We are looking for a home for our beautiful Fly. She is a dog with special needs.

Fly is about one and a half years old. She is a small female dog weighing 10 kilos (12 when she reaches full weight). She is a mix between Podengo Português and Blue Merle Border Collie. She is very beautiful with the typical grey/white long fur of the Blue Merle Border Collie and one blue and one green eye.
Fly is super-smart and learns easily. She is also full of energy, agile, happy and enthusiast for contact with people. She listens well, is very social and loves to be with other dogs. With people she is very friendly and cuddly and she loves children. She is playful and still shows puppy behaviour. She likes to hunt in the brambles for small rodents and has to learn to not run after cats. She also loves to dig holes.

The story of Fly:
At the end of October a woman from our community found an exhausted little dog in a ditch at the side of the road. She picked her up and took her to the vet the same night, as it seems she suffered from a severe chest infection. The little female dog was in poor condition, very skinny and having difficulty breathing. She received treatment for pneumonia and after some days came to our shelter.

Fly was not really recovering and we discovered she had difficulties swallowing food and water as well. She was admitted to the animal hospital in Beja where she was thoroughly examined and tested and finally diagnosed with Congenital Megaesophagus. With this condition, the oesophagus, the tube between mouth and stomach, gets enlarged and paralyzed and food and water does not reach the stomach, but move up and down and easily get into the lungs. There are different causes for this disease and unfortunately we did not (yet) find any curable cause for Fly. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/megaesophagus To prevent chronic respiratory pneumonia Fly needs to eat in an upright, vertical position so the food can reach her stomach more easily. We are building a Bailey Chair for her that helps her maintain this position during meals and for a while after.

According to the veterinary doctor that examined Fly, her life expectancy is only a couple of years. This is why we are urgently looking for this very special somebody, or family, that can give her a home where she can live her life to the fullest. She needs a comfortable, calm home and a person who is dedicated to her and her condition. Ideally she needs to eat a special high energy food several times a day in a vertical position.

The situation around food and drinking needs a special routine. The better we succeed in making sure Fly ONLY eats and drinks in a vertical position, the better we will be able to keep her healthy and comfortable.

Aside from this, Fly is a normal dog and can do all the things dogs and people love to do together. The person who adopts Fly has to be aware that she may not live a very long life and needs regular check-ups at the vet. If you are this person who can give Fly a stable loving home for life, please contact us via email dogs@tamera.org.