Particularly in these modern times, Kellyn Murphy and her family were the kind of adopters every shelter dreams about.
The family from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was searching for their fourth dog, which might be an elderly dog or one that had been up for adoption for a while. When they arrived to the McKamey Animal Center, they saw Ward, a brown dog whose back legs had been rendered crippled in a hit-and-run incident.
They made the decision to formally say hello after seeing him at a charity event earlier.
Murphy tells Daily Paws, “We met him first and didn’t meet any other dogs.” We very much fell in love with him right immediately.
He was theirs after a trial period of sleepovers. Ward even started waving his tail and getting up without the wheelchair a few weeks after he was adopted, which is a stunning recovery for a dog who was found critically hurt under a car earlier this year.
A stray dog beneath a vehicle was reported to the animal facility back in January. When the McKamey animal protection crew went to look into it, they discovered Ward, who they assumed had been struck by a car. Then he succeeded in crawling under a parked car.
Lauren Mann, director of advancement at the McKamey Animal Center, states that it became evident very immediately that he was unable to move his tail or rear legs when they arrived on the scene.
After examining him, the center’s veterinary experts discovered that he had suffered a spinal cord damage that left him immobile from the waist down. Ward had a severe injury, yet he was the “sweetest, most happy-go-lucky dog.”
He started receiving hydrotherapy and stretching twice a week in physical therapy. The personnel at the shelter would continue his stretches and work his muscles when he got back. When Mann was attempting to utilize his wheelchair, his rear legs would thrust out.
Physical therapy has improved his life, and Mann adds, “I think in the long run he’ll be up and walking fully again.” It’s really amazing.
He came to live with the Murphys on July 11. Ward is enjoying his new family, which consists of his dog siblings Sage (a mutt), Bucket (a beagle), and Lilly (a mix of dachshund and beagle), after a few days of getting used to his new home.
He really likes to play with his brother Bucket, take naps on the coach with his people, and indulge in the morning “kibble buffet.”
Ward, who is around six years old, has really benefited physically from his adoptive mother, a physical therapy assistant. Murphy has constructed a standing structure for him to help acclimate to carrying his own weight, and she will wrap his legs in a sort of sling to assist him with walking. It’s been enjoyable for her to bring some work home, and she and Ward recently made progress.
In addition to starting to wag his tail once more—something he hadn’t done since his paralysis—Ward also got up and walked a short distance last week.
Murphy believes that he has a great deal of potential and will only become better.
She hasn’t had to change her routine much to take care of Ward, except from at-home physical therapy. Although she assists him in changing his diapers due to his incontinence, she claims that taking care of him has only added a little over an hour of effort to her day. And gentle Ward gives her a ton of kisses in return.
She says, “He’s so sweet.” It would never require more labor to take care of him than the joy he brings into our lives.
For anybody considering adopting a handicapped dog, that is sound advice. Generally speaking, they spend a lot more time in shelters than “regular” dogs. (Ward was listed as available for adoption for almost three months; according to Mann, if Ward hadn’t been paralyzed, he would have found a home much sooner.)