dog wheelchairs

Joie, My Late Dachshund with IVDD, Forever Beautiful in Stained Glass

Posted by Barbara Techel

joie stained glassI received many lovely gifts for my birthday, but truly, none more touching than this stained glass of my Joie given to me by my mama. She commissioned an artist friend to do this for me.

It will be one year August 22 since Joie moved into spirit world. You may recall that I adopted her from Oregon Dachshund Rescue knowing she had IVDD and needed a wheelchair. John worked his magic and took Frankie’s wheelchair and adjusted it to fit Joie.

Joie was only with us for ten short months. But she left many gifts behind. Her biggest lessons to me were to pause, sit in stillness, and to understand that I no longer needed to prove my worthiness. I can rest securely in who I am.

As I did a bit of research for this post, I went to the Facebook page for the movie Joie took part in last August, The Surface Movie. I was wondering if there was any notice of a date of when the movie will be out in our area.

As I scrolled down the page I saw a post noting the movie is now complete. The post was on July 14th. Four days before my birthday and three days after my mom gifted me with this special gift.

Tears immediately sprang to my eyes. Joie’s spirit is strong and well. My heart smiles.

It will be bittersweet to see her in the movie (I’ll keep you posted once it is out in theater’s- projected to come out later this year). But I’m ready to see her sweet face roll across the big screen in her wheelchair. It is going to be a proud, proud moment.

The stained glass piece of her is a shining, loving reminder of how lucky I was to have her in my life, even if for just a short time. She blessed me in ways I would have not otherwise been blessed.

Meet Pickles: #26 Paralyzed Dog Helped with Wheelchair thru The Frankie Wheelchair Fund

Posted by Barbara Techel

pickles cReady to share in another happy dance with me?  Meet Pickles who is the 26th dog The Frankie Wheelchair Fund has helped gain mobility!

Pickles had a very tough thing happen to him. But little did he know angel number one was waiting in the wings and angel number two would come along soon.

You see, Pickles was thrown from a moving car. Being thrown from the car paralyzed Pickles. Angel number one saw this happen and immediately pulled over to help Pickles. She also just happened to be an animal advocate who has spent her entire life helping animals in need.

Unfortunately angel number one, though her heart of pure gold for helping so many animals throughout her adult life, didn’t have the finances to help Pickles. This is where angel number two swiftly moved in after hearing about Pickles. Meet Inga who has run Canine Crusaders rescue for 17 years.

inga and pickles eShe saw that angel number one was doing her best to care for Pickles. Expressing his bladder and helping him live a pretty good life despite not having a wheelchair to get around. She just knew she had to help them both have a better life!

This is when she contacted Eddie’s Wheels who sent her my way to see if The Frankie Wheelchair Fund could pay for Pickles wheels.

Well, as you can see by Pickles very happy, smiling face, the rest is history! He is having so much fun in his new wheels Inga has told me, even sharing a video of how he started zooming around almost the moment he was put in the wheelchair. Note: I’m not sure how to share the video on here since it was sent as a .mov file.  Sorry.

Pickles continues to live with Angel number one and is living life to the fullest. This angel mission now complete!

If you’d like to make a donation and/or become an ambassador helping us help dogs in need of a wheelchair, please click on the heart below. Or if you’d like to apply for the fund, please click here.

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Letting Go of this One Word Could Just Possibly Improve Your Life.

Posted by Barbara Techel

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Expectations are disappointments under construction. – Joan Anderson

Image a world where we didn’t have expectations? I truly believe it would be a world with way fewer struggles. More acceptance of each other and happier souls walking this planet.

Ever notice when you go into a situation with expectations? How often are you disappointed? What if we just opened ourselves to possibilities instead of trying to control everything around us?

I can’t stop thinking about this quote ever since I read it in Joan’s newsletter yesterday. It really resonates with me. How many times I’ve caused myself angst because of how I expected something to turn out.  There are so many. But as a woman who is a work in progress, I am getting better at not disappointing myself.  Because I know I am to blame when this happens.

But being a woman in progress means I get to start fresh again the next time. I have a new opportunity to not set myself up for disappointment.

One example that came flying to the forefront of my mind was when Frankie became paralyzed. There was no other option in my mind of expectations but for her to walk again. I couldn’t fathom her having to live the rest of her life in a wheelchair. You know how much sadness and grief that caused me? But looking back on it today, I wouldn’t change a thing. I grew exponentially from that experience.

My expectations in this situation led me to becoming a better human being. I learned so much about myself in the process and changed in ways I never thought possible. So even though expectations can cause us great angst, I also think they can be wonderful opportunities to learn and to see that letting go of control will improve our well being.

Jackson and Frankie 1I would have never met Jackson, who also has special needs, if not for Frankie.  She positively effected the life of Jackson helping him feel better about himself.

What I appreciated that Joan shared also is that expectations are really our ego trying to get the best of us. We make expectations all about ourselves. We try to control circumstances so that we don’t have to face a fear we may have or so that we can remain happy in all situations.

That is what I did with Frankie, not wanting her initially to be in a wheelchair. It was because of how I felt I would be judged. How I worried that others may think I was cruel for putting my dog in a wheelchair. My own insecurity about myself and my self image played huge into this equation.

Thankfully, as many of you know who have followed my blog since Frankie, I came to my senses. This was about a sweet, gentle creature who needed my help and deserved to live a happy, quality life. Throwing my expectations out the window opened up a path for me that I never planned or saw coming. What a ride it was and I’m so grateful.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIf I had stayed in the place of expectations, not accepting Frankie needed a wheelchair, I would have never met all the wonderful kids I did. Thousands of kids are now part of my heart forever.