Friday, 6FEB09; A cream puppy we sold to a lady in North Carolina a month ago was savagely attacked by stray dogs this morning while she was out walking him. The puppy is only 3 months old. Lynn beat off the dog who got to Aro and received injuries herself. If they don't find the stray dogs, she may have to go through rabies prevention treatment. She was a mile from home and carried the poor little guy back to her house and then took him to the veterinary hospital. He is gravely injured with crushed ribs. He was breathing but Lynn was also concerned about shock because of the cold temps there. She won't know until late this afternoon if he will survive.

----- Our chat on Fri, 2/6/09 2:49 PM ----- Laura (2:35 PM):  Hi Lynn, I just read about Aro and I am devastated too. I just talked to Brian on the phone. Have you heard how he is doing in surgery? Lynn (2:37 PM):  Not yet- trying to wait to close to 5pm to call. Really too scared to call- worried that he will not make it and I do not think I can take that... he is just such a sweet baby and sleeps with me and loves all the other dogs. I can not believe that this happened on a walk. I am going crazy with worry..... Laura (2:39 PM):  I am soooo sorry. That must have been very traumatic - I know you love him very much. We knew that he had a great home with you and it comforted us. Stray dogs - who would have even dreamed of such a thing as this..... Lynn (2:40 PM):  My daughter has to worry with them where she lives since people just bring unwanted dogs and drop them off. Lynn (2:41 PM):  I am on hold with them right now....... Laura (2:42 PM):  ok - I hope the news is good Lynn (2:45 PM):  He is in an oxygen tent right now; they have him stabilized but it is up to Aro now. Ribs on left side of body are broken, one punctured his lung - they have him vented and are pulling air off of the punctured lung. I am heading up there now to take him his babies and to be with him a while. I will keep you posted. I just hope animal control finds the dogs and the owners but that is probably wishful thinking. Lynn (2:46 PM):  I have no clue how I am going to sleep tonight with out him sleeping on me or beside me. I got use to breathing in Aro puppy scent. He had puppy class tomorrow and a grooming appt, but I have cancelled that and let the trainer know what happened. I will let you know more tomorrow.... Laura (2:47 PM):  Good luck and kiss him for us too. Thanks Lynn (2:47 PM):  I will, thank you and I am so sorry this happened. Laura (2:48 PM):  Gosh, it wasn't your fault. Take Care, Love Laura Lynn (2:49 PM):  Thank you and you too.... I will let you know how he looks after I see him   ----- Our chat on Fri, 2/6/09 4:13 PM ----- Lynn (3:34 PM):  OK- he is holding his own, but we have to make it through the night. He perked up when he heard my daughter Tracy's and my voice and we got to rub him but he will have to have another surgery to re-attach muscles to his rib cage once he is stronger. Laura (3:36 PM):  I hope he makes it!! I feel sorry that he will have to have surgery. Lynn (3:46 PM):  I was crying again just looking at him. The vet tech said he is doing very well considering his injuries. He is on no pain meds until they get his breathing stabilized. My daughter and I were both crying our eyes out. If he makes it through the night, then we may be on a road to recovery. He kept trying to move to get to my voice so I put my hand in the oxygen tent and kept it there until they ran us out. I will let you know more tomorrow and each day there after unless something drastic happens tonight. I have a feeling that there will be no sleep for me tonight- I am use to him being cuddled up right against me- he likes to "spoon". Laura (3:57 PM):  Lynn and Tracy, My heart is breaking for you. It sounds like it will be tough going for awhile. I just hope he can make a full recovery. I am sure it was a comfort for Aro to hear your voice - Lynn (3:58 PM):  He wanted to get to us so bad and that made me feel even worse. next time we go walking, I am taking the male golden with us- that is his little brother and he protects him and loves him. He is whining non stop right now wanting to know where his little baby brother is. Laura (4:03 PM):  Yep, dogs are very sensitive to such things. When our Afghan drowned, her sister was traumatized for about a year. They were very close and Punkin just couldn't get over it. I am sure your golden will be whining until Aro gets home...... Lynn (4:04 PM):  I have a feeling that he will- I bet I know who will be sleeping with me until he does- but toby can not spoon- he weighs 100 lbs. I will let you know more just as soon as possible. I am sorry for the loss of the afghan that drowned- when I read that on your website, I cried for hours. Any pain that my babies are in makes me feel like a bad mother.

