Member-only story
Love for Pets
My Dog’s Leg Was Amputated… He Is Still Beautiful
Cancer Scare
A big portion of my year has been dedicated to my dog. This summer my husband found a large lump in my dog’s chest area and into his leg. My husband was overwhelmed with worry — the lump was all-consuming. He promptly scheduled a veterinarian appointment.
My husband adopted Marty from a shelter 12 years ago, when he was a puppy. His previous owner returned him to the shelter because they thought the dog couldn’t be potty trained. We suspect Marty was abused because it took one night for him to learn where to go to the bathroom, and it didn’t take any mean-spirited tactics.
Marty traveled with my husband across the country. For five years, they lived in multiple places throughout the United States. There was a short stint in Buffalo, NY when my husband was pursuing a PhD in literature. He eventually quit and became a tech writer in St. Louis.
I started dating my husband when Marty was five. He again had to travel multiple times as our relationship progressed, and we had to move for jobs. Marty is such a sweetheart that we decided to feature him in our engagement pictures — actually, our photographer requested we take pictures with our dog because she liked him so much.