Hello! My name's Braxten, and this is my old dog, Emmy.

I will give the story on how I got Emmy below, but firstly, here's what this whole GoFundMe is all for.

So, about 3 weeks ago, Emmy started losing control of her back leg, and now she seems to have lost almost all function in it. This came out of nowhere, but the good part is she wasn't in any pain. As time has gone on, Emmy started having trouble with her other back leg as well, though not nearly as bad as the left. I exhausted all of the possibilities with a couple of different vets (shout out to Canine Vet Care for always checking in), and it was determined to likely be a neurological issue rather than an ACL tear or any other orthopedic issue. I made an appointment with a neurologist, but here in Boise, there aren't a lot of them, so the earliest I could get her in is mid-November.

This all came to a head on Saturday, the 11th of October, where she started getting some diarrhea, and then the following day she was vomiting and even starting to shake. Emmy has never been one to show signs of pain, and this was panic-inducing, to say the least. I took her to WestVet where she is currently staying, and expedited the neurologist appointment and helped to take care of the GI issues she was having.

The decision was made to get an MRI, which is a pretty penny and took away all of the money I've had saved up. Thankfully, she made it through that with the anesthesia, where doctors noticed an issue along her spinal cord above her thorax, I believe they said. They think the best option would be to do a spinal tap, which I gave the approval for, despite not really having the money to do it quite yet. There's also what comes after that, since she made it out of all of that okay. I will hopefully get more information tomorrow to determine what the actual issue is, how we can move forward, and a prognosis on her quality of life and time frame for the rest of her life.

I don't know how much I'm going to be able to work this week, and I've already had to exhaust a lot of money to make sure that she can get this all done, which is why I feel like I need to resort to this. All money gained in this will go to vet bills, possible physical therapy, and other items to help make Emmy's life as comfortable and happy as it can be, no matter what the prognosis is. Even if you don't donate, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this; it means a lot!

Below will be Emmy's story on how I got her! Thanks for reading so far.

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As a lot of people know, I've worked with a business called House of Hounds for 8 years (Today is my actual 8-year anniversary!), and it was through there that I initially met Emmy. Emmy actually came in as a client dog, someone who needed boarding with us for some time due to a life circumstance. She was there for roughly 3 months before the parent had to make the tough decision to rehome her and one of her sisters. The first time I met Emmy, it was love at first sight; we used to have picnic tables in the yard, and I was leaning on one for a little bit when she was let out of the boarding bay. At that moment, Emmy ran from the boarding bay, onto the table, to lift up my arm and put her head underneath my shoulder to nuzzle me and say hi. From that moment, it was love at first sight. My first thought was, "Oh, I need this dog to be my dog."

As time passed and the parent made the decision to rehome her, I took her in and she fit right into my home life, and almost 8 years later, she's made so many friends, dogs and humans alike. Emmy is the most neutral dog you'd ever meet. She is actually a dog we use to introduce new dogs into group play, as she doesn't really care too much about other dogs when they're meeting her. She'll sniff them, let them sniff her, and then just mind her own business.

Emmy's always come to work with me on a daily basis ever since I got her, and when this medical stuff started happening, I opted to leave her home. That made me realize how hard it's going to be for me to go on without her. If there's anything I can do to help this dog out, I will do it, including swallowing my pride and making this. She goes with me everywhere, and now that she's staying a couple of nights at the vet, it makes me understand that I need this dog and I'm not ready for her to go.

To reiterate all that was said above, this dog means the world to me, and it would mean so much to receive help to make sure that she and I aren't waylaid when she's out.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and thank you so much for considering donating. Have a great day!