Saturday 7FEB09: I just got off the phone with Lynn. She said when the vet got there early this morning, Aro was sitting up, wagging his tail. He was drinking alot, so they gave him ice to slow him down. They were afraid he might throw up. He was actually able to walk out to pee outside but after, he looked up at the vet tech like, "I don't think I can make it back." They are all amazed that he lived through the night, much less has bounced back so quickly.   It is a big vet hospital with ten vets and much experience with sight hounds which reassured Lynn. Aro wasn't eating the food they had there so she took some of the food from home and he ate good. She was also afraid he wouldn't make it through the night and said said he looked so much better today that it was unbelievable. The vet told her it would cost $2,000 to repair all the damage they know about now. She told him it didn't matter; she just wanted her baby back. They told her there would be someone watching over him 24 hours a day.   Some of the rib bones broke into fragments and are embedded in his lungs. On Monday, they will have to remove those fragments and re-attach some muscles. Right now, they have wires around his ribs, stuck through his skin, attached to an exterior cast to keep the ribs in place. If everything goes well, he will be in much pain for about a month, but barring complications should be as good as new. He has been such a trooper so far. She was quite relieved and happy about his condition, considering.   There has been no word on the stray dogs. Lynn said there were four of them. She lives on Main Street of her town. It happened right in town. She said the attackers came out of nowhere.

Monday 9FEB09: I just got this message from Lynn: "HE IS COMING HOME IN TWO HOURS!!!!!!! No surgery right now since he is healing up so well.  We may still need to do the surgery in a month if he is not completely healed.  I can not let him jump around or ribs could puncture lung again!  HE IS COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!"   More good news for/from Lynn:   "When they attached the wire to his ribs, it pulled out and has sealed itself (lung).  He may still need the surgery but they are going to wait 4 weeks to see if he heals completely on his own.  The xrays seem to look a lot better than they did Friday and they do not want to put him under since he is healing on his own.  I believe that it was all of the people praying for the baby that pulled him through.   They caught the dogs this AM and know who the owners are but have no money is what I am told.  They are keeping the dogs are going to try to have them destroyed and/or classified as viscious dogs.  They have had their rabies shots, thank god!  Good thing Aro had his shot Friday a week ago."

From Lynn - Tue 10FEB09: "Aro is back at the vet again this am.  He got his foot under the make shift cast last night and is now sucking air again with the lung- he also has subQ air under his skin.  We were waiting for the vet to open at 7:30am this morning.  He was not struggling to breath or in any pain, but better safe than sorry." "Aro had the big surgery this morning.  He tore everything loose last night.  Good thing that he did since the gash to his lung from the rib fragment was pretty big.  The lung has been repaired and the rib fragment removed.  Good news is he survived the surgery and he would not have healed on his own.  The next 24 hours will tell how well he is going to handle this surgery."

Aro on Wednesday AM:   "Aro is doing well this morning and eating up a storm.  Was none to happy to go potty outside with all the big dogs and hid behind the vet.  Hence, he did not go potty this am and was in his cage at the vet howling his baby lungs out- he is ready to go potty when he does that.  They have taken him off of his IV and will take another x-ray later today to see if there is any air in his lung that is not supposed to be there.  Will update you all again this afternoon and will probably take another photo.   My man is a little fighter, thank god!   Lynn"   Lynn said Aro was in alot of pain, howling this afternoon. She thought they should have given him some pain meds.

Thu, 12FEB09:"Aro gets to come home tomorrow with very strict instruction about his limited movements.  The vet said that he is trying to bounce around the kennel this am and when he went outside in the fenced yard at the vet, he pulled his leash from the vets hands and took off running.  She just about had a heart attack.  He is being held together by sutures (ribs) right now and can not even walk up more than two step.  he can not sleep in the bed with me, he has to be in his crate.  Boy, he is going to love this.  He will only eat right now by being hand fed- can we say spoiled rotten.   Lynn"

Fri, 13FEB09: Aro was supposed to go home to Lynn today, but the damaged tissues that had been repaired deteriorated to such an extent that the sutures wouldn't hold. His lung was sucking air again and he had to be euthanized this morning. We are so devastated along with his new family. I know you were all pulling for him. Lynn couldn't believe it when they called her from the animal hospital early this morning to tell her he was slipping away.   She visited him and told him to go play with her other dear departed dogs. She left the hospital with everyone in tears. Last weekend the vet who took care of him had taken him home to her house so she could keep constant watch. But his injuries were just too severe for the little guy to recover. Some specialist surgeons at NC State were willing to try to do another surgery but they were afraid it wouldn't work either. So Lynn let him go.

Even though he was one of nine puppies, we remember him as cute, fun, playful little guy. Lynn picked him out and he made her life better for a little while. Here he is saying goodbye to us the night before he flew to North Carolina.

Sep 16,2009: Connie Nibarger of Wichita Kansas made this beautiful urn for Aro's ashes. Lynn said it was the nicest thing anyone ever gave to her. She cried when she opened the package, and saw such a wonderful gesture of how Aro touched so many hearts around the world.