Holloway is Hobey now and happy at last

I'm a former foster home of Pet Haven, and back in late August, we received our first ever foster dog from your rescue that you named Holloway. He was a young German Shepard/Coonhound mix that had a badly injured rear leg, supposedly cut with a knife - to the bone, from his toe all the way up to his joint. He also had two different kinds of worms, tested positive for lymes, and was terrified in certain situations (at the vet, of anything that sprays - a spray bottle, running water, a hose, etc - and was even scared of stairs). He seemed to have never been in a house of any sort. We took him to the vet every 2-3 days for his leg, had him on multiple medications (pain medications, antibiotics, topical medications for his leg, etc), and worked with housetraining him and getting him accustomed to living and sleeping in a house, leash walking, and stairs.

We had him 2 weeks, before we realized something. There was no way he was leaving us.
Hobey turned into the most sweet, loving, cuddly, playful, big baby boy that you can imagine. We couldn't sit down or lay on the floor without him coming over to us and plopping on our laps, all 65 pounds of him. He never left our side. When he realized what a toy was for, he would take it and shove it at our feet, or lay on our laps with it until we paid attention. He LOVES everyone, and I mean, EVERYONE.
Although he is a big boy, he'll run up to a 2 year old and wag his tail furiously, never jump up, but maybe give her a kiss on the nose.
With the bigger kids, he'll put his paws up on their arms and cry in excitement. He learned after a while that if he rolls on his back when we're petting him, he can get his belly scratched! When he figured that out, he never stopped doing it. Now that's his favorite position, and he sleeps belly up inbetween Jon and I in bed. We gave him his first chew toy when we first got him, and he never let it out of his sight, and now he gets only the best (real cow bones, ears, etc). We foster smaller dogs now, (shih tzus, yorkies), and Hobey is so gentle and sweet, and even plays tug of war with them and lets them win, although he knows it's no competition.
We had a birthday party for Hobey yesterday, with the estimates the vet gave us when he came in, we made a birthday for him and he's now 2 years old. He can almost fit 4 tennis balls in his mouth, he catches live birds in his mouth while on a 5 foot leash, and is SO smart, he learns new tricks in less than 5 tries. We love him SO much and could never live without him. He is spoiled rotten. We don't go a day without thinking about the horrible things he must have gone though, and everytime he comes up to us for a cuddle (which is often!), we think of how thankful we are that Red Lake Rosie's saved him from his terrible situation and how lucky we are that he came to us. I think the whole situation was kind of fate... we had just moved in, and were approved to foster the day before I got the e-mail from Pet Haven about Hobey. We had committments and were unable to foster until Monday, but we loved him and I inquired anyways. It turned out that he was coming down that weekend, and I wouldn't be able to pick him up until Monday...perfect.
The point of this e-mail is that yesterday we realized that he had his first birthday where he wasn't alone, scared, and tied up in a hot summer without food or water, in severe pain, being just a year old. He was instead getting presents and treats and in the company of people who love him enough to throw him a party and to buy him birthday presents (some of these people were friends of mine who drove an hour to be here). We wouldn't have him without the help of you guys and we are so appreciative. Thank you so much for all you do and I know that if Hobey could, he would thank you endlessly.
Please pass this e-mail to all your staff or anyone who would have known Hobey (then Holloway). And if any of you are ever in Apple Valley, feel free to let us know, and you can stop by and pay Hobey a visit.

C.S.