She is such a sweetheart
and BWB Rescue is so blessed
that she is with us!.

When friends and fellow BWBR founder, Sherry and Randy Voigt, came up from Valentine, NE. to bring more dogs who were to be adopted, they fell in love with Helen. She is so ----Helen! I'll let Randy and Sherry take it from here. They took her back to Valentine to their home. She is missed here, but she has found her forever loving home there.

The continuation by Sherry Voigt - BWBR Nebraska

Her forever home indeed! And yes! Helen is loved tremendously!

Upon arriving home in Valentine, I took Helen to my Vet to have her shots updated, heartworm tested, and an evaluation. My Vet said she most likely has mis-firings within her cerebellum. In laymen's terms, this means that all of the messages being sent are not getting to where they are suppose to go. This in turn causes "ticks" in Helen's movements and in the way her brain processes information. The most likely cause of this condition, is when the pregnant mother is given her shots during pregnancy, which in turn can affect the puppies. Such as it has Helen. In actuality, we will probably never know the reason for Helen's uniqueness, but that does not matter... Helen is special.

After a couple of days of allowing Helen to settle into her new surroundings, my husband decided to build a ramp for Helen, which would be attached to our back steps. This, we hoped, would help to encourage her independence coming or going. Well, it took about a week of me crawling up the ramp with Helen, while holding onto her collar, encouraging her all the way-But, she finally "got it"! So we are pleased to say that Helen has become a ramp climbing expert, even to the point that she now attempts (and most of the time makes it) climbing the back porch steps. What a trooper! While Helen has mastered the art of going into the house, she has yet to get the going out on her own, and still has to be carried outside. (All 45lbs of her!) I'm praying we'll get that part accomplished before Winter! Either that or I'll have some really great looking abs to show off!

Since being with us, Helen has improved in so many avenues. And some things have not changed; but remain, endearing Helen qualities!. She has gained more muscle control and strength. Her hind end may always have a bit of bounce in it when accomplishing necessary "duties", but she has that down to a minimum compared to what it was (front legs in forward motion-hind legs swinging like a pendulum and bouncing like a bunny). She still refuses to walk on leash and will drop to a sit or down position to prove it! She continues to walk backwards in certain situations, rather than turning around to walk in forward motion. She would prefer you did not come up along side of her. Her eyebrows still "dance". She hears my voice when I come through the back door and barks until I greet her; then she bounces and leaps with delight! She still curls her front paws at times when in walking or leaping movement-also during sleep. Hugs can be given, but always be aware of the position of your head in reference to hers. We've had a few head knocking, jaw crackers which left Helen no worse off, but we were poppin' a few aspirin! Helen is not a real cuddler per say, but does enjoy resting her head on your lap to take a nap, and will "ask" for massages and rubs. Our shoes hold a real fascination for her, so we've learned to place them "out of Helen's way"!  Her new favorite toy is a stuffed sheep which creates the baaa sound. She either pecks at it like a chicken until it cries, holds it in her mouth and bucks like a bronc, or asks to play tug-o-war! Her teeth still chatter sometimes. She now knows what to do with a raw bone! And you can always tell when she is in thinking mode, trying to figure it all out!

All of this may seem like a lot of work or a lot of chaos... When people first meet Helen, some of the comments we hear are: "poor thing", "how pathetic", "they should have euthanized her". Well, my reply is this: "Helen has lived all 5 yrs. of her life as she is. She knows no different and is not in pain. Her demeanor is that of a delighted child enjoying the wonders of the world (oh, don't we wish we could retain those childlike qualities). And, Helen is happy! So nothing else is pertinent!" This special needs dog, has given me so many epiphanies over the past few weeks... Watching Helen blossom and grow, I could only think, that the joy I felt, must be the joy a parent of a special needs child feels, when that child triumphs in a new accomplishment. Or, sitting on the sofa tonight, leafing through a Handyman magazine from the library; just listening to all of the commotion from the cats (Boopka, Sadie), dogs (Nessa Rose, Indy, Tootsie, Newby, Claudia, Tizzy, Benny) and Helen. Then saying to my husband, "we really do have a wild household". He replies: "you're just now noticing it? I've got news for you honey, it's always been like this". Sherry: "well, I guess I have just never sat long enough to observe without interacting".  And at that moment, realizing I wouldn't have it any other way.