Help Bob Get Surgery So He Can Run and Play Again

Hey friends, thanks for coming.

To summarize what Bob means to us is nearly impossible - every since he was found on a golf course at 3 weeks old on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, he has been a light and a healing force in so many people's lives, but mainly, in his parents lives, and in his brother Tico's life. He is constantly giving us love - there isn't a moment in the day that he isn't hyper-focused on either loving us or making us laugh. Bob is an amazing traveller and has swam in the Pacific ocean from Southern California to BC, the Atlantic Ocean from Boston to Florida, The Gulf of Mexico, and everywhere in between, including hundreds of lakes all over the continent. He has done the zoomies from the Mohave Desert to the Carolinas, and caught sticks from the Canadian Rocky Mountains to the lakes of northern Ontario.

I have met and known a lot of dogs throughout my life and Bob, by far, is the most sensitive and kind of all of them. Not that Tico isn't - but lord knows he has a bit of an attitude and a toughness he has forged in order to protect his sweet insides. However, Bob is extremely sensitive to pain (he cries when he steps on a stick, and screams when we try and remove a tick). He is also extremely sensitive people's emotions (he lays on top of you when you are sad and kisses your face until you are happy, like a cartoon dog). He is an incredibly emotionally intelligent little person.

Beyond all of these traits, however, he is most importantly the happiest when he is running, swimming, jumping and digging, because he is also the most active dog I've ever known. Bob is his best self when he is covered in mud, wet and totally exhausted after running a mile and swimming another. He is only 2 years old and is at the peak of his physical abilities.

About two months ago, we noticed Bob was beginning to limp on his right leg after a rough playing session with some other dogs. We took him to the vet and were told that he likely had a weak right knee since he was a puppy, since it had appeared, after x-rays, that he has likely been overcompensating with his left leg for a long time.

We were told to go easy on his leg for a couple of weeks, which we actually did for a month. We then let him off leash for the first time to run with Tico in Florida, and we heard Bob scream, and it was the most horrific sound ever. He immediately couldn't walk on his right leg at all, and was hopping while he held it up in the air. We took him to the vet right away, and he was diagnosed with having Cranial Crutiate Ligament Disease. In other words, the ligament in his right knee is completely torn and requires surgery.

Without surgery to repair his torn ligament, Bob will without a doubt suffer from arthritis, badly, for the rest of his life. His running, swimming and playing days will be over. This road will likely lead to early onset of many elderly dog diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, etc.

With the surgery, there is a 99% turnaround rate. It is one of the most common surgeries performed by veterinary surgeons and 99% of all dogs operated on, especially at Bob's age, have a full recovery and after the rehabilitation time of 2-5 months, they are able to do everything they could before they tore their cruciate ligament.

For most of our close friends, you are aware of our border situation, so this operation is in US dollars. Everything in the states is another +half of whatever anything in Canada would cost - so financially, this is also an extremely taxing time on us, and that is why we are asking for your help. I already still owe a total of $15,000 USD in hospital bills from all of my stress-related illnesses in the past year and a half caused by the displacement we are suffering. We can't take another hit with Bob's operation. I am aware that a lot of people like to assume my financial situation - they assume a lot of things about me, that's my life - but things are not so black and white.

Bob's operation is going to cost $5,549.36 USD on the low estimate, and $6,281 USD on the high estimate. We ask that you donate even 20 dollars so that Bob can share many more healthy, active years with his loving family, and keep annoying his older brother Teek for many years to come.

Yours truly,

Bob, Tico, Mikey & Meredith