Gracie is a puppy who due to a birth defect was born without her front legs. She was immediately dumped by her owners but before eventually ending up in a vets office. At the time, the little puppy had lost patches of hair and had maggots crawling on her but she did not lose her will to live. Gracie was slowly nursed back to health and her life turned around completely when she was adopted by a loving family who instantly fell in love with the puppy even despite her disability.
The puppy was adopted by the Turney family that also happens to run an animal shelter. They had already adopted one paralyzed dog before and had experience in taking care of a disabled pet.
Naturally, Gracie had trouble walking but was too small for a wheelchair so the family had to come up with some sort of a solution.
That’s where 12-year-old Dylan came to help – the boy used LEGO bricks to make a wheelchair for Gracie.
A LEGO wheelchair was perfect for the rapidly growing puppy – it was cheap and easy to adjust.
With a little trial and error, Gracie got the hang of the wheelchair.
Soon enough she was running around like any little puppy her age!
Eventually, as Gracie got bigger, Dylan added bigger wheels to the wheelchair.
The puppy got an “adult” wheelchair as she got older.
Gracie’s story proves that any puppy can live a happy and fulfilling life with the help of caring and loving owners.
Veterinarians warn of rising cases of mystery dog illness
Veterinarians are sounding the alarm as they see a growing number of coughing dogs.
Wendy Brown’s three golden retrievers — Bridge, Dooley and Lulu — are among the dogs who started showing symptoms earlier this November.
“Dooley started doing kind of this huffing and also seemed to feel quite lethargic,” Brown recalled to “Good Morning America.” “Not too long after, Bridge began to exhibit the symptoms. But his were louder, more boisterous. I thought it was his stomach because he made like a retching sound.”
Initially, Brown thought her pets had a typical kennel cough but when their symptoms didn’t subside, she knew it was something more serious.
“The vet started him on a 10-day cycle of doxycycline. Today was day 10 and he is not a lot better,” Brown said.
Brown, an Idaho resident, said she’s still not sure what could have caused her dogs’ illness in the first place.
While research is underway, veterinarians say the mystery illness is highly contagious and can be fatal. Reported symptoms so far have also been typical of a kennel cough and they include coughing, sneezing, nasal and/or eye discharge and lethargy.
“Instead of that dry cough where the dog felt good, it was now this wet cough where the dog felt sick,” Amanda Cavanagh, the section head of the urgent care service at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, told “GMA.”
Experts like Cavanagh said any dogs showing signs of consistent coughing should be brought to a vet to be examined.
“We can ultrasound the lungs to see if there is a problem that is related to pneumonia or the contagious pneumonia that seems to be going around,” Cavanagh said.
Cavanagh also recommends keeping any coughing dogs away from other dogs and for two weeks after the cough goes away.
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