Handicapped Pets

This weekend I came across a few wonderful and touching videos. They show animals learning to use wheelchairs and being able to walk for the first time in as long as a year!! One particular video caught my eye, it was showing a very special dog named Faith. Today I am going to talk about handicapped pets and what you can do to help your pet.

First, I am going to talk about Faith, she was born without any front legs. The only legs she had were her two hind legs. But in the video, she is walking around as if nothing was wrong with her!! Faith’s owner talked about getting her to walk and the steps that were involved with that. First, they taught her to hop, then gradually Faith began to walk on her own. This dog is absolutely incredible to watch! She just bounds around, and is completely happy with her life!! We could all learn a little something from Faith!

It was really great to see this dog adapt to her surroundings and you could tell she was very content with her owner and she wasn’t focused on her two missing limbs. It is hard to train a dog to do something that goes against their instincts. Faith’s owner said her biggest concern was how to teach Faith to lie down and get back up. She didn’t want her laying around all the time, her vet told her that could cause damage to Faith’s respiratory system as well as her throat.I also want to talk about handicapped pets in general. Years ago the only solution for an older dog no longer capable of walking was putting her to sleep. Now, there are options available to you. Products designed to help your handicapped pet and make life much easier!! I saw a video this weekend about a Doberman Pinscher taking her first steps after 11 months and another dog who hadn’t walked in a year get used to a wheelchair!

The wheelchair is a fairly new idea for your pets, and you would be surprised at how quickly the animals catch on and are able to maneuver the device. The wheelchairs come in all different sizes and will fit animals ranging from a Great Dane to a Siamese cat. This is a great thing for pet owners, you now have a choice for your pet. You have the option of helping her, making her life easier instead of ending it. Also think about how your pet feels! If she hasn’t been able to get up and walk around for a few months, she will get back her confidence and regain her freedom and mobility! This also frees you up, you don’t have to walk everywhere with your dog, picking her up every time she needs to go outside – she can do this herself!

It is such a great thing for me to see videos and read stories that are inspiring and warm my heart! It’s not often that we are able to read good news, I am incredibly happy to be able to talk to you about something happy! If you have any stories, pictures, or videos you would like to share, please leave me a comment or send an email to: dsheffler@petstrong.com

I would love to share your story with the world!

Thanks for reading! As always your participation in comments and discussions are encouraged and greatly appreciated!!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 02:30 pm and is filed under PetStrong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.