FAIRFIELD – What about a Wagon?

May 29, 2014

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For those of you that don’t know, Priceless Pets just adopted out another one of my fosters named, Fairfield. Fairfield is a senior German Shepherd who was literally dumped at one of the Priceless Pets director’s office. He was covered in ticks, his toe nails were so long that they curved back around into his foot. We got him cleaned up, took him to the vet and found out he not only did he have arthritis in his right front leg but he also was suffering from degenerative myelopathy. This is a degenerative spinal cord disease that is incurable. Basically, there is a good chance he will end up paralyzed at some point.

When Fairfield first got to the orphanage, he was in good spirits but as each day passed, he began to shut down. It got to the point where he didn’t want to get up anymore. One of the Priceless Pets directors, Mandy Stover, reached out to see if anyone could foster Fairfield. Things weren’t looking good for him and at the very least he could be in a home environment for whatever time he had left.

I ended up picking up Fairfield about 30 minutes later and he did not look good at all. He could barely walk to the car and I had to lift him into the back seat. This is the same dog that tried to jump in my front seat on his way to the vet so it was a bit heartbreaking to see him like this. But halfway home, he perked up and stuck his head between the seats. When we got to my house he was so excited to get out of the car that he jumped into the front seat. We made him a nice comfy bed and he laid right down.

I had plans to go to Vegas for a day so fellow Pittie Crew, Paige, ended up watching my house and all the dogs (Penny, Elvis, Lucy, and Fairfield!). Did I mention Paige is all of 17 years old and can handle dogs better than most men? That’s another story for another time but I thought I’d throw that out there!

For the 24 hours I was gone, Paige did what she could to keep Fairfield happy and entertained. By the time I came back, she said he wasn’t doing well. I went into his room and the poor guy looked like he did when I picked him up. We put a leash on him and he was able to walk to the front yard. Once he got to the grass he kinda plopped himself on the ground and wasn’t budging. I told Paige, “I wish I had one of those floor dollys to roll him around on.” Paige answered with the 4 most genius words she could come up with at the time, “What about a wagon?” I immediately went to the neighbor’s house across the street and she just happened to have a fold up wagon that she had just bought. We picked up Fairfield and put him in the wagon. We got Penny and Elvis out and we all took a walk to the park. At first, Fairfield was a little weary of the wagon but he soon figured out what was going on and he had the biggest smile on his face. From that moment on, Fairfield was a different dog! I truly believe that wagon was the switch he needed to make him feel alive again!

The next two days were just awesome. Fairfield began to stand up straighter. He went from lying down to eat to standing up. He began walking around the backyard more and more! And his tail started to wag!

On Tuesday night, I got a text from Ashlee (Communications Director for Priceless Pets) saying someone was interested in Fairfield and to give her a call. Turns out this was the same lady that adopted Ariel! Her name was Ann and all of Ann’s dogs are somewhat disabled so she would be the perfect home for Fairfield! Ann’s son had been bugging her for a German Shepherd. There was only one dilemma. Her son was terminally ill and a German Shepherd would be too much energy for him….enter Fairfield. She asked me a few questions about him and I let her know about his condition but that he was very alert and he still had a lot of life left in him. That’s all she needed to hear.

You see, Ann adopted her son at the age of two. He was not supposed to make it past the age of 5….he’s 19 now. She knows that doctors can be wrong and she had no doubt in her mind she could give Fairfield a high quality of life even if his legs went out. She had put dogs in wheel chairs before. She had a pool so she could do aqua therapy for him. She was PERFECT for him.

She was all set to pick him up the next day (Wednesday) from my house. When she got to my house, I put a leash on Fairfield and gave it to Ann. Fairfield wasn’t sure what was going on so I took his leash and he slowly got up. As we walked to the front of the house it’s like he knew….we got to Ann’s van and he JUMPED into the van! He had treats waiting for him and his tail started wagging again! I went to say bye to him and he licked my face and went back to his treat.

Once again, these dogs have proven me wrong. First, I didn’t think Fairfield would make it through the weekend. Then I was resigned to the fact that nobody would adopt a senior dog with a failing spinal cord. I couldn’t have been more wrong. And who knows how long Fairfield will be around and honestly I don’t think he cares if it’s 3 days, 3 months or 3 years. All that matters is he’s happy TODAY. It may have taken him 10 years to find his forever home but again, I don’t think he cares. He’s happy NOW! Every day I’m learning a new life lesson from a different dog but it’s always the same message….no matter how bad things may be, never give up. Because all giving up does is guarantee that things will NEVER get better. Thank you Fairfield. And enjoy your new home, buddy!!