Residents | Sanctuary
Kids > Helen
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Helen headshot
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Helen as puppy
Photo credit: Molly Wald |
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Helen enjoying the grass
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Helen: Miss Chocolate Éclair (or Puppy Made
of Rubber)
Helen was born on an Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. Her
Mom was shot at some point and the pups were brought in to the
local vet. It took a while to notice, as she does a fabulous job
of fitting in, but Helen was blind and couldn’t walk. Horribly
under nourished, even more then the other pups, she needed to be
bottle fed for eight weeks while the others were weaned and given
to good homes. She was named Helen after Helen Keller and at that
time she sure could resemble Helen Keller as a child!
Helen’s brain didn’t get the opportunity to develop
all the way in or out of the womb due to what we believe was
her mother’s malnourishment. The area affected was her
mobility and sight, conveniently located in the same area of
the brain. She came to Healing HEART Sanctuary just after Xena,
Warrior Princess, passed away.
It was like Helen was made of rubber, or that she was a relative
of Dick Van Dyke, with the most incredible prat falls known to
man. She could walk and run and fall and roll and tumble and
then walk and run again. Control was the issue. She would fall
over while pottying nearly doing a somersault; and to this day
has a very weird potty stance to compensate.
Helen went from completely blind and couldn’t walk, was
then bottle fed a nutritious formula, to being able to see the
slightest bit and doing the Dick Van Dyke thing by the time she
came to HHS. After the Neurologist said she would only get worse
and never better, it was decided at Healing HEART Sanctuary that
nutritional therapy would be the only way to go. Executive
Director Laura Bradshaw believed while Helen was still young
enough that if given the right supplements, Helen just might
be able to finish where Mother Nature left off. She was started
on a raw food diet as well as other supplements to
boost her immune system and kick in her own healing abilities.
Initially she was given Vibe and most recently Limu.
Laura is glad to report that it worked! Helen now has full control
of her body and she can see! What an amazing journey she has
been on. With every positive step forward in vision came one
huge leap backward emotionally. Think about it, every few months
the entire world would change, or at least would appear to. The
worst was when Helen began to see shadows. There was something
there, only it wasn’t; that took her a while to get over.
But one wonderful day Helen got clear spots on the outside of
her vision. After getting used to this new world, the world has
never changed again. She is so much calmer now and assured of
herself and the world. She has grown into one of the most beautiful
dogs imaginable, much like her namesake (only she’s a human).
What also changed her life is when her now BFF (Best Friends
Forever) Precious came
to Healing HEART Sanctuary. Helen had tolerated other dogs prior
to this time. But after Precious’ arrival
and with play time carefully monitored by Laura, Helen came to
understand that other dogs can be friends. You see when she was
quite young, because she couldn’t see the cues of an older
dog, she was “attacked” (the older dog was training
her) and and that messed with her emotionally, big time.
Helen still has a few quirks left over from the past like her
high stepping gait. She looks like a horse loping or galloping
around the round pen, which brings to mind circles. Circles are
the best friend of a puppy who cannot see. If you can make one
rotation cautiously and not run into anything than you can run
to your heart's content, within that circumference. Helen still
likes her circles!
Helen is also the sweetest thing; hence the éclair part
of her name, when she’s not trying to prove how tough she
is.
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