07/29/2023
Monday morning I sat on the clinic floor of my vets office, my service dog, Beethoven, in my lap confused as to why I was sobbing. I sat there in bewilderment as I got news that shattered my heart. My perfect boy, so young and healthy and happy, had torn both cruciate ligaments in his knees. He needs surgery immediately.
“If surgery is off the table, we can discuss laying him to rest peacefully”, she said to me.
My dog is a year and three months old. He is a beautiful, healthy boy. When he started limping at the beginning of July, I kept him quiet and well rested. I didn’t think anything of it. He had been out of work for three weeks to make sure he didn’t stress anything. He was fine. I thought. He was a normal happy, active, goofy puppy.
Yesterday he fell off my bed and couldn’t stand up. He was screaming. We had spent all day at the river, and he had a blast swimming and playing with his dad, my other dog. He was fine. He was fine. And now he couldn’t walk? I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong.
He was not the puppy I was going to keep. He was listed for sale, even. But during the worst part of my life, he gave me purpose. I sat in the basement of my condemned house after the worst year of my life, after having less than two weeks to prepare for an accidental litter of puppies (not on my watch).
My best friend told me there was one last puppy left, and that he was big. I didn’t believe her, but 30 minutes later my Beethoven was born. The moment I knew I would keep him was when my daughter was holding him, and he opened his eyes for the first time.
His affinity for service work showed from the moment he was born. He was calm, collected, and smart. It took me once to teach him how to sit. He was out and about with perfect manners at 10 weeks old. Needless to say, I didn’t sell him. He also had an affinity for leaves, which led to my best friend coining the term “beef with a leaf”. It’s quite funny to explain to people that “Beef” is short for Beethoven.
Beethoven is the first full blooded American Pitbull Terrier that has been accepted in the service dog program in STL. Despite being told they were difficult to train, he proved everyone wrong. He’s been in training since he was 12 weeks old. My goal was to break the breed standard, and we have so far. We are in a fantastic family of people called STLHuggs. Beef has completed public access and the beginning of task training. He is a medical alert and DPT service dog. The thought of him not working, myself removed as a factor, would be so hard for him. This is the only way of life he knows. He loves working, is bonded to me, and always asking where we’re going next. I hope if he gets the surgeries and rehab he needs, that he can resume doing what he loves comfortably.
I was told that doing these surgeries on a large breed dog was a waste of time and not fair to him. How would I ever get the money anyways? But I am resilient, and I won’t give up on my best friend. He never gave up on me. He was the light through the darkest times of my life. He was my purpose, my reason, and my future. My partner, my soulmate, in the form of a dog. He knows my every move. The first time I went out of town without him, he laid at the door the entire day. I never left without him again.
I don’t want to make him wait at the door his whole life. He’s going to wonder what he did that wasn’t good enough.
Without these surgeries my dog will not be able to live comfortably, and he will need to be euthanized. The longer is takes to get these surgeries, the more damage is done.
I’ve been quoted 6-8k per knee, plus meds and rehabilitation. He needs a surgery called Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy. The success rate is 95%. It is very common but extensive, including plates and screws. The recovery time for each knee includes 8 weeks of highly restricted activity, resuming full activity within 6 months. It will be long and perilous, but I will not give up on him. He deserves a chance to live. He is too young. He didn’t ask for this. I had him genetically screened, with no issues. He’s been exquisitely cared for his entire life. Great diet, exercise, and stimulation. I never saw this coming. The vet assured me that this was a degenerative condition, and that it wasn’t my fault. It just, happens. She also said normally when one goes out the other follows, but both at the same time has put me on a run for my money.
I am a single mother, a full time student, self-employed, and disabled. I have a heart condition and degenerative disease in my spine. Caring alone for a rehabilitating 80lb dog will be a test in itself, but I will do whatever it takes to save my best friend.
X-rays of the right knee showed osteoarthritis, a bone chip, and extensive scar tissue. This was the first knee I noticed him limping on at the beginning of the month. He had never had a single issue with his legs prior to this. He had us all fooled. Not a single second did I think he was in pain, or I would’ve done something sooner.
The left knee tear probably occurred yesterday at the River. Nothing traumatic happened, just the stress of him moving. The femur is misaligned from this and he cannot put any weight on it. He cannot get in and out of the car, or down the stairs to my yard to use the bathroom. He walks a few steps, then collapses. I can’t stand seeing my boy in so much pain. I’m at a loss.
The people who know me know I am stubborn and opinionated. I don’t ever ask for help. I overdo myself past my physical limits just to function everyday.
Now, I am asking for help.
I cannot get my dog the care he needs without help. Care credit will cover $1,300, but I have not a single penny in my bank account. I make a decent living, but the cost of living is expensive and all my finances go straight to bills. I have nothing to spare, and I don’t want my best friend waiting for treatment. He can’t wait very long. I can’t wait very long. And I surely do not want him waiting at my door forever.
Thank you for reading our story. I appreciate any help anyone can offer. Let’s do this together.
Info about TPLO surgery: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cranial-cruciate-ligament-repair-tibial-plateau-leveling-osteotomy-tplo
My SD group, STLHuggs:
https://stlhuggs.org/
https://gofund.me/079452ba
TL;DR: My service dog, Beethoven (AKA Beef), has bilateral cruciate ligament tears and n… Lucy Chillson needs your support for Help My Service Dog Walk Again
