Get Mak Well

Mak's story:
Mak was given up to a shelter when he was 6 months old for being "too hyper" and misbehaved. I met him in October 2016 and instantly fell in love with his sweet personality, bright energy, and intelligence. I just HAD to take him home forever! I named him Makalu, after the 5th highest peak in the Himalayas (lofty aspirations for such a little pup) and began training with him so we could race together in Alaska. 

Over the last 3.5 years together, we've managed to win several health battles. 

January 2017 - Mak lost his vision to juvenile cataracts. We were able to finance a surgery for him to save his vision. $5200

June 2017 - Mak began having regular seizures. We were able to control it with a medication that had minimal side effects. $350

December 2018- Mak broke his tooth. We had surgery to remove his canine tooth. He kept ripping the stitches and getting infections but we finally got it healed up in January! $700

October 2019 - Mak began having more and more seizures. This culminated in a two week period where he couldn't sleep for more than an hour at a time and he was FRANTIC (pacing, crying, whining) while he was awake. After multiple ER visits, I took him to his primary vet and was told that this would only get worse until it finally took his life. We made an appointment to put him out of his apparent misery. As a last ditch effort, we took him to get his eyes tested (maybe he was frantic because he was plagued with headaches from high eye pressure?), they were normal. We were put in contact with a specialist who recommended an MRI and a change in meds. After 14 days of hell, we finally had our calm and friendly Mak back! $4300

Why we need help:

On Sunday, July 19th, Mr. Mak tore his  ACL (or CCL in dogs).

He has a full tear, which at his size, means our only effective option is a surgery to repair the damage. 

With this injury, he can't use his left hind leg effectively, this put extra stress on his good leg and he will tear his other ACL soon. The sooner we get the surgery, the sooner he can get back to regular movement and give his other leg a fighting chance.

If he were less active, older, or could otherwise live a happy life with limited activity, I would forgo surgery and work on keeping him comfortable. However, even with his bum leg, he still gets zoomies and tries to go for runs. Currently, he's only cleared for walks 10mins and under...he's going crazy! 

For the last 3 years, I've been working on a drastic career change, from marketing/pr to becoming a structure (city) firefighter. This has left me working 2-3 jobs at a time, year round. In the summers, I fight wildfires in Utah. In the winters, I usually work in the service industry in a ski town. This year, I'm working as a medical assistant at a local hospital while I re-test with the fire department. 

Because of COVID-19, the hospital is severely limiting available overtime, which means I can't work extra shifts to cover the cost of his latest surgery. I just finished paying off his $3500 MRI in July and I'm struggling to take care of both of us. I recently transferred to a COVID testing site closer to home so I can let him out at lunch, have more time with him, and can also respond quickly if anything happens while I'm on shift. 



Why it matters:
Mak means the world to me, he's more than just my puppy. He's my best friend, support system, training partner, and my reason to succeed. He's a happy and curious pup, eager to explore the world and chase whatever it has to offer. We have been through so much together but his sweet spirit has remained intact. I want to continue to give him the best possible chance at happiness and the opportunity to keep him doing what he loves. 


Please consider donating to this campaign to help offset the costs associated with caring for such an awesome pup. I’m so close to securing the life I’ve worked so hard to build for him, I just want him to be able to live long enough to see us reach our goals!