VIDALIA, GA.....Hunter is a 16 week old Weimaraner Mix that was in a box in the back of a truck when he was 12 weeks old.  The box fell out of the truck on the road.  The person behind the truck pulled over to see what was in the box and they found this adorable little puppy that now had two terribly broken legs with multiple breaks.  They contacted a rescue in the area that took Hunter to their vet.  Hunter’s legs were set and they were told he would be fine in two weeks.  Needless to say he was not going to be fine.  Anyone with any medical background would have known he needed major surgery on his legs or they were never going to heal properly.  We were contacted by the original rescue when they discovered his legs were deformed and would not bend at all after being in the casts.  After seeing his pictures and videos, we decided to do whatever we could to restore as much of his ability to walk as possible.  Hunters legs had developed sores and the bones had fused together without any chance of ever bending.  Dogs cannot walk without the ability to bend their legs.  They can take a few steps and then they fall over and have to drag their rear legs around.  We have attached a video so you can see just how bad this little puppy is.  He needed surgery and he needed it as soon as possible before his legs became permanently fused together.  The real tragedy is that this little guy did not have to go through this.  The vet should have informed the rescue what was going to happen if they did not do any surgery.  Now Hunter has to have major surgeries to be able to walk again.  We have an Orthopedic Surgeon that will begin operating on Tuesday.  She has informed us that it is going to be long and complicated because his legs have formed one big callous where his knees are supposed to be bending.  He will have several surgeries to get the results he will need to get back the full use of his legs.  He will then require extensive rehab to keep the legs bending.  We have only posted for the surgeries on this Chip-In and will post for the rehab once we know exactly what is going to be required after all of the repairs are done.  Hunter is one of the sweetest, most lovable little dogs.  He is always happy and tries with all his might to play and walk normally.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tries, it is not possible in the condition he is in.  We will get little Hunter back as close to normal as possible so he can live a long happy life where he can run and play just like any other dog.

HUNTER was operated on yesterday.  Because his injuries are so old and calcified it was a long procedure.  He did great during surgery and came out fine.  The issues we are having is that he is still going to have a long recovery to get back the bending of his knees.  We have ordered special braces for his legs to make him bend his legs and enable him to walk.  He is uncomfortable right now but is still as happy as can be with all of the love and affection he is getting.  He is such a heart-warming little pup.   He will make the best family dog.  He loves everyone and loves animals.

Sweet Hunter is having the most difficult time.  We knew when we rescued him that he would have a long road ahead to try and correct as much as possible of his legs and hips.  His condition is caused not from him falling out of the bed of a truck.  His broken legs could have been fixed.  What he has is from an incompetent vet putting casts on a puppy that was growing for three weeks.  His bones, muscle and tendons have all fused together in such a mangled mess that even after three surgeries, he still needs more surgery and rehab just to get him comfortable.  Hunter can walk better than he could when we got him but he is still a long way from where we would like for him to be.  We have done extensive surgery and rehab and are only making baby steps.  If he was an older dog, we would not be as concerned but this is a young 20 week old puppy we are talking about.  We cannot let the rest of his life be filled with pain and suffering.  Every time I see Hunter and think about how easy it would have been to fix his original injuries and what he is having to go through now, I want to scream.  There is no excuse for this kind of incompetency.  The surgeon that is working on Hunter has spoken to lots of other excellent surgeons about his case and they all agree that what we are doing is the best course of action.  They also all agree that the person that did this should be written up and reported to the medical board.  The surgeon we are using is doing that.  Every time I look at this happy boy, he puts a smile on my face because he never gives up.  Through all the pain he has endured and is still enduring, he is always happy and loving.   We had to do an FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) on one his hips the other day to give him some relief for when he is lying down.  The problem is that the muscles and tendons are still so tight that he has limited mobility.  We have been doing expensive rehab with the new Splint that we got for him.  We have made a little bit of progress with the Dyna-Splint and will use it until we stop seeing improvement.  He does not like the rehab at all because it causes him pain but we have no choice.  We have our little boy as comfortable as possible while we are doing this.  Hunter is showered with lots of love, kisses and treats which seems to be a good trade as far as he is concerned.   He can get around but is still not able to bend his legs.  Our last resort will be to put him in a cart but as long as he is able to get around, we are not going to do that.  We have to just keep moving forward with his rehab and when surgery is required to relieve his pain, do it.  Our biggest concern right now is getting him comfortable.  In that regard we are making lots of progress.

Thanks for helping us with wonderful Hunter.  He has now recovered well enough from his first FHO surgery that we are now ready to do his other leg.  We are now only doing surgery to relieve pain. He has been so uncomfortable that he could not sleep.  The surgery has helped him get comfortable.   We will be doing his surgery today.  We are still doing daily rehab to get  as much flexibility as possible out of his legs.  We are making small steps forward but have given up the idea that we will ever be able to get him walking normally again.  He gets along fine the way he is and if he becomes unable to walk comfortably, we will put him in a cart.  We have also discovered that we think he is a Weimaramer mixed with a Blue Pitbull. His build and the way his ears are beginning to stand up is why we are saying this.  One thing has not changed, he is still adorable. We appreciate everyone helping us with his continued care.