paralyzed dogs

A Deep Stirring of the Heart

Posted by Barbara Techel
A Deep Stirring of the Heart
Just days before Frankie moved on…

I was deeply moved by a post  on author Jon Katz’ blog this morning. So much so, I’m still having tearful moments as I write this.

They aren’t tears of sadness, though some bittersweet. But tears of recognition – of understanding – of having been in this space – and have come away from it profoundly changed.

Jon’s border collie, Red, who so many have come to love, is dealing with an unknown illness right now. A therapy dog who has touched so many lives he is also the spirit dog here at this time marking a passage in Jon’s life.

Having talked with a healer and animal communicator this morning, Jon wrote this:

Kimberly was direct, she told me that my challenge now was to recognize Red’s exhaustion and discomfort, and to give  him the time he needs to rest and to heal.

There was a time in my life when I would not have been able to hear this, I was too broken myself,  but I know Kimberly and trust her, and she simply went to the heart of it with me and with Red.

This stirred my heart with much emotion remembering my work with my paralyzed dachshund, Frankie, who was in a wheelchair, and touched so many lives herself. And without a doubt in every fiber of my being, she came here to help me heal – though I didn’t recognize it at first – and that gift would continue to unfold as we had a shared purpose and mission.

The recognition in realizing I was sensing she was slowing down in 2011 – she was ready to retire. Her time was coming to an end and my life, and our life as I’d come to love it, was about to change. And I didn’t know how I’d go on without her.

But in those last six months, and for months afterwards, the whisper in my heart that didn’t want to surface or admit to was that I too, was ready to slow down and move on. And it was also in learning to let go of what was, and to accept that Frankie wouldn’t live forever, and that I’d be okay.

It opened my heart to understanding more than before that with the gut-wrenching pain of loss, finding our way back to gratefulness of what was, was the whole point of our journey. How blessed I was to have had the opportunities I did with her.

How blessed I was to have this spirit dog, who forever changed my life for the better. It was imperative that I recognize and honor her wish to now retire and live out her days next to my side as I wrote the memoir of our journey.

This too, an enriching gift, of days with her all to myself. To give thanks for all the compassion she not only showed me, but others.

And getting to this place of not wallowing in her passing, but in the bliss that she brought to my life, that her gift lives on… and her spirit fills me each and every time I think of her.

And I’m grateful when my heart gets stirred from a post like Jon’s – a reminder of a time that was excruciatingly difficult, but with time I can now look back and my heart smiles with such joy from the love of Frankie.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Boxer Rolls on in Frankie’s Memory with Gifted Wheelchair

Posted by Barbara Techel

Boxer Rolls on in Frankie's Memory with Gifted Wheelchair

Meet Q – the newest recipient of a dog wheelchair from the fund I started back in 2012, in memory of my disabled dachshund, Frankie, to help paralyzed dogs in need of a wheelchair. Whether a dog in rescue or a family in need of financial help, that is why I began this fund.

So many wonderful and generous people have supported the Frankie Wheelchair Fund which enables me to help dogs like Q gain their freedom back with a set of custom-made wheels from Eddie’s Wheels for Pets.

Upon receiving the wheelchair for Q, his owner, Susan sent me this beautiful message:

We picked up the wheels this weekend and he did great !! We shall continue to practice on the grass as we hope to graduate to concrete fairly soon! The Eddies wheels family is just beautiful – they are fantastic to work with and we thank you again for helping us … With your help we were able to do this!! With added friends and family we were able to order boots and supplements as well.  I was able to save my self for the next neurologist visit which we may not need anytime soon as I thank God that he has progressed slowly thus far! Thank you again and in Frankie’s memory we shall ROLL ON!

Roll on indeed…and my heart fills with much joy knowing Frankie’s memory lives on in so many wheelie dogs.

If you’d like to support the Frankie Wheelchair Fund with a donation you can do so here on this page. Thank you so much for your consideration.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.

Elmo with IVDD Rolling Again Courtesy of The Frankie Wheelchair Fund

Posted by Barbara Techel

Elmo with IVDD Rolling Again Courtesy of The Frankie Wheelchair Fund

Another pup up and rolling! Get along little doggie and roll, roll, roll!

I’m excited to share that Elmo is the 62nd dog the Frankie Wheelchair Fund granted a wheelchair to.

Elmo took right to his wheels as it seems most dachshunds do. You just can’t tell a dachshund that they can’t fly, because they are always eager to show you otherwise.

Elmo’s one ear back I’m sure is to help with speed in his new wheels and the other ear out to the side to help in navigating turns. Gotta love those determined and high spirited doxie’s!

And really good news about Elmo who was being fostered through Lovey Loaves Sanctuary is that his foster mom has become his forever mom! That deserves a spin around the floor in his slick wheels a thousand times over.

I know you will all join me in saying congratulations to dear Elmo!

Our Frankie Fund was also recently able to help a little dog named Wiz with a new saddle for his wheelchair. It seems Wiz was having an issue with his male part – and oh dear – even with a name like Wiz.

He had just gotten his new wheelchair, which has already set his caretakers back financially so they didn’t know how they could swing a new saddle so his delicate male part would be more protected.

Eddie’s Wheels contacted me asking if the Frankie Wheelchair Fund could help. And of course, we don’t want to keep a good man doxie down, so it was a pleasure to help.

While I’m on the topic of wheelie dogs today and IVDD, I want to take a moment to once again share two excellent resources regarding this disease.

I talked to a woman yesterday afternoon distraught after her 8 1/2 year old dachshund just had surgery and needed to know there is hope.

It’s a good reminder to share these resources I find so helpful and gave me peace of mind when my dear Frankie went down.

Dodgerslist is an online organization dedicated to educating the public about IVDD and helping pet owners whose pets have been given this diagnosis. I highly recommend signing up for their forum group and purchasing their three dollar DVD on living with, and caring for a dog with IVDD. 

The other relatively new resource is an excellent and very detailed book with a splash of humor written by Kristen Leydig Bryant and Dr. Adam Christman called Honey Have Your Squeezed the Dachshund. Every dachshund owner, whether your dog had IVDD or not, should have this in their library. You can purchase it on Amazon. 

Elmo’s wheelchair is custom-made by Eddie’s Wheels for Pets,- the company that I prefer and always refer when asked.

If you’d like to help me continue my mission in helping paralyzed dogs with wheelchairs you can donate to the Frankie Wheelchair Fund here.

Thank you for sharing and subscribing to my blog updates.