Best wishes to you all!