Dakota is such a sweet girl. She was found as a stray, wandering the streets of Philadelphia with a broken leg. The {"rescue"} got the call to come get her and we did. She came to me to foster and was a delightful albeit challenging foster over the Christmas holidays.

I took her to the vet the day after she came to me and the orthopedic surgeon felt that her best option was surgery to plate and pin the leg. This would ensure a permanent fix and save Dakota from a life of limping and pain. The estimate for the surgery was $3800.

The {"rescue"} felt it was the right thing to do, so we started a campaign to raise the funds on several social sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Doodle Kisses and Doodle World. All our doodle and rescue friends started to come through and Dakota had her surgery on December 17, 2009.

She stayed at the vets overnight and I brought her home the next day, sporting a nice blue cast (they didn't have pink). She was getting around fairly well on her cast but spent a lot of time sleeping as she was on pain meds and antibiotics.

As luck would have it, the second day she was home, a snow storm hit the Northeast dumping 30" of snow and 4 foot snow drifts in my backyard. What a morning that was. The cast couldn't get wet. I had 4' of snow banked up against the door and 5 dogs that had to go out to do their business. So, all before coffee that morning I was shoveling snow out of my house, a path to the grass and an area for all 5 to go to.

I covered the cast with plastic bags, put a coat on her and she never skipped a beat.

Christmas was a few days later and all 5 doggies got presents in their stockings from Santa.

Dakota went back 2 weeks after her surgery and had her hard cast changed to a soft cast and two more weeks, to no cast. Then I was finally able to give her a bath. What a pretty girl underneath all the grime, grease and blood stains.

Dakota went to her Forever Home yesterday and I will miss her but she will be Princess of her World.

Fostering is a wonderful way to help these hurt, scared, shy, malnourished or lost animals find their way home. My 4 dogs assured her that she would be safe. Everyone pitched in to help her gain strength and confidence. It does get easier, the more you do it. You have to keep in mind that they are with you to guide to their new family and they are not yours. If you keep remembering that, it will go easier. Dakota was hard not to love, wholeheartedly, but that now I know she is in her Forever Home, I can rest easier and get ready for the next one.