ORANGEBURG, SC.....We were contacted a couple of days ago about helping a beautiful 4 year old Mastiff that was hit by a car that needed major medical or to be PTS. We found out from the good Samaritan that picked up Dozer that he had been hit by a car around 9:00 on Sunday night. Dozer was taken to a nearby hospital where he was stabilized until the Owner was found. Flyers were placed, calls were made and the people that found him went door to door to find out who owned this incredible dog. He had a collar but no tags. During the course of looking for the Owner, the person that hit him was found. He was more concerned about his car than the dog. He left the dog there for 12 hours without even thinking about the dog. Cars were driving by all the time and for 12 hours no one cared about this big boy. The good news is that finally someone cared enough to stop and do whatever she could to help. Dozer was transferred to our Critical Care facility in Charleston where he is now stable. The man said he barely bumped the dog but that is not the case. Dozer has a head injury, Brachial Plexus nerve damage and his hip is displaced. We have Neurologist and a Surgeon that have been overseeing his care. The surgeon put the hip back into place but it will not hold on it’s own because of Dozer’s size which is 148 lbs. He cannot stand on his own because of the two injuries. His neurological impairment seems to be improving. The problem is that it is going to be a long time before we know if the nerve damage in the front limb is ever going to improve enough for him to ever use the leg. We have him or anti-inflammatories and steroids to get the swelling down as much as possible in those areas. Time is our Friend and our Enemy with injuries like this in big dogs. A decision had to be made so I decided after talking to everyone and getting the Rehab Specialist involved to do whatever we could to save the dog. We have ordered a special quad cart that will allow us to pick him up and then he should be able to walk with the cart once we do surgery on his pelvis. We will do surgery to repair his pelvis so it does not come out of place when he puts weight on it. We are talking big serious screws and pins for a dog this massive. It is a long shot but a dog this young and this sweet deserves a chance. Dozer has been in terrible pain and has not growled at anyone since he was picked up. He is the best boy that loves everyone. Mastiff’s are sweet loving dogs and he certainly lives up to that reputation. It appears he had been well taken care of. Someone loved this dog enough to have him neutered and well fed which says a lot given his size. We can’t believe no one has come forth looking for him. During the same timeframe their was a fatal truck accident where two people were killed in the same area. We are wondering if Dozer belonged to them since no one has come forward. After hearing that news, I wanted to save him even more, knowing he might have lost his only family. He is part of our Noah’s Arks Rescue Family now and we do whatever it takes to give any of our animals the best chance possible to live a wonderful life. He is a young boy that we hope will have a long life ahead.
When all is said and done Dozer’s Care will be close to around $12K. Please, Donate whatever you can to help this wonderful dog have a long life.
Our sweet boy had his first surgery to repair his hip to keep is from coming out. The problem is that his size could cause it to come out even though we used the strongest mechanical parts available. He is unable to stand right now and we are keeping him that way for the first week until we feel like we can lift him on his feet. Dozer’s neurosurgeon is building him an apparatus that will allow us to put him in a standing position that he can use to walk with. Our sweet boy weighs 150 lbs. of dead weight. It might as well be 300 lbs. since he cannot assist with the process. The best part is that Dozer is able to move himself from side to side to change the pressure from each side.
Once we had Dozer out for surgery, an MRI was done of his brain to determine what kind of neurological damage he had endured that was causing him to be so lethargic and impaired. We found a small space that had either been damaged during the accident or is a small tumor. We cannot tell at this time what it is but based on where it is, gives us hope of surgery resolving his neurological problems. He is slowly becoming more animated and aware of his surroundings which is very encouraging. Brain Surgery will not be done until his hip has become more stable. His front leg is also beginning to get more nerve function which was a big concern at the beginning. We are still concerned but hopeful based on the results we have seen over the last 5 days.
There are several scenarios that could have happened to cause Dozer to step in front of a car. He could have been abandoned because he had neurological impairment already and because of that he stepped in front of a car without realizing he was in the road. The other scenario is that he was injured from another accident that caused him to step in front of a car because of brain damage from the original accident. We will probably never know what happened to cause him to step in front of a car. What we do know is that we are hopeful about his progress and will do whatever is needed to get him through this. He will have to have several more major surgeries before we will know the final outcome. Wonderful Dozer is the most incredible boy that is a delight to be around. He is as sweet as sugar. Even with all the pain he has been in, he has done nothing but give everyone kisses. Dozer is massive. Having that much mass to love on is an incredible experience. We hate to see him so helpless and are very mindful that his size can be the downfall of him which is why we are jumping through hoops to do whatever we can to get him mobile and stable. Right now, that is our top priority. He is like a small horse. We have to get him up and moving. Rehab is being done all the time to keep his muscles active. We have the best rehab equipment available being used on him. Dozer is in ICU next to sweet Freckles and will be there for several weeks. We greatly appreciate all the help and love we have received for our Gentle Giant. If you haven’t donated for him or want to donate again, please do. We are going to need every penny we can get to save him. Thanks for caring.
