August 20, 2021

White Dog had a tear as she said in a wavering voice, "This is for me? They made this just to help me?"

Steve had just opened the big shipping box that had benn delivered and carried its contents into the living room. There he it set if before WD and the others.

Our friend, Lisa, just recently sent her senion Welsh Girl, Sally, beyond her pain over the Rainbow Bridge. In the last stages of her journey, Lisa had engineered a cart to help her girl move around the house and be on eye level with Andy, her Eskie brother. Lisa knows White Dogs mobility problems and the muscle wasting from meds and old age.

"I want to repurpose Sally's cart to make something for your girl," she told me. "Something she can stand in and improve circulation and stretch parts that don't get exercised when lying down. It won't be pretty because I am going to reuse parts but it will hold her safely and help her get healthy."

When she called to say her work was being shipped she cautioned, "There is some fitting and customizing you will need to do. I used the measurements you gave me and added a bit to allow for room to move. I sure hope it works and proves useful."

There was a bit of fussing as we adjusted the height of the body support and correctly tightened the straps for the harness. White Dog was excited and curious, not frightened in the least. 

When we placed her inside the frame and cipped the harness to the works WD looks around in awe. She was upright without having to support her own weight on her own.  

The WDA cheered. As a first attempt we did not try to massage or move her legs; rather, we just let her acclimate to the sensation of being in the "contraption." In future days, we will gently move her legs forward and back, much like we down in her prone massaging but at a more natural stance for getting the circulation flowing correctly. One of the biggest problems humans and pets who spend lots of time lying face are those of moving the blood and oxygen. 

Hope is a beautiful thing...and when it comes wrapped in such a gesture of love, even a little white dog in the frontier of New Mexico can believe ANYTHING is possible.