5-pound puppy ‘would barely move.’ Shelter learned why, and now he’s ‘thriving’
A 5-pound puppy “would barely move” — then a Virginia shelter discovered what was wrong.
Freckles the pup had an enlarged heart, making him sleepy and weak. But with extra attention, he transformed into a “bouncy” little one who was ready for a new home, according to the Lynchburg Humane Society.
“Soon after he was cleared for adoption, he found his new family,” the shelter wrote July 17 in a Facebook post. “They took him home, and with their dedication and love, he is thriving.”
Freckles got a second chance after a journey that started in April. At the time, he was 6 weeks old and had been transferred from another facility, the humane society wrote on social media and in an email to McClatchy News.
“He was sluggish, but he didn’t seem sick,” according to the shelter, which conducted several tests before an X-ray revealed Freckles’ heart condition.
“The concern with an enlarged heart is that it can weaken the heart muscle, making it difficult to pump blood effectively,” Sydnee Tran, social media and marketing coordinator for the shelter, wrote in the email. “This could lead to a range of symptoms, from mild lethargy to severe breathing difficulties. (Freckles’) biggest concern was that he was constantly tired and drowsy.”
At the shelter, he would spend his days dozing off in workers’ laps. But he started to show a more active and playful side when he went home with one employee, who became his foster parent.
“Monitoring his health and well-being, and with the help of her senior dog, he slowly turned into a normal puppy,” the humane society wrote. “That is, one with an extreme overbite.”
Eventually, the time came for the pup — believed to be a terrier mix — to go up for adoption. He soon was matched with new owners, kicking off his next chapter.
“Our staff was incredibly excited when he finally found a new home,” Tran wrote. “But his foster was especially touched after spending the last few weeks helping him open up and seeing him grow.”
Lynchburg is a roughly 55-mile drive east from Roanoke.
