The Toby FunD

The Toby FunD - helping two lives one dollar at a time.

(disclaimer, We have not included our autistic daughter’s name and photo in order to protect her privacy)

4-21-25 notes: Our dear boy Toby is recovering well! He is mostly back to himself. One can tell that he is still sore though. He’s now eating a diet of half kibble and half rice/chicken mix. We are slowly reintroducing his dry food.

We are so thankful for the couponing skills that allowed us to stock up on $0.99/lb chicken thighs, and also thankful for the 10lb bag of rice my oldest daughter, Andrea, got as a birthday gift from her friend Amber. Mostly, we are so grateful for the support from everyone so far. Thank you all!!

If crowdsourcing isn’t your thing, yet you want to help, please contact one of us. We do have other options.

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Meet Toby - a goofy, sweet, loveable, and fun Dobermann who brings joy and comfort to our autistic daughter. Dobermanns are sometimes called velcro dogs. Toby lives well by that. He instinctually reads our daughter and responds with “comfort crushes”.

She lost her first “squishy”, a few years ago from DCM. Murphy was our daughter’s OG emotional support dog. He was her key to the world. His death left our girl lost again, in a world that continues moving at a different frequency than her. She needed more help than weighted blankets could offer.

She talked us into letting her find another service trainable dog.

She saved her money, conducted all the research, and found a wonderful respectable breeder, Avant-Garde in Acton, Me, who matches each puppy to the future owner’s situation/needs and also tests for DCM and other genetic issues. Our daughter really picked a great place. We couldn’t have done better. Toby is amazing!!

Unfortunately this perfect pup is also accident prone, and an avid sock hunter, even killing stockings still on feet! Due to his sock fetish, recently he had to have an emergency surgery for a bowel obstruction with two small perforations.

Surgery was a success, thanks Port City Veterinary Hospital!, and no gut leakage into his abdomen is suspected to have happened.

The Dr and the surgeon both predict a full 100% recovery and no long lasting issues, (except for the ongoing sock slurping). We were told after the surgery, that had we waited 12 hours more the prognosis would have been much different.

We are NOT eligible to receive grant money for pet emergencies from most foundations because we chose to pay upfront for immediate surgery. They will not accept apps requesting grants for services already paid for.

Toby is my daughter’s calm when her calm needs reinforcements. He is her voice. He is her link to social interaction. We as a family unanimously and immediately chose to save his life. At the cost of almost $12,000.

What’s a life worth? What are two lives worth? He is an extension of my daughter. Two lives hung in the balance. And we threw those gold coins on the tray without hesitation. I’d do it again tomorrow.

But the past year+ has been a rough time for our whole family. From deaths, traumas, house repairs, and a roof that still needs a permanent fix, we have been slammed. We as a family have shown great emotional resilience, but we are financially drained. Tapped out.

It has been extremely hard for us to decide to ask for crowdsourcing. So please no negativeness. If you can spare a few bucks to help us, we’d greatly appreciate it. Every little bit helps.

Please share this on all your social media groups. If just 2,300 people donate $5, our expenses will be met.

Proof of vet expenses shown in pics. A list of grants and foundations that we have looked into is available upon request.

Anything raised above and beyond the current vet bills may be used for:

1. follow up care,

2. and/or donated to another vetted family in a similar situation,

3. and/or used to buy Toby an anti-scavaging muzzle for indoor use

4. and/or other Toby proofing needs,

5. and/or valium for us (J/K)

6. And/or purchasing Toby insurance so we don’t find ourselves in a future financial situation such as this.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give us, and God bless!

P.S. If you cannot help financially, we totally get it. We can’t help us right now either! We will also graciously accept prayers and well wishes. And please if you ever need emergency care for your pet, consider Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital. They’re amazing!

No sock donations please.