I volunteer at a local no kill dog shelter,about 2 months ago we had a 5 year old, female black lab mix surrendered to the shelter. Her name, Ariel, when she came into the shelter we had to rush her to the emergency vet for a UTI. On the forms filled out by the owner she had chronic UTI’s, however the medical records showed no visits for them. When the owners turned her in we asked how she lost her leg and they told us she was hit by a car when she was young. However medical records given to us only indicate that 3 months prior to the amputation that a bandage was applied and the next input said amputation of rear leg. After she had the amputation she was taken home and given little care/support from the surgery, she was kept outside. The good leg seems to either have been injured, whether it was from the so called hit by car or if it occurred over time as her weight kept increasing. The mobility of the good rear leg is very minimal, her hips sag and her spine curves. She can only walk about 30-40ft before she either sits down or starts to drag.
Despite her previous care and physical limitations the lab personality shines through, she is definitely driven by her stomach and wants nothing more than a belly rub and a tennis ball. I ordered a wheelchair from Walkin’ Wheels. A few weeks ago my boyfriend and I took it out to the shelter for her to see it and to possibly get her fitted to the harness system. She was not phased one bit by the chair and didn’t really seem to care, so we fit the harness to her and she just sat there staring me down( I had hot dogs for coaxing). After we got the harness on her and saw that she didn’t care about it we decided to try her in the chair, She took off running almost. It was like she had been in one before, the wheels chair give her the support she needs and still give her use of her leg. She uses her one rear leg for pushing, and when we put her in the chair she had a range of motion and neither me nor any of the other volunteers had seen with that leg.
We are bringing her home permanently over the 4th of July holiday, so we can have 4 days with her getting use to our schedule. But we did bring her home for a weekend visit and she loved her bed.
She has truly stolen my heart, there are many more stories and adventures of Ariel in her Pink Wheels
What a sad beginning to Ariel’s story, but it is heart warming that you sourced out a solution to her mobility issues and have taken her into your family. She looks quite adapt in her new set of wheels and is so lucky to have you as her advocate, friend and family!
Dari & Sloane