Pearl has been a perfect gem, and it's been our pleasure to have this super senior in our home. The time has come for Pearl to find her forever home.

She has recovered well from her knee surgery, but does have significant arthritic changes in her hips and knees. Pearl has a limp and a funny little gait. She enjoys short walks, but really loves going for a ride in her stroller, then a little trot around the park, and back in her stroller for the ride home.

Pearl's favourite things to do are to snuggle on the couch and to relax with you in the backyard during the nice weather.

Pearl eats a grain free kibble, which she enjoys with great gusto!

She does like to voice her opinion and can be a little vocal, especially when home alone, so an apartment would not be a good fit. A home with a fully fenced backyard would be best.

Pearl is good with other dogs, but will bark at big dogs, so a small quiet companion would be great. She hasn't experienced being with cats.

It's recommended that Pearl's home have no small kids. She likes kids, but due to her age and arthritic hips and knees these areas can be sore and sensitive, so kids 12 years and over would be best. She's not the kind of dog that is going to play for hours with the kids.

Pearl can be crated at night and when left home alone. We have started to leave her loose in the house, for short periods of time, and all is well when we return. Her house training habits have been perfect!! At this point, Pearl sleeps in her crate at night, as it would be harmful for her to jump off the bed. She might be able to sleep with her humans, if they had stairs for her to get off the bed.

Pearl requires her family to continue pain control management. This involves a once a month injection, and 2 oral pain control medications.

Pear is a super sweet senior, that needs a quiet home for her to enjoy her golden years!!!!

Pearl can be described in one way - an easy keeper. She is as clean as a whistle in the housetraining department, eats like a champ and sleeps in her crate without a peep. We have taught her to use stairs to get up to the couch, which she can take with her to her new home. She loves hanging out on the couch watching the hockey playoffs or relaxing in the backyard, especially now that we have some summer-like weather.

Her medication has been slightly adjusted and she takes one pain medication twice a day with her meals, and one supplement in the morning. Her ability to get around has improved greatly. She loves to go for walks in her stroller, which she can take with her to her new home, but she's just as happy chillin' in the shade.

If you want to give some joy to this sweet senior, please consider providing her with furever home. You won't regret it!

Pearl had her final visit with the surgeon on Friday and her knee is coming along well. At this point, we could choose to do other very invasive surgeries on Pearl, but given her age of 10 1/2, it seems best to manage her discomfort with medication and supplements. She'll need some extra TLC and pampering, but let's face it, she loves it. We are off to see her regular veterinarian this week to discuss a pain regimen. This process will take a few weeks to fiddle with in order to find just the right mix for Pearl to enjoy her life as a super senior. Once the weather improves, we will get some longer walks in, and if these make her uncomfortable, we'll see if she likes to ride in the stroller.

Pearl had her 6-week x rays taken today as well as a physio session. Dr. Porter was very pleased with Pearl's x rays. He said that the healing process is coming along nicely and everything looks great for the mid-way point. Dr. Edwards was also happy with how Pearl's flexibility and muscle tone have improved in 4 weeks. We have some new exercises to do and Pearl is allowed to increase her twice a day walks by 5 mins each week. Her foster brother had the same surgery 4 weeks after her, which means that she has a recovery buddy now. We call this area of the family room "the hospital zone with semi-private coverage."

Pearl had her staples removed yesterday and all looks well. She also had a rehab session at the same time. We were shown lots of exercises to do twice a day. She is doing very well and was able to move into a bigger space. She doesn't mind the exercises because she gets lots of treats. Pearl still has 10 weeks left in her recovery but she's moving in the right direction!

Pearl had her surgery on Thursday and all went well. Based on her pre-op x-rays, Dr. Porter decided to just operate on Pearl's right knee. Her left knee isn't that bad at this point and he said that sometimes, when you start to muck about with a knee that's not in super bad shape, you can do more harm than good.

Pearl had to stay overnight at the clinic, which is standard for this kind of surgery. We were able to collect her on Friday afternoon and she was very glad to be home. She must remain crated full time for 4 weeks and only allowed out to go and do her business, on leash. She has her leg iced, 3 times a day and so far there isn't much swelling at all. We also do a little physio, 3 times a day. On Jan 20th, Pearl will go back to the clinic to get her sutures removed and have a session with Dr. Edwards, the rehab doctor. After 4 weeks, she can go on a couple of 5 mins walks each day. Each week after that, her walks can increase by 5 mins. Pearl will have x-rays at the 6 week interval to see how she's healing. The total recovery is 12 weeks.

Overall, Pearl is being a very good patient. I'm going out soon to get her a few things to keep her occupied in her crate.

Miss Pearl had her surgical consultation with Dr. Porter on Monday, but where do we start.... Dr. Porter feels that we should start with repairing her knees, which are in terrible shape. After that, we'll see how she copes with her arthritic hips - either with medication for life or surgery. First things first though, our most recent addition to Pugalug is Rosie and she is in need of some very expensive care regarding her liver. As such, Rosie's needs are very urgent and need to be dealt with before Pearl's, whose pain can be managed with medication in the interim. However, some much needed funds will be raised for both of these sweet girls in order to address all of their health problems.

Pearl has recovered well from her dental and the incision on her leg (from where a large lump was removed) is also healing well. She can have the stitches removed this week. While Pearl was asleep during her dental, she had x rays taken of her knees and hips. Unfortunately, the news is not good. Pearl has obviously had troubles with her rear legs for many years and the lack of treatment has caused a large amount of arthritic changes in all four joints (knees and hips), which is causing her quite a bit of pain and discomfort. When looking at the x rays with Pearl's vet, it was apparent that not much can be done for her knees - the right knee cap is actually fused to her leg in the wrong place. However, we are going to take Pearl to see a specialist in mid-December. There is a very good chance that something surgical can be done about her hips that would make her more comfortable. In the meantime, she has started a series of injections to help with her daily aches and pains and is taking a daily oral pain medication.

Despite all these health issues, Pearl is an amazing little pug. Given the kind of pain that she must be experiencing, it's unbelievable that she continues to be the cheerful wee girl that she is. Her tail is always wagging and she seems to always have a smile on her sweet little face. We are going to do everything we can so that Pearl can be as comfortable as possible during her golden years.

Pearl has fully recovered from her bout of kennel cough. She had a check up at the vet last week and received her rabies vaccination. The next step for Pearl is a dental and x rays of her knees. The operation has been booked for 2 weeks from now. Pearl continues to be a very easy going girl and a real snuggler. She is just a doll to have around!

A little over a week ago, a little 10 year old fawn pug girl came to stay with us. We renamed her Pearl (formerly Pebbles) because it means rare gem which is exactly what she is. She came to us through a shelter where she was an owner surrender. She settled in very well with her foster brothers and sisters. A couple of days after arriving, she started with a cough, so off to the vet we went. Pearl has kennel cough! Since being on medication for a few days, the coughing is starting to lessen and she is feeling much better. Pearl's vet check-up included blood tests which all came back in the normal range. Since she came with no vaccination history but we didn't want to put her at risk of unnecessary vaccination, we took the opportunity while drawing blood to titer test her for distemper and parvovirus; the results show that she has immunity and will never need another DHPP shot again. Once Pearl has 100% recovered from kennel cough, she will be well enough to have her mandatory rabies vaccination. A few weeks after that, she will have dental surgery. At the same time, both her knees will be x-rayed because they are in very bad shape (especially the right one) and her muscle tone is very low. The x-rays will help us draw up an appropriate game plan for her knees. In the meantime, she is a joy to look after and a complete sweetheart.