Who Need Four Legs Anyway?

By Amy Meyer, SRC Fundraising Coordinator

In the summer of 2009, Patrick and I began searching on Petfinder for a new fur face to add to our family.  Our faithful female schnauzer, Nikki, was failing fast at age 17 and we knew the time for her to cross the Rainbow Bridge was not far away.  To help us deal with the grief of losing her and to provide a playmate for our other rescue dog, Ringo, we decided to begin looking for that special fur kid to bring home.

 

Zippy at the shelter with his bad front leg

We looked at many different dog bios but kept going back to one in particular.  There was just something special about him.  His name was Zippy and he was a three-legged schnauzer/chinese crested mix in the care of SRC.  He had been found as a stray, with his leg still intact (right front) but badly broken.  It was suspected that poor Zip had gotten his leg caught in a steel trap.  The leg had healed together wrong and it was determined that Zippy would have a better quality of life if the leg was amputated.  Oh how sweet his picture was!  And his story so touched our hearts.  We just knew that Zippy needed us as much as we needed him.  After going through the standard SRC adoption process, Zippy came home to us on June 6^th. 

Zippy loving life in his furever home

Although his handicap didn’t matter to us, we weren’t sure what to expect having a three-legged dog.  Would he need special care?  Could he interact with us and Ringo like a “normal” dog?  Well, we quickly found out that Zippy is just like any other dog.  Just because he is missing a leg doesn’t mean he isn’t happy and doesn’t mean he is limited in any way.  As Zippy settled in with us, we became amazed a little more each day.  He quickly showed us he could jump on and off the furniture, play a mean game of tug (which he always wins!) and even jump a standard size baby gate we had up to block off part of the house.  He was eager to take walks, often almost pulling us off our feet as he tugged on the leash.  He and Ringo became fast friends.  They were soon playing with toys, wrestling on the floor and chasing each other around the house.  Zippy amazed us with his energy, his flexibility, his balance, his attitude in general.  If you didn’t notice his leg was physically gone, you’d never know he was any different.

 

Winston is quite the dapper fellow

We also answered the “foster call” and began fostering for SRC.  One day, we got an email from Pat Miller, SRC founder, asking us if we would be willing to foster a tripod named Winston.  Absolutely!  We could think of nothing better than having another tripod in the house.  Our hearts now had a special spot for them.  When we met Winston, he was so pathetic!  He was at least 5-6 pounds overweight, not good for any dog, especially a tripod.  And he was a matted, filthy mess.  His previous owners had not bothered to have him groomed in quite some time.  The first thing we did was give him a haircut and a bath. It took three hours to shave off the hair!  But you could see that it made him feel so much better and he was so grateful for the love and attention.

As the next couple days went by, we fell more and more in love with Winston.  He was a little gruff and growly, but he had a really sweet side and seemed starved for kind words and love.  He seemed amazed to be in a place where he was getting attention and good care.  It didn’t take us long to decide that we could not bear to adopt him out, he had to stay with us!  And so we adopted him, making him our fourth rescued dog and second tripod.
 

"I love hanging out with Winston"

Winston was not as active and eager as Zippy.  Part of the problem was him being overweight but he also didn’t seem to realize he could still play and do lots of other doggie things with a missing leg.   Soon we realized he was watching Zippy and imitating him.  He seemed to be saying “If Zippy can do it, so can I!”  It wasn’t long before Winston was lifting his leg to do his business, quite a feat when one front leg is missing!  But he watched his tripod brother do it and followed right along.  We put Winston on a diet and in no time he slimmed down.  Getting the extra weight off made a big difference in his personality and mobility.  He started being less gruff and grouchy and more loving.  Soon he was running around the house giving chase to his fur brothers and playing with toys.  When the leash would come out, he would be the first one at the door, anxious to be off on a walk to explore the neighborhood.  While not quite as fearless as Zip, Winston doesn’t let anything get in his way or keep him from living a happy, carefree life.
 

Best buddies

Owning tripods does not require any more responsibility or care than having a four-legged dog.  The only real concern is ensuring they don’t get overweight, a concern though with any dog, especially schnauzers.  Extra weight on a tripod is sure to cause them even more joint issues as they age.  And we try to prevent them jumping off and on the furniture as much as we can too, again ensuring there is not extra strain on the remaining good legs.  Fortunately, both Zippy and Winston are fairly young yet but we will need to watch for joint strain and damage very closely as they get older. 

Zippy loves to help his Momma in the garden

Having the tripods in our lives has taught us many valuable lessons, like don’t take life too seriously, never let anything stand in your way, and be happy!  It amazes us to see these two guys so joyful and full of life despite their handicap and rough start in life.  We laugh when out with the dogs and someone makes a comment about feeling sorry for Zippy and Winston.  We always say don’t feel sorry for them, they don’t know they are missing a leg and are the happiest dogs we have ever seen!  Of course they both attract a lot of attention being tripods but we take advantage of that and use it as an opportunity to talk about SRC and rescue work in general.  And Zippy tries to help other “tripawds” by blogging about how great tripod life is.  You can read his blog at http:\\ameyer.tripawds.com.  To borrow a saying from Jerry, the tripawd inspiration behind www.tripawds.com:  It is better to hop on three legs than to limp on four!  So next time you are looking for a new fur baby, don’t pass up the tripod.  You may just find the greatest joy of life!