Dog Who Fought to Live Looking for Adoptive Family

Rocky Balboa has survived a hole in his skull, a heart murmur, serious intestinal complications, and now it’s been determined he’s deaf – hence the fighter’s name.

The three-month-old Chihuahua, being cared for at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, was found by a Center partner with two other puppies and their mother who was struggling to care for them.

At three weeks old Rocky, his siblings and mother were brought to the Center to get medical care. Within a week Rocky’s weight had dropped to less than a pound, but care staff couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him because his tiny frame made his organs hard to see on an X-ray. After being placed on full-time medical foster care with a staff member, he began to heal.

For a month staff member Christina Bartlett fed Rocky with a syringe dozens of times a day, and slept with him on her chest so she would know when he struggled to breathe.

“He’s a very special dog,” stated Bartlett. “He just refuses to let life knock him down. I have no doubt that he will have an amazing life and teach everyone he meets something about never giving up.”

Rocky is now looking for a forever family – hopefully people as strong willed as him. Since he is deaf he will need to be trained with hand commands.

If you would like to adopt Rocky, please contact Helen Woodward Animal Center Adoption Department at: 858-756-4117 ext. 313, visit the Center’s website or stop by at 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe.

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