Help Us Give Freya the Life She Deserves

Less than two years ago, we rescued a tiny, 14-pound, 12-week-old puppy we named Freya. She arrived malnourished, dangerously dehydrated, infected, full of parasites, and so weak that we weren’t sure she would survive her first 48 hours. She spent those first days on life support in the animal hospital fighting for her life—and she made it.

Not only did Freya survive, she blossomed. Today, she’s a joyful, 85-pound, wildly intelligent dog who lives for Frisbee, zoomies, cuddles, finding hidden things, and making people laugh.

Freya has become a source of deep comfort and companionship in our lives, especially as we both navigate complex health challenges. We had begun training her as a service animal to assist with our medical needs. But over the past several months, Freya began limping, and it keeps getting worse. She has collapsed painfully after jumping. She can only walk for 10–15 minutes at a time before needing to rest and recover for an hour or more. And she’s lost access to the things she loves most—running, jumping, playing, training, and socializing with her doggy friends.

Recent X-rays brought devastating news:

Freya has elbow dysplasia and degenerative changes in her wrist joints in both front legs, along with arthritis and bone spurs—all before her second birthday. (At not quite two years old, Freya is still in adolescence, the equivalent of an 18–21-year-old human.)

Elbow dysplasia cannot be fully cured with surgery, but surgery is her best chance to relieve the acute pain she is experiencing and give us a jumpstart on physical therapy, costs that will also add up over time.

Her condition is progressive and painful. Without intervention, her ability to walk, and her overall quality of life, will continue to decline.

The next step is a CT scan ($1,500–$2,000) to inform a fuller diagnosis and determine whether loose bone fragments are worsening her joints. Surgery will also be required to smooth her joints and remove any fragments found, with estimated costs between $5,500 and $6,500.

Because CT scans require the same deep sedation as surgery, and are painful on their own, her doctor strongly recommends being ready to move forward with surgery immediately after imaging, if at all possible.

That’s why we are reaching out now: to try to raise enough to proceed with both her scan and her surgery at once, sparing Freya the additional time, pain, and emotional stress.

If we can't raise the funds soon, it could take us many months to save enough on our own, time that her joints and spirit may not have.

Even with surgery, Freya will need lifelong medication, therapy, and care to manage her condition.

We’ve already stretched our finances far beyond what we can manage, having spent around $10,000 so far on diagnostic X-rays, hospital stays, blood work, medications, and veterinary visits.

Between rising medical expenses and trying to launch our small businesses, we’re at a loss for how to move forward—but we can’t bear to see Freya suffer.

So we’re reaching out for help.

If you’re able to contribute toward Freya’s care, even a small amount would mean the world to us. If you can’t give right now, simply sharing this page would also make a real difference.

From the moment we met her, Freya gave us her whole heart.

We just want to give her the life she deserves—the pain-free, joyful life we promised her.

Thank you so much for reading, and for any support you’re able to offer.

With deep gratitude,

Micheal & Sarah