We’ve had Zippy now for about two months and are just so amazed by him. He is just the happiest little guy despite his hardships and hard start to life. The rescue said even at the shelter he was happy even though he was thin and dull coated. We are big advocates of rescue dogs and Zippy’s missing leg just made him all that more charming to us. We knew when we saw him on Petfinder that he was the dog for us. We cannot believe that no one had wanted to adopt him. He was with his foster family for almost six months before we inquired about him and started the adoption process.
Every day we watch Zippy and are just awestruck at his determination. We have yet to find any limitations with him other than he tires quicker than Ringo so we have to make sure we don’t overexercise him or go on walks that are too long. He flys around our house giving chase to Ringo and our two indoor cats. And boy can he run! If he gets his nose on something while we are walking, watch out! Better be prepared to hang on tight to the leash and start sprinting. He is just so charming too, he loves to come up and put his good front leg on you in a sort of hug. Everyone who meets him is as smitten as we are. He has charmed the socks right off every family member, friend and neighbor.
And what can be cuter than the “tripod hop”? That’s what we call it. Zippy bounces or seems to hop due to his missing leg so he always looks like he’s spring loaded! And we get the biggest kick out of how he almost sits on the couch or in the car like a person. He just props himself up in a “beg” position on his two back legs and makes himself comfortable.
There is nothing “wrong” with Zippy, he is just missing a leg, that’s all. He is still a dog, does all things dogs love to do with no problems. He doesn’t require any extra care besides making sure his pads don’t crack from the extra strain and weight on them. We do get concerned about him jumping down off the furniture so we try to help him down as much as we can just to save strain on his other joints. Please consider adopting a tripod! They are just as charming, entertaining and loving as any other dog. And the bonus of owning him is that he is already teaching us life lessons. It sure is hard to stay upset or stressed over the silly things in life when all we have to do is look at Zippy with his happy attitude and positive outlook. If he can be so happy and loving after all he has been through, then I think I can learn to not sweat the small stuff!
