Meet a Lowcountry Dog: Wakelee

It was a frosty mid-November morning in Connecticut 2004. I was working at Wolcott Veterinary Clinic at the time when a woman, clutching a cardboard box, came in frantic. On their way into school, her two young children had found a puppy and they were not sure whether the puppy was still alive. A technician quickly grabbed the pup and alerted the veterinarian on duty. On initial presentation the puppy was a hypothermic, anemic and emaciated female terrier-type canine weighing in at 1.5 lbs and, by examining the teeth, an estimated 8wks old. A decision needed to be made and quickly.

The veterinarian quickly came up with a treatment plan with an estimate for what the treatment would cost. As the technician explained the treatment plan and estimate to the woman who brought the puppy in, she started to cry, stating that she could not afford nor take on full responsibility for the puppy. However the good Samaritan gave a small donation to the clinic for the treatment of this poor helpless little thing. At this time the veterinarian and all support staff debated on what the “right” thing to do was. While that decision was being made, I entered the building to start my day.

As soon as I walked past the isolation cage where the puppy was set up with heating pads all around, I heard a whimper, so I knelt down and opened the cage to find this shivering, frail creature. I honestly can’t say she was cute, maybe in an innocent, helpless way but certainly not by appearance. After further testing, we found the poor little girl was over run with intestinal parasites and because of the hypothermia she was unable to move her back legs. Her prognoses was guarded at best. This puppy needed 24 hour care, tube feeding, regulation of temperature, blood transfusion and several medications. We were not a clinic that was open 24hrs for emergency care and with no one to take the responsibility for her financially, sadly, the discussion sooned turned to humane euthanasia.

But there was fight in this little puppy, with just a few hours on heat and some fluids to rehydrate her, she would prop her front end up and start yipping for food. I knew in my heart that only time would tell if this little pup would make it, and I felt that she deserved that time so, without a thought, I said I’d take responsibility. I would pay for treatments as they needed to be done, take her home, keep her warm, feed and show her what love was until she could go up for adoption. If she didn’t respond to treatments or if more serious diseases were found then I would make the decision to end her suffering, but not without a fight.

Being a veterinary technician for 5 yrs at the time, my husband, John, was never surprised when I came home with some helpless creature to be cared for because no one else would. “What did you bring home now?” he said when he saw the carrier and all the supplies. I explained her story and he agreed that she needed a chance. My son, Gavin, who was 7 at the time, helped with the round the clock care of this little puppy. When the circulation in her legs started to return from the severe hypothermia, it was quite an amusing site to watch her try to get around. “She looks like she’s got wet noodles for legs, mom” is what he said. I thought that was perfect, a name…Noodle, for now at least. It was better than just calling her puppy.

Noodle grew and filled out quickly with just proper nutrition, love and socialization. Healthy enough now, we started vaccinations, finished up her deworming and put her on preventative medications. It was now time to find her a nice family to give her just as much love as she gave to us. Pictures were made and flyer’s went up. Several calls came in and with everyone, my husband found some reason why they weren’t suitable. I was on the phone with my mother telling her the story of this miracle pup and said “now all we need to do is find her a good home” when out of the background I hear from my husband “she’s already found a good home”! In disbelief, I questioned the decision, as we already had 2 dogs (a female chihuahua and male Jack Russell) that were unhappy about the newcomer who liked to shred all of their toys and who was getting much bigger than them everyday.

The decision became concrete and decided that for an American Staffordshire Terrier, she needed a proper name other than Noodle. What better than to name her after the school where the 2 young boys found her, Wakelee Noodle Cromb. Her brother and sister soon came to love and played with her like she was their size when she was clearly 3 times larger.

Wakelee’s favorite things to do are chase with Gavin around the house, go for rides in the car, hike the trails around Lake Moultrie, play with her ball and rip the stuffing out of toys. All the dogs enjoy their new home in the low country and do not miss the snow one bit as do we. This is Wakelee’s story. I hope it inspires us all to take a deeper look into the eyes of any living creature, maybe they just need someone to help them through their fight, whatever it might be.

 submitted by Danielle, John and Gavin Cromb

Want to see your dog featured in our Meet a Lowcountry Dog Spotlight? CLICK HERE.