Oliver's Fight: Help Us Afford His Surgery

(story updated 6-3-25).

Hi, my name is Leah and I’m reaching out on behalf of someone incredibly special—our 9-year-old German Shepherd/Belgian Malanois mix, Oliver.

Oliver isn’t just a dog. He’s family. He’s been my loyal shadow, my emotional support, my son’s childhood guardian, and my goofy best friend since the day we brought him home. He was so tiny, he fit inside a diaper box—but he quickly grew into a gentle giant with a heart full of love and a tail that knocks everything off the coffee table.

Recently, Oliver was diagnosed again with a painful and dangerous infection caused by an oral-nasal fistula—an opening between his mouth and nose that’s allowing bacteria to spread. He needed specialized surgery to close it and stop the infection from worsening, or it would become life-threatening.

We brought him to a dental surgeon in Estero, FL, who gave us hope—but also a price tag we simply couldn't afford: over $7,000. That was eventu

lly negotiated down to about $4490. We paid a $500 deposit to schedule the procedure, and paid the full worst-case amount of $4490,thanks to all the awesome people who donated) the day of surgery(Mon. June 2nd). Anything not used was to be refunded, but our worst fear was confirmed when we received a call from the Dr. after they did the imaging and ct scan. Dr. said it was worse than they thought and it was probably not even possible to repair the damage because of another issue happening in the mouth. Long story short, they only were able to do part of what was needed and the surgery, after a huge discount authorized by the surgeon, cost the full amount anyways so we received no refund of the $4490 AND Ollie needs a final (hopefully) surgery in 6 weeks that will be another $3000.

Oliver still has so much life left in him. He eats, plays, goes for rides, and wags his tail at the sound of a snack bag crinkling. He’s not ready to leave this world—and we’re not ready to let him go.

We’re asking for your help to give Oliver the chance to keep living a pain-free, happy life.

Whether you can donate $5 or just share this page, we are so incredibly grateful. Every bit of support helps us get closer to the surgery that will save him.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story,

– Leah, Steve & Oliver the Wonder Dog