Juniper the dog had a rough start in life.
When she was younger, the beautiful pooch, now believed to be nine years old, was forced to take part in a dog fighting ring – which left her with facial scars.
Her previous owners also had her teeth filed down.
Juniper was eventually rescued and homed at a shelter in Puget Sound in Washington, where she met her current owner, 27-year-old Maggie Hull from Seattle.
‘I was told that she had been a bait dog,’ said Maggie.
‘They usually take a smaller, more vulnerable dog and train other dogs to fight and injure that dog.
‘She has a lot of scars on her face and her teeth were filed down so that she couldn’t defend herself. She had been through a lot.
For a while, the pair enjoyed their life together – but unfortunately, just five months after being adopted by Maggie, Juniper suffered a spinal stroke that left her paralysed from the waist down.
Following the surgery, Juniper had to do year of rehab, learning how to stand and walk again – but unfortunately only her leg regained its nerve function.
As a result, the pitbull mix had her leg amputated in October 2017 and now has a special wheelchair that allows her to move around.
Maggie said: ‘We were at the dog park and she jumped in the car and writhed around in pain. I rushed her to the hospital.
‘The vet told me she had suffered a stroke.’
Despite her injuries and her rough past, Juniper is a trooper, who regularly goes on adventures with her human.
Maggie said: ‘She needs the wheelchair to hold her up and support her on longer runs.
‘At home and in my office, she is out of the wheelchair.
‘She can hop around fine on three legs for short distances but when we are out she needs the wheelchair.
‘It is pretty sturdy – she can go in the water and in the mud and run over curbs.’
Sadly Juniper is also incontinent, and has to wear diapers when she’s in the house.
Maggie said: ‘The most difficult thing is that she is fully incontinent.
‘She can’t go to the bathroom on her own. She wears doggy diapers when she is inside.
‘She is prone to getting UTIs and she is constantly on antibiotics.’
But even that doesn’t stop Juniper from enjoying her life, happily swimming in lakes with her wheelchair and chasing birds to her heart’s content.
‘She is comfortable and happy,’ Maggie added.
‘I hope she will be around for a good, long time.
Dogs are very forgiving. Junie has certain fears and some anxiety but for the most part she loves people which is interesting as I assume people didn’t treat her very well in the first part of her life.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/10/pooch-forced-dog-fighting-lost-leg-stroke-wont-let-break-spirit-12216169/
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