Meet Windy (a.k.a. The "Tumor Dog")

I hear it's sort of customary to introduce yourself in your first ever blog posting, so I'll start there. My name is Windy, affectionately known to some as the "Tumor Dog" (although I personally prefer Windy the Wonder Dog - it rolls of the tongue better). As a cute, little Rottweiler/Shar Pei mix, I'm sure you're wondering just how I got to be famous enough to deserve my own blog. Well, I guess my claim to fame came last summer, when a few pesky humans from Aurora and Naperville Animal Control tried to bring me in off the streets.

Every time they got close to me, I managed to escape - either by jumping a fence or running past them as fast as my four paws could carry me. I mean, I didn't get the nickname "Wonder Dog" for nothing. I can jump like a gazelle and run over 30 mph! I think I shocked them a little bit. It's hard to outsmart a human, especially when you're a dog of my age (somewhere between 8 and 10, but you all know a lady never reveals her true age). Of course, they were only trying to help me out. But how was I supposed to know that? I had been a dog on the run for so long that trusting humans was hard for me at first. But the one thing I also didn't know that they did was that I had a very large tumor in my belly - a whopping 5 pound tumor! I sure am glad they chased after me for so long otherwise who knows where I would have ended up.

During that time, dozens of calls came in to Animal Control giving them tips about my whereabouts. In fact, practically the whole community had heard my story and were on the look out for me, hoping to eventually bring me in to save my life. So, to make a long story short, I was running circles around those folks over at Animal Control for about six months over an 8-mile radius that included parts of Aurora, Naperville and Warrenville - until the beginning of January, that is. On January 4th, a very dedicated team finally cornered me and a couple of days later, a group of very skilled doctors from Oswego Animal Hospital removed my 5-pound stem tumor.

Although scared at first, I'm really a people dog at heart and loved having human companionship again. My tail hasn't stopped wagging since they found me! Since then, I've been brought to A.D.O.P.T. Pet Shelter in Naperville and that's where I'll be blogging from. You'll hear about my daily adventures, from the great friends I meet to the new things I learn and, eventually, about my biggest adventure of all - going home with my forever family. So stay tuned for updates from me, your friendly neighborhood Tumor Dog.

Wags and kisses,

~Windy