When Terry at Moondance Ranch in Colorado learned about Soldier's back problems, she offered to send a dog harness that she used for her dog Clifford after he had a stroke. Clifford has since gone over the Rainbow Bridge so Terry wanted to help Soldier with this gift. "She's an Earth Angel," my friend Rachael exclaimed when I shared this with her. Not only that, but Terry's husband, David, took the packet with him to Denver and mailed it Express Mail (no less!) from there so it would reach us faster. And it did, it came on Wednesday.
Look how great this harness is.
I opened the packet and inside was this top notch, best quality you could imagine, dog harness that looked perfectly new. Clifford was a larger dog than Soldier and I hoped the harness would fit. It's a size medium, the only size that would fit Soldier, and the front of the two-part harness fit perfectly. (It may look a bit loose in the photos, but this was just the beginning and we're adjusting it.) Then I realized something funny, or not: While Soldier has a powerful front, he has practically no rear end. So it would be difficult to fit the rear part, but in the end, as it turned out, it didn't matter at all.
Mommy didn't know you had such a small rear end, Soldier!
It may be a miracle, but the front end provides all the help that Soldier needs. If he gets in trouble while standing, we can grab the handle and lead him; if he sits down in that horrible position with his hind legs stuck underneath, it's very easy to get him up and moving again. Before we had to drag him and that was absolutely awful. I was worried he might break a leg or something. It looked that bad.
I read the instructions, it fits me, and now I'm smiling again.
But best of all, he has not sat down like that since he's worn the harness. It stabilizes him, somehow. He walks better, he does not stumble around, and consequently does not fall down or sit down with his hind legs going in weird directions. I don't think he's done it once since I put the harness on. So the part that fits really works.
Finally, our vet said that a harness would be the best help for Soldier and it will be. I am so grateful for this gift and Soldier and the rest of our family send thanks and lots of hugs to Terry and David at Moondance Ranch in Colorado.
