My name is Dawson’s Fraulein Elke. I will turn 11 on July 21, 2024.
I’m from a small town outside of Buffalo, New York but moved to Arizona with my Mom and Dad eight years ago. Sometimes we drive back to New York, and we stay in hotels. Desk clerks are usually pretty surprised when they see how big I am, but I’m a good girl and don’t cause any problems.
Mom and Dad wanted a puppy and drove to a farm to see my brother when I was three months old. I have a birth defect in my left front leg, and no one wanted me.
Some big kids were playing really rough with me, chasing and tackling me and I cried. So Mom picked me up and talked to the lady on the farm about me, and Mom and Dad paid money for me (and I don’t think Dad even asked how much—they were going to take me) and Dad drove us home. I had an older brother waiting at home and he loved me the first time he saw me. I loved him, too. We were together over ten years.
My Mom and Dad took me for special testing (x-rays and an MRI) before I turned one, and after I was spayed to diagnose the problem with my left leg. It’s a malformed joint, a birth defect.
Mom called my birth Mom to tell her and see if my brothers and sisters have the same problem. My birth Mom said she didn’t know, but Mom and Dad could bring me back to her and get another puppy. Mom said, no, Elke is our dog, but why would my birth Mom want me back. My birth Mom said she could breed me.
My Mom was pretty angry that my birth Mom would even consider breeding a dog with a birth defect, and my birth Mom hung up on her! I thought it was sort of stupid because I was spayed.
Mom hopes my birth Mom was just ill advised and not breeding dogs like me that maybe nobody will want.
When we first moved to Arizona we went for a walk—me on lead, then Mom, my brother on lead, and Dad—when an unleashed dog came out from behind some bushes and attacked my Mom and me. Mom fell and cut her forehead, knee and finger, and dislocated/broke a finger which cannot be repaired.
I stood over her until the dog’s owner ran up, leashed the dog, and ran away. The attack changed the way I feel about other dogs and a lot of people. I trust very few people around my family.
My favorite toy is called Red Ball because it’s a big red ball! I also have a collection of stuffed toys which I pretty much ignore now that I’m older. I like toys that have treats inside. I like standing in my wading pool.
My older brother died last July, and it was a really sad time. I still look for him. I now have a younger brother, and we mouth-wrestle. I was always called the puppy because I was the younger dog, so it’s confusing when Mom and Dad talk about us: I’m older, but I’m still the puppy.
I like my new brother and we sometimes nap together. My favorite past time is taking naps. Long naps, sometimes in the sunshine.
I can’t get up on furniture any more, but I like to be on a quilt at Mom’s feet or sleeping next to her side of the bed. I like to sit out and watch people when it’s dark and they can’t see me.
My Mom had surgery two years ago, and we spent three weeks together. Napping, watching television, sitting outside. Mom read to me. Books, magazines, anything she could get her hands on. It was really nice spending time together, although sometimes I fell asleep during the reading part.
My favorite food is steamed chicken-breast meat. I eat some of my brother’s kibble now and then, but I don’t really like it and only eat it to annoy him. I like to eat outside.
I used to weigh over 150 pounds, but I’ve slimmed down to about 125 pounds. I just don’t have the big appetite I used to have. I’ve outweighed Mom since I was about two years old!
Every night at bedtime, I get a doggie vanilla ice cream treat cup. I don’t like chocolate and strawberry. I take a MilkBone biscuit to bed with me every night, just in case I need a snack during the night.
It’s pretty amazing to me that I was born on a farm, was never inside a house until I was adopted, kids played too rough with me and hurt me, my sisters and all of my brothers except one were adopted, no one wanted me… and now I’m part of a family, living the good life in Arizona with my Mom, Dad and brother.
