Smooshie's Snowball Virtual 5K 2021

This race is to honor the spirit and the light that was our Smooshie.  The funds raised will help cover her remaining vet bills and hopefully create a fund to help other dogs in critical need. Please take a minute to read about her life, and her health issues - despite it all, she was a true light and free spirit.  We will only proceed with this event if we have a minimum of 20 registrants, so please sign up soon!

Smooshie came into our life around Christmas 2019.  She was tied to a dog house, and her poor little anus was hanging out of her bum.  She was rushed to the emergency room for purse-string surgery to hopefully resolve the issue.  During the routine bloodwork, we were notified that she was also heartworm positive.  She quickly made her way to Pittsburgh where we had volunteers fighting over who could foster her - we were all so in love with her!  Our board member Jeff "won" - that is sarcasm in case you didn't catch that!  For the 10 months Jeff had Smooshie, he was constantly cleaning droplets of poop all through his newly purchased home because the surgery she had initially wasn't successful.  Our local vets examined her and quickly determined that she needed a very specialized surgery and we were in the process of having her referred and COVID hit and things came to a grinding halt.  Since we couldn't transport her for surgery, we treated her heartworm which was successful.  Then finally in late September, we ramped up efforts for the surgery we all hoped would resolve her issues.  She had the surgery in October at the University of Tennessee.  The surgery went well, and she was progressing and she was going to be discharged two days later.  While her foster dad anxiously awaited the call to pick her up, the call he received wasn't what we expected.  She had taken a critical turn for the worse, and we had two options - euthanize her or proceed with very costly exploratory surgery.  Of course, surgery was our decision, and sadly, the damage was far too severe to be fixed, and we made the painful, heart wrenching choice to let Smooshie sleep forever.  

Her dad's final post about her passing.

"Unfortunately my Smooshie didn’t make it through her surgery. Heartbroken is an understatement as I never expected this outcome. We were hoping to just have her issues fixed so she would just live more comfortably but complications made things turn for the worst. I wish I had known watching Netflix in the hotel with her Thursday night would be my last night with her. I hope she got the most out of her 10 months with us, she is already missed dearly."

The registration fee is $35. All participants will receive a Smooshie T-shirt, a Smooshie Soap and a Doggie Bandana for their favorite 'Kid!  We also have additional Doggie Bandanas available for purchase if you have more than one 'Kid in your life! 

Join our Facebook Group to share pictures, comments and memories of the favorite 'Kid in your life!  Not on social media - no problem, email us your photos and experience and we will happily post it for you!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/240412770853659