It's been a while since I have updated everyone on Monty's progress. As you all may remember, Monty (short for Sir Montague), is the GSD that was hit by a passenger train in Montclair, NJ right before Christmas last year. He came to my rescue early in January 2009. In addition to a severed spinal cord, a fractured skull and a nasty load of hookworms, Monty also tested positive for heartworm. That floppy ear, which at first the vets thought might have been partially cut off during the accident, is floppy due to chronic ear infections which caused hematomas that were more than likely not treated. There is so much scar tissue on the ear that it is now "too heavy" to stand up like the other one. Our feeling is that it adds yet more "character" to a dog that is about the most wonderful, sweet, good-natured, "take-life-as-it-comes-and-be-happy" creature that all of us who have come to know him have ever met.Monty has come a long way since the day I drove to Montclair to get him. He is now a pro at getting around in a wheel chair and just comes alive when he is in it. He is also quite mobile and independent even without the chair. Monty's wonderful foster parents, Donna and Rick, live on 14 acres of land; in the mountains. They have a couple of rather daunting hills, I know it would be a challenge for ME to go up and down those hills. But Monty is quite capable of running up and down those hills, with or without that wheel chair and will only "allow" Rick to help him with a harness when he feels he needs it. When he is in the wheel chair, Rick has to keep Monty on a long leash or Monty will take off and Rick cannot keep up with him. Rick takes Monty on a 2-4 mile hike around their property just about every day and Monty has gotten so bold that he has taken some too-tight turns trying to chase down a bunny or squirrel and has flipped the chair a couple of times. He now knows to wait patiently until Rick can catch up and get him uprighted and off he goes again.
Monty had been using a wheel chair generously loaned to us by a friend. We just recently had a K-9 Carts wheel chair custom made for him and we went to Maryland to pick it up last Wednesday. Monty came along so his new chair could be properly adjusted. It was a very long trip, about 4 hours each way. But he was just great and when we finally got down to Oxford, MD and we put him in his new chair, he immediately started trotting down the street and around the huge field in back of the facility. Dr. Parkes (K-9 Carts) took some video of Monty trying out his new wheelies (see link below). Also below is a link to a short video one of my volunteers took a couple of weeks ago of Monty in his "loaner." This was taken at the end of his run. He started out by running up that hill (which by the way is MUCH steeper than it looks from this angle) like a bat out of hell, walked around the property for at least 20-30 minutes and then ran down the hill on the way back.
Please spread the word about Monty, he is looking for just the right permanent home. He needs a family that is just as special and big-hearted as he is. He has survived against all odds and continues to inspire everyone he meets, now he just needs the happy ending he so truly deserves.
Please spread the word about Monty, he is looking for just the right permanent home. He needs a family that is just as special and big-hearted as he is. He has survived against all odds and continues to inspire everyone he meets, now he just needs the happy ending he so truly deserves. My deepest gratitude to everyone who has so generously donated towards his care over the last few months and above all to Donna and Rick, Monty's amazing foster parents. Without them, Monty would have become another sad statistic.
Video: Monty at the end of one of his hikes
Rosemary