Look who has finally decided to join the human race again. Our dear boy Dozer. We have been jumping through hoops to get him to even raise his head. He has been so down and depressed that for the most part he had given up. He did not want to do anything to help his recovery. To lift a 150 lb. dog that does not want to help one ounce is like lifting a car. It has taken 4 people to even begin to get him off the floor and then you can only hold him for a short period of time. I have been so worried about him. I knew if we did not get him motivated and moving around this week, we would lose him and it was breaking my heart. I had to get him up and I was not going to settle for anything less that him being mobile. I knew if I could get him standing and walking, he would find his will to live or I would die trying. Not getting up was not an option for me. I am sure everyone at the Speciality Surgical Center was scared of me coming in the door since I was so obsessed with this and was not listening to anyone’s excuses. I am worse than anything you can imagine when I feel like we can do more, be more, think more out of the box or do whatever it takes to get an animal to fight to be here. It finally worked. A dear friend contacted me about a cart he had made for a 150 lb. great dane that had surgery and could not hold himself up. I sent someone immediately to pick up the cart in Charlotte, NC. It was dirty and rusty and the strangest contraption we had ever seen. We cleaned it up and went into action to see how we could make it work for Dozer. I think it took every person in the hospital with a good back to grab some part of our sweet boy to get him in it. We finally did and we all cheered with delight. The video below is a Miracle. We are having the man that made this one make us a stainless steel one that can be sterilized. It is so hard to get Dozer in the cart that Monday morning I am going back to the Surgical facility with a Master Welder in tow to have him build a free-standing hoist in Dozer’s room so we can push the cart in and then use the hoist to gently lift him up so he or any other large animal can be suspended in a standing position while we are strapping them in. I am hopeful this will be done this week. This has definitely been a Never Give Up or Give In kind of week.
Our sweet boy has had a lot going on this week. As you can see from the picture, he is still cupping his front right leg under at the paw. The top of that shoulder was torn away from the body and we are doing everything we can to keep it in place and save the leg. He is getting rehab 4 times a day. He has now gotten strong enough to stand up and help us put him in the harness that enables him to walk. Yesterday, he was put under anesthesia so we could determine if he had nerve function in his leg and spine. Probes were inserted by a Neurosurgeon to determine how much he had and if he didn’t was there an underlying cause that we could address and fix. We also had a surgeon in on the procedure to work with the leg and shoulder while he was under. It was a very long day for everyone. We all have the same goal in mind, to save the leg by any means possible. The good news is that the nerve test came back positive for nerve function which means the nerves can talk to the brain and they can also feel pain. The biggest issue now is that the leg has begun to atrophy and when Dozer lays down, he rotates the shoulder out of the socket. We are not ready to do surgery to re-attach the shoulder by wiring it in. That has it’s own set of risks because of his size which we are not ready to take on. We are having a special harness made for him that will keep his shoulder in place. It will also allow us to remove the harness so he can have rehab done on the shoulder and then put it back into place until he has rehab again. This way his shoulder can heal and is being stimulated so it will not atrophy. If this does not work, then we will wire his shoulder into place. If all else fails, then and only after we have exhausted all possibilities, we will have no choice but to remove the leg. During rehab, we are having him walk as a tripod to build up the other leg to take the weight both legs were once sharing. The good news is that he is able to do that. Taking a leg from a mastiff is like taking a leg from a small horse and is not something you ever want to do. This is last resort only and requires us to prepare his body if that should occur. The other great news is that his rear leg, that we did surgery on to keep the leg in the socket, has held. He is able to now walk with assistance and use the leg. We are still taking every precaution to make sure this leg does not take on too much weight too soon or that he is never in danger of slipping or falling which would pop the leg out. The injuries Dozer endured have caused us to have three very different issues we have had to deal with separately and together. One area will not work without the other area functioning properly. If one area fails unexpectedly, they all fail. Sweet Dozer had an ulcer on his eye that has finally cleared up. We have now determined from the MRI that he had a nasty injury to his head and have found a hairline fracture in his skull near his left eye area. That is healing on it’s own but does explain his neurological impairment for the first week we had him. He is more alert now that he has ever been and is also more energetic when it comes time to go for a walk outside. Dozer still has a long way to go. We still have lots of work to do before we know if we can save the leg. Saving the leg is our top priority right now. We have lots of bills for this wonderful dog with all of the rehab, Neurologists and Surgeons. Saying we have our hands full is an understatement with all of the dogs we have. Each animal gets the very best medical, surgical and rehab care possible. We spare nothing when it comes to our animals. They are Family and will always be Family. Please, help us with his on going care so we can help other abused animals in need.
