Check Out Finn, The Dog Who Lost His Two Back Legs

By
Miranda B
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Finn is a 14-year-old dog who loves going on backpacking trips. However, about a year ago, he lost his back legs.

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MORE FINN, PLEASE! I have been getting a lot of requests for more posts about Finn along with a lot of questions. For those of you who know his story, I apologize for the recap, but I decided it would be easier to address some of them here! + What happened to Finn? In January Finn suffered spinal trauma from a terrible leap he took off of our camper van bed. Since then he has had physical therapy weekly in the form of swimming, underwater treadmill, cold laser therapy and electro-acupuncture. While he does have very limited mobility in his hind legs and we still hope that will progress more over time, we decided that at his age (14) we would risk wheelchair dependence so that he could enjoy some freedom. + Where did you get his wheelchair? We worked with his physical therapist @healingartsvet to get fitted for an Eddies Wheel’s wheelchair. We had it custom made with “off road” durability so he could bomb around the beach, cruise hiking trails and do all the things he loved doing prior to his accident. + Will Finn walk again on his own? Finn can take a few steps at a time – some days are better than others. We are not sure if he will ever do much more than that, but he still full of life, loves playing with toys and doesn’t at all feel sorry for himself about his current circumstances. He is still his same goofball self (this photo about sums that up as he takes a break mid-walk to have a big yawn). In fact, watching how resilient he has been through all of this has been humbling to me. He truly is FINNspirational! + Can Finn lay down in his chair? No, the chair is made solely for adventuring and getting exercise. He can, however, go to the bathroom with it on. + How much did Finn’s wheelchair cost? Finn’s wheelchair was just about $600 for the chair alone and $150 for the fitting and measurements. I do suggest if you are looking into a wheelchair for your dog that you have it fitted and measured properly to ensure it is comfortable and built to your dogs needs! I am sure I missed some questions so feel free to ask any that you have! — #ilovemydog #rescuedogsrock #dogmomlife #thedodo

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“At 13 years old, Finn was doing 20, 30-mile backpacking trips,” his mom shared with The Dodo. “Until, all of the sudden…In January of this year, we were camping and he was laying up on the back of the bed. He just took the 6-foot leap and went straight out the back of the van.”

According to his owner, when he lost his legs, it didn’t just affect him physically, but mentally as well, so they decided that a wheelchair was the best option.

“It’s amazing to see what they can go through and bounce back from,” she added. “Finn’s attitude is just all or nothing. We’re truly blessed to be among their company. He’s never given up and it’s just incredible to know that he never wanted us to give up on him. He’s the most important thing in my life.”

If you are curious to see more of Finn’s cute face, have a look on Instagram.

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These three had a howling good time being dirtbags at #descendonbend this past weekend. They were up all day bombing around the desert – playing fetch, kicking up dust and making friends with other descend dogs and we were up all night bombing around the party. We danced with a pineapple and a swan, learned to play one cord on the banjo, found Aladdin, threw quinoa, won some raffle items, made some new friends and created countless memories. It was a weekend for the books and minus my overwhelming exhaustion and my voice being entirely gone from talking, singing and yelling too much , I already can’t wait for next year. Thanks for the outstanding weekend @descendonbend – we all descended a little too hard – just like I expected! — #rescuedogsrock #dogsofdescend #ilovemydog #dogmomlife #dirtbags

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Finn loves to sleep in tents! I think he misses the backpacking trips where he would crawl into the tent and curl up on my sleeping bag after a long day of hiking. He would wait anxiously for us to set up the tent and be the first one in when the door was unzipped. After a nap he’d be ready to play and check out the campsite! Recently, just for fun we set up the tent just to let him go in and hangout for a while. It definitely isn’t the same as his days of backpacking but he seems to enjoy it. Just like old times – when he saw us getting it set up he wheeled himself to the door to be let in! Do you ever have that stomach dropping, near-tears feeling where you realize how much you’re going to miss a moment even when you are still living it? This was one of them. Pre-nostalgic. To be honest I have been having a lot of those with Finn lately because I am so terrified of losing him. So tonight, and maybe every night this week, I am going to set the tent up in the yard just so he can enjoy a brief “camping” trip! Geez, maybe we will even sleep out there. (If you’re at all familiar with Portland – we will fit right in…😂). — #ilovemydog #dogmomlife #sleepoutside #rescuedogsrock

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Just look at this guy! Isn’t he the best “Roll Model”? When Finn is in his wheelchair he seems to attract attention wherever we go. People go out of their way to come ask about him, to pet him, to tell him what a brave and amazing guy he is and he sucks it all up! In fact, now he just assumes that every person we see wants to give him attention. We will be walking along and he will just start going up to random people or wait for them to come to him. The other day we took him to a brewery and he caused such a commotion – he wanted to be sure to stop by every table to say a proper hello. It took us about 20 minutes to get to our table! His legs may not work great but apparently his ears work more than fine – he loves hearing what a good boy he is and all the people cheering him on! It is pretty heartwarming to watch! As Scott Hamilton once said “The only disability in life is a bad attitude!” and Finn certainly DOES NOT have one of those! He also had a very good vet visit last week with @feltondvm – he had improved liver values and a lump that only returned fatty tissue! Go Finn!!! ❤️ — #FINNspirational #dogmomlife #ilovemydog #rescuedogsrock

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Finn LOVES his new wheelchair (his ORV as we all it) so much you guys! He still is adjusting to it and we still only do about ten minutes three times a day to build his strength, but he is definitely getting the hang of it. Once in a while he will still bang into something or get a wheel stuck on a root or a rock but he is learning how to navigate it better and understands it is back there. This weekend he wheeled himself multiple times to the water to play stick, dig rocks and swim. While he can stay in the chair in shallow water we take him out quite a bit and let him swim. Finn has always lived for swimming and I think his favorite part of having his wheels is the ability to get himself in and out of the water again like a real dog! It is so fun to watch him go barreling right into the water in it! A weekend filled with sun, lakes, good friends, dogs and a happy swimming Finn – what could be better? I hope you all had a great weekend! — #rescuedogsrock #ilovemydog #dogmomlife

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