Ollie’s Knee Surgery

Ollie is a five month old Australian cattle dog that I rescued a couple months ago. Him and his eleven brothers and sisters were found behind a trash can in Texas. Little Ollie has been doing an absolutely amazing job in the home so far and we have had the best couple of months. He has a million puzzle feeders and enrichment toys. He absolutely loves frozen lick mats, kongs, and the west paw toppl chew! We have been doing so much training and socialization. He knows the basics like sit, stay, down, and has a pretty great recall. He also knows "touch", "spin", "middle" where he moves between my legs and sits, and shake. He's learning place and extended stays. He has gotten to go to book stores, shoe stores, Home Depot, and pretty much anywhere that allows pets. I've been working really hard with him to be neutral in all environments. We've also been practicing loose leash walking and a relaxed heel. He's great at focusing on me and makes great eye contact and does voluntary check ins. When we play, he absolutely loves his flirt pole and chasing that around the park! He's still learning to like fetch. We also do outings where we practice some confidence building skills and jump on to different objects. He has been such an amazing friend! I can't wait to see what he can do as he continues to grow and get older!

However, a couple weeks ago we had a very unfortunate accident. We were driving 2 minutes down the street to our local PetsMart. He fell into the floor board of the car after trying to get into the front seat despite me having a car seat cover that blocks his way. He ended up breaking his knee with even just the short fall into the floor board. He was casted for the first weekend home and then had surgery to put in a few pins and reattach the bone and knee cap. He is healing up very well but is on bed rest for 6-8 weeks. His cast was removed and he is more comfortable without it. His incision is healing up very nicely. He has had a cone on for weeks! Poor guy! On the 9th he has to go back and have the pins removed from his knee so that they don't stunt his growth. Having to be on bed rest at such a young age, and for a working breed, who was used to getting multiple walks and training sessions a day has been really hard for him. I am working so hard to keep him mentally stimulated and as happy as possible during this time. I know that these six or eight weeks are going to be really tough but I keep reminding myself that we have a wonderful 14-16 years ahead of us!

The surgery was unfortunately upwards of $6000. I know that accepting the responsibility of a pet means that you also have to take on the responsibility of paying for their care. I'm already making plans to pay off this debt by putting money aside, determining where I can save, filing taxes early, etc. However, I would love any help I’m able to receive.