Jude

Jude was paralyzed when he arrived at MaxFund and is now walking and leading an amazing life. This is what Jude’s adopter said about him:

I’ll never forget meeting Jude. I was doing some quick potty breaks with the shelter pups before returning home to my foster mom and puppies. I overheard some volunteers talking about this poor sweet paralyzed pup; and because of his . . . complexities we’ll call them, it was incredibly difficult to get him out of his kennel. I immediately fell in love with him. He was/is one of the sweetest, most grateful dogs I have ever met. He exuded potential and excitement for life. I knew he would – and wanted to – do the work, if someone could just help him get there. He so clearly wanted to enjoy life like all the other dogs he watched. His spirit, more than anything, has got him to where he is today.

Beyond being mostly paralyzed in his hind area, he had severe skin lesions of unknown origin covering his body. He is also large and incredibly fast; meaning he could tear up his feet and legs (by dragging them) in just a few moments, no matter the ground covering. It became apparent that he was not properly socialized as a puppy, as he would get body-shakingly overwhelmed with just a bit of attention. He had unnatural body language and an unfortunately unfriendly-sounding voice. He was fully incontinent – so pretty much always dirty despite the best efforts from everyone to keep him clean. In short, he was a sweet little mess.

How much work and love to get him to where he is now?

This question makes me smile; I think the answer is: endless. Endless work and endless love. I don’t know where to begin on how much work it’s been. For the first six or so months, I didn’t work; attending to him was a full time job. Keeping him clean, keeping our house clean, three or four medicated baths per week, daily topical medications, daily physical therapy, managing his appointments, food trials, medication trials, Jude-proofing our home, designing and redesigning canine schedules, constantly correcting posture and limb positions, providing safe stimulation, conditioning behavior, introducing socialization, potty-training . . . the list honestly goes on and on.

Jude and I started our journey together doing his rehab exercises with other volunteers at the shelter. It’s been about a year and a half into the journey and it brings tears to my eyes thinking about how far he’s come. Most of his needs are ongoing but he continues to make progress and inspires me daily by consistently exceeding everyone’s expectations.

Jude can now stand beautifully, walk down the block with his doggie sister, wag his tail, swim without a life jacket, and is very close to being potty-trained! (Extra grateful for that last one!) Jude is forever eager to enjoy life to the fullest and it brings me joy to walk with him on this journey. We will be forever grateful to each individual and organization that has helped Jude get to where he is today.