My name is Strawberry Lemonade!

Meet Strawberry Lemonade!
Affectionately called Berries or Bear by her foster family.

Her life now: Berries is a big lap dog. She loves getting attention from people and is very affectionate. She does well with meeting all people but due to her size and her mobility issues we have concerns about her living with young children. When she gets excited she can lose control of her movements and could be a hazard to young children or seniors. Due to this we think she would do best in a home without young children. Berries thrives on adventures. She loves to go for daily walks, hikes, or Sniffspots. She rides great in the car. She can be stubborn and pull on leash, and she is very strong, but for the most part she walks great on leash and likes to sniff and see all the sights. She would do best in an active household but not too active. A mile or maybe two is perfect for this girl. She is potty trained. She free roams while her foster family is out of the house and is a perfect angel. She does live with other dogs and loves to have a play mate but she can be dog selective so she is not a dog park dog. She is on the smaller side for a Saint Bernard weighing 110lbs. She would ideally live in a home with out a lot of stairs. She can do stairs but it is hard for her and she doesn’t like when she has to do more than 3 or 4 at a time. She does need to be monitored going down more than a few stairs. She also needs assistance getting into and out of the car. She does not require a sling or a ramp and it is fairly easy to assist her when needed. She will most likely need more assistance in her senior years where a ramp might come in handy.

Where she came from: this St Bernard girl was found atop a mountain pass above Lukachukai AZ, starving, unable to walk and with five tiny newborn babies. She gave everything she had keep her babes alive and did an amazing job! After her rescue and during the course of rehabilitation, it became apparent that her inability to walk wasn’t just malnutrition and muscle atrophy. We did full body X-rays to make sure nothing was broken and found that she was not broken. Then Berries was seen at CSU neurology where an MRI was completed. There, she was diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia. This is a congenital disease where the cerebellum is malformed. The cerebellum is responsible for posture, balance, stability and fine motor skills. Bear is sometimes wobbly. She needs assistance on stairs and getting in and out of cars, however, she is a perfectly healthy dog otherwise. She is in no pain. There is no cure and there is no further treatment that can better her condition. The doctors have told us that she will likely live a completely normal life, with exception of some help climbing things, safety around water and things she could fall off of.

Our Bear is the biggest sweetheart. She was an amazing mom to her babies and loved all of them fiercely. Her babes have all moved on to other fosters and are available for adoption as well! Berries is the best foster surrogate mom as well. She made two of our more recent foster puppies feel right at home. She loves little baby dogs. She acclimated quickly to our resident dogs and quickly claimed her place in the pack as if she’d been here forever. She loves to go for walks. She loves car rides. She loves adventures. Berries is fully potty trained and she sleeps on her dog bed all through the night. She walks amazing on leash. She is endearingly stubborn and sensitive and sweet. She is the best big girl ever. We think she is about 2 years old. We have loved every minute with her and are so happy to see her healthy and thriving.

Bear has a disability but she is not at all unable. She is smart, strong and worthy of all the love in the world. She has survived unimaginable hunger, abandonment, abuse and uncertainty. She will make any adopter so lucky to share life with. If you’d like to meet our sweet girl, please apply at souldog.org.