Come Meet Dexter
A Medical Spotlight Boxer
See Dexter's update on 9/28/09
 

Dexter was found lying beside the pool of a vacant house. When he arrived at the animal shelter, all he could do was lie on the floor. He was just worn out...life had been treating him badly. The shelter had to hold Dexter for five days even though they realized no one would claim him for fear of being charged with animal neglect.

After the fifth day, FBR volunteers came to the rescue and picked up this sad, emaciated boxer and named him Dexter. The volunteers cried at the sight of Dexter’s skin and bones appearance. His hind foot was swollen with two red marks that appeared to be a snake bite; it looked very sore. Dexter had no life in his eyes and didn’t show any excitement, or even wag his tail, at the volunteers. After leaving the shelter, Dexter was taken straight to the vet’s. He was there a couple hours because he was covered in ticks. The vet also checked his foot and gave him antibiotics. Dexter weighed just 42 pounds.

Soon Dexter found himself in a foster home with a senior boxer boy named Samson and a female named Delilah. Both boxers welcomed Dexter with excitement and boxer slurps, but Dexter didn’t show any feelings at all. His foster dad fixed him chicken and rice and ground chuck, and thus began his 5-meals-a-day regiment. Who knows what Dexter thought about all this, but that food must have looked mighty good. That first night, Dexter’s tail moved twice.

In the picture below, Dexter is getting the hang of the big bed, and sharing it with his fur foster siblings. He's the one with the white boots!

After 10 days and lots of TLC, (see the picture of Dexter snuggling with foster dad!) Dexter gained 10 pounds, but his swollen foot had not healed and had actually become very hard. He started to limp and favor that foot, so the vet took an x-ray and found that the foot was broken and remnants of gun pellets were inside his foot. So Dexter was referred to an orthopedic specialist in Tampa, but had to wait two weeks until they could see him.

During the two week wait, the man who first called the Collier County DAS to report a boxer roaming the neighborhood called to see how Dexter was doing. The man said he had been walking his puppy around some tall grass and a Boxer head popped up and then he jumped over the grass and ran away. That's when he saw how skinny he was. He also noticed the swollen foot. He said for two weeks he went to the vacant house three times a day with food and water but could not catch him. He said he wanted to keep him, but he had just gotten a puppy. This nice man was delighted to know Dexter was now safe and doing well, but he was shocked at the fact that Dexter was shot in the foot.

Two weeks passed and Dexter went to see the Orthopedic surgeon. After the examination, Dexter went straight to surgery. A bone was completely broken in two and had affected his middle toe. They inserted a metal plate in his foot so he could walk while the bone heals. Much to Dexter’s dismay, he has to stay on a leash for 8 weeks. He has 7 more weeks to go.

You can see that the true Dexter is slowly emerging.... he's a beautiful, happy, playful boxer.

"Hmmmm...smell that fresh air! Life is good" ....Dexter

Update 9/28/09

Dexter is doing well. At his checkup, Dr. Hays told us that his foot was healing well but the staph infection was still present. He also said that after the bone has completely healed the steel plate might need to be removed. There is still some swelling in his foot probably caused by both the infection and steel plate. In 2 months, Dr. Hays will determine whether or not to remove the plate.

Dexter is up to 59 lbs and I think I have spoiled him. I have started to ween him of the ground chuck, chicken and rice to a regular dog food. He just looks at me as if he's saying, " Are you kidding me?" His energy has improved a lot and he has started playing with toys. We have a chase game that we play with a pink teddy bear.

Dexter gets along great with Samson, and he treats Diesel like he is his big brother who is watching over him and is ready to correct him for his mistakes or if he gets too excited.

As you can tell by reading Dexter's story, he has needed a lot of medical care and continues to need more. His medical bills will be very high. We would appreciate donations of any amount to help pay for Dexter's care! Please click on the credit card image below to donate securely online through PayPal, or you can send a check to us c/o Dexter at the following address. Your donation is tax deductible. THANK YOU!

Florida Boxer Rescue, Inc