Harper's New Leg Thanks to MaxFund

For years I had secretly been scouting MaxFund’s website, reading all the heartbreaking stories posted next to each pup’s picture. At work, before bed, whenever I had a few spare minutes, I was keeping track of who was new at the shelter and who had found a new family. I was always secretly waiting for a dog to leap out at me, to give me irresistible puppy eyes from across the computer screen, and to know that he or she couldn’t live without me.

A new marriage, new house and two new jobs later, my husband and I tossed around the idea of possibly finding a friend for our wonderful Border Collie mutt Mickey. She did hold the duty of Flower Dog in our wedding, after all, and we always agreed to never have an only child. Two weeks later there she was on the computer screen, a beautiful red Bordie Collie with a big smile and ears as enormous as Mickey’s. It didn’t take much convincing to get my husband and Mickey down to MaxFund, to visit all the dogs I told him, though I secretly knew the little red lady was waiting for me.

And she was just lovely as I imagined. Flopping onto her back at your feet, army crawling into your lap and casting adoring eyes on anyone in her path. Mickey seemed to agree and we took her home for a trial foster that day. We were literally on our way out the door when we noticed she had a slight limp. We stopped to ask the MaxFund assistant about it and were told, “Oh yea, that seems to come around every now and again. She is due for tests in a few weeks and we’ll have the doctor check it out. Probably an old ACL tear. It’s sure never seemed to stop her from anything though.” The thought crossed my mind as to why such a loving, beautiful little girl had not been adopted yet (MaxFund had rescued her from another shelter), but I just assumed it was our good fortune and that Harper, as we named her, had been waiting just for us.

After a week at home romping with Mickey, chewing up newspapers and chasing squirrels, we noticed that though her affection only seemed to grow, her limp was getting worse. So we scheduled an immediate visit with MaxFund’s veterinary partner, Hampden Family Pet Hospital (who coincidentally also happened to be Mickey’s vet). The amazing Dr. Glawe took one look at her, frowned, and rushed her into x-rays.

When a doctor won’t tell you what’s wrong but instead leads you into the operating room to look at x-rays, you know bad news is ahead. Harper’s back right femur had been completely snapped in half, but due to lack of medical care, had healed twisted, with a ping-pong-ball-sized calcium deposit over the break, and no knee cap to speak of.

All we knew about her past was that she had come from a ranch, and our best guess is that she was a working dog and had been trampled by a large animal. But instead of taking the injured puppy to the vet she was simply given to the rural animal shelter. She must have sat in the shelter for probably six months, half of her life, unadoptable due to her limp but never receiving proper medical attention.

And this was the dog who was leaping onto couches, tearing around the yard with Mickey, and jumping straight up in the air to see over the fence earlier that day?! The doctor said that she must have been in excruciating pain, as the calcium deposit was grinding inside her muscle, but was just so happy to be out of the kennel and loved that the pain was an easy trade off for her.

Dr. Glawe explained that the procedure to fix her leg would entail re-breaking the bone, sawing off the calcium deposit, setting a metal plate and screws to reattach the bone into its proper place, carving out a new grove for her knee cap, and above all, it would require some serious rehabilitation and care. We were more than happy to provide extra love and attention, but a $4,000 medical bill was out of the question for us newlyweds. I was in tears at the thought of having to send her back to shelter, and was quite confused when they scheduled the surgery for just two days later. “Oh, did we forget to mention,” the doctor said, “MaxFund has already agreed to pay for the surgery.” The deal was that we provided the care, MaxFund provided the funding to give her the freedom and love she had been waiting for all her life.

The surgery was more complicated than expected, and so was the rehabilitation – for us. On her first walk outside a day after the surgery she planted all fours and lunged at a squirrel. We had been told that she wouldn’t start walking on the leg for ten days, let alone chasing squirrels. It turned out that her leg felt better one day after the surgery than it had for a half her life. So rehabilitation meant keeping a thrilled and excited border collie calm for over a month. At times it literally consisted of two of us hanging onto both ends of her to force her to walk and not run.

Six months later she has no limp, no scar, no pain and a 24-hour vendetta against squirrels. We are excited to introduce her to a Frisbee this summer, as she can jump twice her height straight up in the air and sprint like a Greyhound. I adored her from the moment I saw her, bad leg or not, but MaxFund gave her the chance to be and do everything her sweet heart desires and to make everyone she meets smile. The thought of Harper being put to sleep at another kennel because no one would adopt a dog with a limp has me back on MaxFund’s website every day, reading the stories of new dogs who will get the opportunity to be what they always wanted – loved – thanks to MaxFund.

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