Poppy was born around the beginning of May 2022 and currently weighs in at about 30 pounds.  She has a beautiful chestnut-colored coat and appears to be a Shepherd-mix that the vet estimates may max out at around 50-60 pounds.  She is sweet, smart and playful and is a regular puppy in every way except that she moves differently.  Poppy was born with a congenital defect in her right hip joint and then was mistreated and has some paralysis in her lower spine.  She loves to hop around in the house and use her cart for longer walks and exercise time.  Her version of the puppy zoomies is just adorable!  She plays with the resident dogs in her foster home so would do well in a home with a playful dog or dogs.  Poppy is receiving swim therapy to maximize her ability to walk on her own but at this time, we don’t know what she will ultimately be capable of.  It seems like she will be able to control her bladder and bowels in time but she wears a diaper in her foster home to help with housebreaking and leaks.  Her foster family is helping teach her how to do stairs with a rear lift harness but she currently can’t go up (or down long runs of) them on her own.   She does not require bladder or bowel expression, only support while urinating (either done by supporting her back end or by walking her in her cart).   

Because she is a puppy, Poppy’s ideal family will be one that is not gone long hours of the day.  Puppies can’t potty and be socialized properly when left for 8 hours every day.  Poppy’s forever family will need to continue her therapy so she can be as mobile as possible and be physically able to assist her with the rear lift harness and snap her into her cart.  Current foster mom has a bad lower back and has many tricks she can share to help minimize any physical strain on Poppy’s humans.  Poppy is an amazingly sweet pup and deserves to have a wonderful life with a family of her own.  Even if you have no experience with a special needs dog, Starfish’s foster will show you how to take care of Poppy and will be there to answer questions.  Poppy is really not difficult to care for and she comes with the assistive devices she is currently using.  If you are interested, please submit an application and have a call with Poppy’s foster mom to learn about the day-to-day care and perhaps you will find that adopting a special needs dog is in your comfort zone, within your abilities and something you want to do.  There is next to nothing more rewarding than helping these most vulnerable pups!

If you are interested in adopting/meeting , please complete our online adoption application that you can find here: https://www.starfishanimalrescue.com/adopt/dog-adoption-application  . Your application will be reviewed by our team and if it is a good fit, we will send to the foster family to set up a meet!

*please note that we are a foster home based rescue and we do home visits as part of the adoption process - we are unable to adopt to families who live outside of the Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Thank you for your understanding.