His name is Longfellow. What a perfect name for this one year old fast, flying fella! Have you ever considered a dog with wheels?
Well, this little guy is up for adoption. Sandy, his foster mom is taking care of him for now. But if he does not find a forever home, Sandy will not give up on him and make sure he is taken care of.
Longfellow was sadly mishandled at the age of 12-weeks old. A 5-year old child was allowed to toss him up and down, as if he was a stuffed toy. One such toss into the air ended in a tragic ending when the child did not catch him on the way down. He was taken to the vet with some use of one of his back legs.
The family was instructed to give him steroids and strict cage rest. Five days later they returned with Longfellow, who now had no use of his legs and told the vet to put him down. The vet asked the family to sign him over to them. This was a good thing in one sense, which saved his life, but did not help the situation with his back legs. He was allowed to scoot all around the clinic, and never given a chance to heal properly.
Almost Home Rescue heard about Longfellow and offered to take him. They had a mylogram done which was about a month later, and it showed no bad discs or compression of the spine. The bad news was he likely had severe bruising and swelling because of not being allowed to heal properly. This caused permanent spinal cord damage and complete paralysis.
He also does not have control of his bowels and bladder. Sandy said, “I tell people as hard as it is to house train dachshunds he’s actually better than the rest. I can take him out to express him and know exactly when and where he will go!” I love her positive attitude.
Longfellow was fitted with an adjustable wheelchair from Pets MRC so as he grows, his wheels will grow with him. He is receiving acupuncture every couple of weeks and walks on a treadmill. He can even take 2 to 3 steps on his own now and then. Sandy said, “He may eventually be a spinal walker.”
If you have ever considered the rewards of a dog with wheels, here is your chance. He lives in Austin, TX and would love a forever home. Contact Almost Home Rescue
Just a note on what spinal walk is: Just like in humans, a dog’s brain sends a signal through our spine to tell the different parts of our body how to move. With spinal cord damage and injuries, the connection cannot get all the way through. But with animals, because they still have use of two other limbs, the back legs will follow out of repetition at times when the front legs move.