This is MINX, 
originally named Jinx but I wasn`t going to have a dog that had been through all he`d been through with a name like Jinx.
MINX was handed into the Animal Welfare League with his front left leg broken apparently he had been seen running around in Southport and it took two days to catch him. He had no collar, no microchip and was not desexed and no one came to claim him. The vets said he was not of good temper and often snapped at them probably due to past ill treatment or the pain of his leg or just plain afraid. A plate was put in Minxs` leg and it was put in plaster, that is when we got the phone call to foster him.
He was a scared, confused little dog who cowered and backed away when we went to pat him or pick him up, outside he could not be off lead, he caught me out a couple of times and took off up the road taking some effort to catch, the main factor being that his name would not of been Minx so he wouldn`t have answered anyway. A trick given to me by a breeder was ,hand feed him and with every handful say his name, it worked he learned his new name was Minx.
During this time he socialised with Charlie and Fergie my two poodles and went to the doggie park, however he could not be off lead, he nipped and bit at every dog insight including the big ones.
At 10 weeks the plaster came off, the leg was red raw and to everyones horror the leg had been set crooked. I bathed it and put paw paw ointment on it and kept it bandaged to protect it and eventually he started to use it, by this 5 months had past and our little guy was starting to settle, during this time we fostered another Foxie, a 4 week old puppy who recognized Minx as the same breed and decided he must of been dad, they cuddled and slept together, the photos say it all.
Well the trouble with fostering is one day you get that phone call to return them, I felt a real heel resurrendering this dog that had suffered, tears in our eyes we returned him, it was devastating to see him in those cages.
The very next day we got a phone call to say could we visit him as he had pined and cried all night, so of course we went straight out, he seen us coming and he was at the front of the cage calling us. They unlocked the gate and he ran out to us, I looked at his leg and he had a sore on it, I think one of the other dogs must have nipped him, I showed it to the staff and she took him to the hospital to show the vet, there the horror story continued, " where has this dog been ? he was supposed to have that plate out" ; some how Minx had fallen through the system, back he went for another operation to remove the plate, it wasn`t stated but I think the removal of the plate after so long damaged his leg, we had him home two days when I heard an almighty yelp, I raced out and there was Minx at the bottom of the stairs his leg just hanging and he was shaking in pain and shock, so back to the vets who then could not make a decision so he was put in hospital for a week until the head vet returned from holidays. During which I visited him each day as they said he cried for us, the vet returned and the decision was made nothing could be done but to amputate his leg, they asked would we mind fostering him until that operation healed; it was then I stated I am not giving up this dog after all it had been through and by the time he healed yet again it would be almost a year, he seen me as mum and Charlie and Fergie as his brother and sister and he was getting less aggressive, he was becoming a part of the family.
So here we are 18 months on, Minx answers to his name, goes off lead at the park running on his three legs with the other dogs, still a bit weary of big dogs but rarely an altercation.
With Charlie and Fergie already being seasoned Pets For Therapy dogs I started to take Minx along basically working with them and just letting Minx play around and watch, when one night Yvonne called out look behind you, there was Minx following Fergie over the jumps on his three legs!!! he saw the other dogs getting treats and decided he wanted one as well. He goes to the "table" and sits and goes to the "chair" when told, at Christmas he had a visit to Tri Care where he happily sat on the residents lap.
Minx has become a well adjusted ,loveable, affectionate, clever dog. We go camping and he loves it.
A big thanks to Yvonne, her knowledge and years of experience with dogs is commendable, she has taken on two dogs of mine that we thought would not make Therapy dogs and turned them around, Charlie was also a rescued untrained dog, we laugh when we remember how bad he was, he had never been on a lead and walked or made do as he was told.
