This is Rainey, bulldog rescue and  — Queen of Everything.

She is a special needs pup that we recently adopted through an incredible organization: Lily’s Pad Rescue.

Rainey is a petite bulldog — about 30 lbs, with Spina Bifida.  Although she is fully mobile, she wears diapers to handle incontinence issues.  (I’ve raised 4 kids… and diapering a dog is a piece of cake compared to a baby!)

This sweet girl has captured our hearts!!  Rainey is super affectionate, and a total love bug.  She is a little uncoordinated — so we probably won’t be attending agility competitions — but is eager to learn new things.  But mostly, she just wants to be loved on and snuggled.  Almost completely different than her Brother-Dog, Dude — who is a  cattle dog/terrier mix. Quick and nimble,  he is happiest when he is working. Give him a job, and he’s a satisfied boy.  Together, they make quite a pair.

Here are a series of videos that I made of our special day.

 I never considered BULLDOG RESCUE until I ran across a photograph of Rainey online.  And her story touched me. I thought about it for a few days, and  I felt compelled to call.

Although I have had bulldogs before, I have never had a special needs dogs — especially with Spina Bifida.  And I had never gone through bulldog rescue and gotten an older dog (She will be 1 later this month.)   So I had my concerns — would the dog come with bad behaviors, would there be increased medical cost, would she not live as long as other dogs? And what would happen if I had an emergency, or needed to go out of town?  But after thinking about all the possibilities, I knew it was the right thing to do to give this sweet girl a forever home.

At first, I wasn’t sure if I could handle the whole diaper thing.  But I talked a lot with Rachel from Lily’sPadRescue, and she told me about the ongoing assistance and resources available.  I am not in this alone, there is a whole family of special needs dog moms and dads behind me.  And since this is my first special needs dog, I found that very reassuring.

And When I picked her up, Candace gave me some very through hands-on training.  And really — it was a lot easier than I originally thought.

And LilysPadRescue set me up with all the supplies that I would need to take care of her for the first few weeks and to help ease her transition into a new home— including a bed and toys!! 

Special needs dogs are not right for everybody, but they might be right for you.

If you think you might find it in y our heart to open your home to a special needs bulldog rescue pup, please contact LilysPadRescue, — the link is below.  And reach out to me, I will be happy to give you honest facts about our experiences.

Click HERE for more info about Bulldog Rescue through  Lily’sPadRescue.