Brando and Arlo’s Stories:

Brando was adopted in March 2016 at 4 months old from Southeast German Shepherd Rescue. Brando is a 2.5 legged dog. Brando was surrendered to the Miami Dade County Animal Shelter in Miami, FL when he was so young that he had to be bottle fed. He was already missing his front leg and a quarter of his back leg. He was pulled
from the animal shelter by a local rescue where he lived in a foster home for a while until February 2016 when Southeast German Shepherd Rescue had him transported to VA into their Phoenix Dog program. Named for dogs that get a second chance at life and are "reborn". When Brando was about a year old, we started working with
North Carolina State Veterinary School to improve his mobility. A prosthetic limb was created for his partial rear limb by taking a CAT Scan and 3D printing his partial limb in plastic to make an exact t. This was done by Heather at Biotech Prosthetics in Durham NC. We also invested in a support vest for his front leg by Schon at Phoenix Animal Solutions to prevent his elbow from over rotating outward.. With these two pieces of equipment and physical therapy at NCSU Brando amazes us everyday. He enjoys going on hikes in the mountains, being goofy, meal times, and being a "police dog" by keeping his siblings in line.

Arlo:

Arlo was adopted in September 2015 at 11 weeks old from Saving Grace in Wake Forest, NC. Saving Grace pulled Arlo from a rural county animal shelter. At 10 weeks old, he had his front leg amputated from it being crushed and beyond repair and we are not sure how his leg ended up being crushed. In February 2016, Arlo had surgery at North Carolina State Veterinary School for a UAP in his only remaining front elbow which has been very challenging. He is very resilient and lives life to the fullest everyday. Arlo has been through many months of Physical Therapy at NSCU to maintain his mobility and wears a support vest from Phoenix Design Solutions to protect his elbow. Arlo enjoys being a "ham", lazing around with his mom and dad, chewing on bones, and playing with his favorite squeaker balls.

Jarrett B., North Carolina

M.I.A. “Miracle In Action”

Mia is a three legged lab who was dropped off at a shelter in the middle of the night 8.5 years ago with ½ of her front leg amputated and her pelvis broken in 4 places. She managed to survive that ordeal and is absolutely the most incredible living being I know living up to her name which stands for Miracle In Action. Needless to say I would go to the ends of the earth for her. We have been to University of Pennsylvania for ideas, had a prosthetic leg made for her, have driven to Massachusetts twice to get a cart made for her, we take her to physical therapy every week (for the past 3 years) and we have also had multiple of Schon Gross’ vests made for her. When we had our first vest made, Schon invited us to her house so she could meet Mia, take her measurements and design a custom vest that would protect and support her. Over the years as Mia’s condition would change, Schon would always fit us in and tweak Mia’s vests so that she would be protected and comfortable.

Mia