Help Waylon Get Life-Saving Surgery

If you are new here, thank you so much for looking into our story and considering helping our cause. Waylon, our 2-year-old rescued GSD, is in need of a very extensive and long surgery called a TECA-BO to save his life before it’s too late and his ear canal ruptures. We had another GoFundMe open to help us save and afford the CT scan and consultation with the specialist, and we reached our goal!! We are on our way to the specialist now, and we will spend today and tomorrow in Detroit with them, figuring out what the best approach to doing this surgery for Waylon would be. We should be able to open up direct donations to the vet's office in the next couple of days for his surgery, as many have requested!! So hopefully soon we can raise enough funds to afford his surgery and be able to save our boy!! I will post all the updates I get and let everyone know what’s happening along the way. I’m going to be getting a quote for Waylon’s surgery tomorrow after his CT scan, which I will post and share, and I’ll have a direct donations account to the vet that I’ll be able to share with you guys.

A little more backstory to explain how Waylon and we ended up in this position…

Waylon was purchased at 12 weeks (from a backyard breeder) by an older woman with good intentions, and who had raised many purebred GSDs before Waylon. However, Waylon needed more foundation and training than what he was being provided with. Eventually (estimating around 6-8 months old), Waylon developed an ear infection. The woman before us treated him at home with “ear medicine” that she had from her previous shepherds, but it didn’t ever seem to get better. Around February 2023, Waylon started to show signs of human and dog aggression. (Keep in mind this woman’s house was a multi-dog household). He drew blood multiple times with his bites, but as a bystander, I noticed the bites weren’t him lashing out. Instead, they were out of fear. I already had 3 rescue/rehabbed dogs and a service dog, and at 17 years old (at the time), I wasn’t ready to bring another (BIG) dog into my life. However, when I found out that he was going to be relinquished to the shelter and euthanized for his “aggression,” we saw no other choice but to bring him into our pack and at least try and work with him. Within weeks of having his own space and learning he didn’t have to watch his back 24/7, he was an ENTIRELY different dog. An amazing, overly friendly (sometimes too friendly) sweetheart. He instantly became my shadow and hasn’t left my side since July of 2024. Within hours of him being in our care, we noticed how much discomfort his ear was causing him. We instantly made him an appointment with the BEST local vet we had, who sedated Waylon and got to the root of the problems, which was his “ear infection” actually being a blown eardrum. We spent months (every month since July 2024) taking him in every 3-4 weeks to be sedated and have his ear flushed out. But in recent months, his ear has gotten insanely worse to the point where when we leave our vet after getting it cleaned out, he wakes up the next day with it completely full of gunk again. We’ve tried pain meds to help ease the pain, we’ve tried over a dozen different diets from raw to kibble to fresh-cooked, we’ve tried allergy shots, and so many other things that didn’t even touch the problem or begin to help Waylon. Our last hope is surgery, and it has to happen soon. The surgery he needs is so uncommon that we have to go to a specialist to get it done, the best of the best in veterinary care in our state (Oakland Veterinary Referral Center in Bloomfield, Michigan), which is 6 hours from our house, but beyond worth it if it means there’s hope we can still save our boy and give him a pain-free life. Most vets looked at Waylon and turned him away, leaving negative comments like “he’d be better off getting euthanized” circling around our minds when we left still searching for anyone who’d help him. Shelters, rescues, and organizations turned him away because of the “aggression” Waylon once showed, even though he was just being mistreated and misunderstood. However, Oakland Veterinary Services is optimistic about their ability to help Waylon. There will be lots of, hopefully positive, updates in the next 24 hours, so please, if you’ve followed our story this long, please keep following along and supporting us. ❤️❤️