Dollars4Duke - His Golden Retreiver Recovery Fund

Hi there! Thanks for visiting our Go-Fund-Me page. This is Duke. He's one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever know and has captured the hearts of so many! He loves to have his ears rubbed and will even stand on his hind legs and wrap his arms around your waist, giving you a really big hug.  If there is any body of water around (or mud), Duke will find it! He always carries a stuffed animal in his mouth - we think it gives him confidence (as does his older brother, Jake). He loves to run, swim, play, and jump and we are all praying he gets to do all of these things again.

Duke was rescued 1 year ago from a breeder in Ohio who kept all of her dogs in a dingy dark garage in crates too small for them. He has had a wonderful year of life exploring new places, running free through the woods, swimming in lakes and in the ocean, and getting lots of love from lots of family and friends. Being only 2 years old, we think he deserves more time to get to experience all the things life has to offer.

On March 27th, Duke was in the country at the family farm while his mom was in Seattle for a work conference. He and Jake love to go to the farm. One evening, Duke decided to chase a squirrel into the street and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. A truck was coming down the road and Duke didn't get out of the way in time. He was very quickly stabilized by a local vet and was able to get pain medications and IV fluids. The X-Rays showed multiple fractures of his lumbar spine but he was still hanging on. He also had some immediate neurological defects - he lost anal tone and could not feel or move his hind legs.  The next morning, Duke was transported to UGA Veterinary Hospital for evaluation. They felt that a surgery could potentially help, but only time would really tell. The MRI and CT scan showed a piece of his lumbar vertebrae had lodged its way into his spinal canal. For being hit by a truck, it was pretty miraculous that he didn't have any internal bleeding or any other major fractures. On the day before surgery, Duke started to move his legs. He also appeared to have some sensation and even stood up with assistance. Mom felt that Duke deserved to have his best chance at life and she wanted to do everything possible to see that he got to swim, run, jump, and play again. On March 29, Duke had spinal surgery. He did very well and is now home recovering, although the road to recovery is likely quite long.

Duke has shown progress slowly and we know that it will take a lot of time, patience, sacrifice, and a whole village of love and support to keep this big guy happy and healthy. We were told we would have to flip him over every 6 hours so that he didn't lie on one side too long, but he flips himself over. He also scoots around quite well and tries to stand up on his own - but mom doesn't let him do that since he is on strict crate rest for 8 weeks. He does seem to have some sensation in his tail and possibly around his back-end area however he does have both urinary and fecal incontinence right now. Mom helps him pee 3-4 times a day, changes his diapers, and keeps him clean. He can get up about 3-4 times a day to practice walking with support. His harness his quite helpful since this big hunk is a whopping 100 pounds. He gets very excited when he is cheered on and his legs move a lot better.

Duke is needing quite a bit of care right now. We go through about a pack of wipes daily, about 1/4 package of pee pads daily, 2-3 loads of laundry daily washing his bedding, and finding diapers that fit and stay on has been a struggle. He also has a doggie care taker that will be coming mid-day to help mom keep him clean during the day while she is at work. He will eventually need physical therapy and potential treatments such as accupuncture or laser therapy. The vets are optimistic that he will be able to walk, run, and swim again but are not sure about fecal/urinary incontinence - thus giving it time for his spinal cord to heal and nerves to hopefully regenerate.

Duke is such a sweet boy and has lots of love left to give. We all want to see him happy and healthy. If you could help us in our journey we would greatly appreciate it! Our immediate need is to help with the cost of the supplies and care-taker type of help that he is needing while he heals from surgery. Our long-term need is help with the costs of treatments he will need such as physical therapy. Thank you for your support and for your prayers and thank you for giving Dollars for Duke :)