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In the beginning...Sept of 2013
Sophie was born on Aug 26, 2008.

She is a dachshund who has suffered more than she ever should have. Her previous "owners" got her and her brother Jack when they were puppies in 2008. Fast forward, I guess they are divorcing. Theres been a lot of sides to this story but, I've come to conclude that one of them did this to her while the other owner was working out of state. Thank GOD for Sophie's "Grandmother" who finally saw what happened and had the courage to allow Sophie to get the help she needed.
Sophie was downed by IVDD http://www.dodgerslist.com/…/IVDD…/what_is_disc_disease.html
The owners had the surgery done on her in Nov 2012. The claim is they continued her physical therapy care but the surgery just didn't take. It has left her paraylzed and unable to potty on her on, just like my Poncho Wheels. Poncho is my other rescued wheelchair dog that I adopted in 2006. www.PonchoWheels.com Somewhere along the line, someone just decided she wasn't a priority yet, didnt have enough BRAINS to surrender her or put her to sleep....instead they decided to neglect her to a horrendous degree.
What I've come to figure out is that for at least 16 hours per day for who knows how long (MONTHS is my guess) she was left in a crate while they slept and worked. Left in a crate for 16 hrs a day sitting in her own shit and piss !! Sophie's grandmother told me she felt she wasn't being fed enough...that they fed her once a day.
My assumption is the reason they only fed her once was to cut down her pooping.
In my opinion, they were starving her.
They didn't bother to invest in a wheel chair for her and just let her drag herself around since the surgery and (probably before) They FINALLY either got a clue or perhaps were pushed into by the "grandma" to do the right thing and surrender both dogs. Sadly because of Sophie's condition the chances of her and Jack going to the same home were slim to none. So after all she was put through, she now had to lose the only constant good thing in her life - her brother Jack.

They contacted a rescue and things got in motion. The picture that was sent to the rescue is of a chubby Sophie with a bone. Because I know the plight of a incontinent wheelie and how hard they are to place, I had been in talks with this rescue to foster another dog, a male, also a wheelie, also with bathroom issues. i LOVE this rescue, they work with the "throwaways" - dogs that are discarded because they are born deformed, become paralyzed, blind dogs....any type of handicapped dog. (They refer to them as specially-abled) Well they actually found someone close to their area willing to foster that male dog!! I was very happy for him.
Less than a week later, I get a call about an urgent surrender, which is Sophie. Asked if I was still willing to help I said of course. That was a Wednesday. I was given all the "info" they were given as well as they picture of the chubby girl and on Sunday 9/29 my sister and I drove up to Sarasota to get Sophie. Sophies "grandmother" was who came to meet us. She had Jack with her. I can still hear him whimpering knowing Sophie was leaving. THAT brought me to tears. Jack looked great. Well fed and aside from losing Sophie, seemed happy. Sophies grandma was genuinely sad, crying and sobbing that she was leaving but, I believe she KNOWS this was THE BEST thing for SOPHIE. That Sophie was too far gone for her to help.
That being said, AND NOT KNOWING at the time, WHO THE GUILTY PARTY REALLY WAS, it was all I could do not to completely short out and go ballistic on this poor woman when she took Sophie out of her car to hand to me. After seeing the picture they sent I was expecting some overweight dachshund...

If ONLY !!
I wanted to kill the previous owner !!! She was skeletal !! They were feeding her ONCE a day and I have to wonder how much? She was soooooooooo thin I could count the cartilage in her tail !! She was red/raw/chafed and missing hair on her legs, belly, bottom and bottom of her tail from sitting in her pee and poop for hours everyday, causing urine/feces burns. She had a major staph infection over most of her body. Personally, I feel had they got her in a chair as SOON as they realized the surgery wasnt doing it, she MAY have had half a chance....i wonder if all the dragging has completely ruined her.
She is very sweet for all she's endured. While we waiting for her custom wheelchair to be made, I had that pvc pipe wheel chair that I had made 6 years ago when Ponchos chair broke and they had to build another for him. I put her on it and "franked' it a bit and she took right to it !!! Once her wheelchair arrived she was off and running!!
She was a bit anxious for hours but calmed down and slept like a log the 1st night. I was grateful for that. She was eating so fast and gobbled her food with such force I was afraid she'd break her snout in the dish. I immediately started feeding her several small meals a day, 1 kibble at a time. Its time consuming and tedious but, I had to teach her that there always WILL be food in the dish. She has gotten much better on the gobbling and caught on to the idea much faster than i thought she would.
The day after we picked her up, we went to see my veterinarian. They gave her all the shots she needed, took xrays and gave her a super-duper antibiotic for the skin infection, which was gone in less than a week!! We began itherm treatments in the hopes that she might walk again but, the treatment didn't do anything. She and the babies all got along right from the start. Its as if they know she is ill and are so sweet to her. It is quite the sight to see her and Poncho trying to fly out the back door to the yard at the same time. I ended up taking most of that 1st week off to get her settled in. She will not let me out of her sight. For now she sleeps in a dog bed ON MY bed. Despite all they put her through she is still sweet, loving and a GREAT KISSER!! She loves to talk to me and does this cute cooing. For over a year, things were going great for all of us but, then " IT " happened....