Earlier this month a friend who is a team member of Dodgerslist tagged me in a post about this “Rolling Dog on a Mission” sculpture.  The sculpture was for sale with the proceeds benefiting Dodgerslist to help continue educating others about IVDD. She mentioned in the post that she and the other Dodgerslist team members thought this really looked like Frankie.  Of course, that brought a tear to my eye.  As much as I wanted to purchase the sculpture, I had to watch my pennies right now. But was happy to share on my other Facebook pages so hopefully someone would purchase it.

The sculpture sold almost immediately!  About ten minutes later I received a message from another Facebook follower, Kim.  She needed me to send my mailing address to Grace Liesa, who made this lovely sculpture.  Well, I had my hunch that an angel was about to grace me with one of these sculptures.  Not only did I receive this sweet sculpture, but it is customized, which was a a total surprise. I was very, very touched and…. it gets even better!

After corresponding with Grace, I told her about National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day inviting her to follow along on Facebook if she would like. I shared with her my mission of helping raise funds  for families in financial stress or dogs in rescue who may need a wheelchair and that to date we had helped eight small dogs.

The surprise then got even better as Grace told me she would donate 10% of sales from the sculpture’s not only to Dodgerslist, but also to The Frankie Wheelchair Fund.  She will also donate all the proceeds of one of the sculpture’s to The Frankie Wheelchair Fund sometime in 2013.  So stay tuned for that!

You can order one today though if you’d like.  Grace will customize it for you. Be sure to visit her Etsy shop for all the details.  And if you don’t personally have a dachshund with IVDD, but know of a friend who does, what a great gift it would make.

I can’t thank Kim enough for her big heart in giving me this special gift. It has a special place on Frankie’s altar.  Also, what a wonderful thing Grace is doing to make a difference and I especially love what she says about downed dachshund’s on her Etsy website:

Remember that a disabled dog is not aware of their limitations; they just continue to live their lives as any normal dog would. It is our responsibility to give them a life full of quality, fun, and love. IVDD is not a death sentence, it’s just a bump on the road. With proper care and nutrition, a ‘down’ dog can live through their life expectancy just as a normal dog would. It’s never too early to learn about IVDD. Go to www.dodgerslist.com for a wealth of information, referrals, support, and success stories.