It never ceases to amaze me when I see what people will do for the love of a dog. We’ll go to the end of the world for them, just like they’d do for us.

The story of Cheyenne and Dollar.

My daughter Cheyenne got a puppy as a gift in November 2009.  He’s an American Bulldog/Boxer mix. She fell in love with that dog. She was 22; he was just a few months old.  She named him Dollar and they lived with me in Miami for much of the first year.

They bonded right away.  Once we figured out Dollar was deaf, she absolutely took him under her wing and gave him everything he needed to be successful.  He even graduated from obedience class at the local Petsmart. Obviously, it wasn’t clicker training, but trained he was!

Cheyenne and Dollar stayed in Orlando until she graduated from UCF and got a job there. After a few years, they moved to Jacksonville, FL for a promotion and a great new opportunity. Eventually, she transferred back to Orlando.

Her sister and I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. Recently, we were thrilled to hear that she took a position in Charlotte, NC.

Through the years the team of Cheyenne and Dollar stayed together through thick and thin. To this day they love and protect each other. He is her constant companion, except when she’s traveling, which is whenever she can.

When she goes out of town, Dollar stays with private pet sitters in their home. The last sitter in Orlando loved the dog so much that she kept him for a few weeks after Cheyenne moved.  The sitter said it was to help Cheyenne get settled, but they both knew it was really because she’d miss him. After a few weeks, they met 1/2 way between Charlotte and Orlando for the drop-off. That’s the kind of dog I’m talking about.

Gonna stop gushing about my grand-doggy and tell you what’s going on. 

A few evenings ago, after work, my daughter took Dollar to the dog park. He loves to run around with the other pups and cut loose whenever he can.  

As he ran to take a jump over something, she saw his right leg kick out in a weird way. When he landed, she knew it wasn’t good.

Wincing in pain, he cried with every step he tried to take. Somehow she managed to get him back to the apartment.

“Ma, what should I do? I love this dog so much.”  

“Keep him still.  Is his leg hot? Get him an icepack.”

“Cheyenne, try to calm down.  He’ll sense you’re worried and that’ll make it worse.”

Not a good night for either of them.  The next morning she called the Banfield Clinic at Petsmart.  She’d had Dollar insured with them ever since she got him – 10 years.  She was told by a number of different locations that they didn’t have time for him.  Can you imagine? This is an emergency and he’s a long-time client/customer/patient. They don’t have time?  I never heard of such a thing.

It so happens that there’s a vet on the first floor of her apartment building.  She called the office and they immediately gave her an appointment. Not only that, but they supplied a wagon for her to transport him in.  He’s a big guy and she didn’t know how she was gonna get him there. They certainly saved the day for my precious grand-doggy.

After examining him, they determined he’d need an MRI. “Leave him here and come back in 4 or 5 hours so he’ll have time to recover from the anesthesia.”

With fingers crossed, Cheyenne went home and tried to figure out what she could do to help Dollar. 

Googling up a storm, she read about a dog knee brace and a sling that supports the rear legs. What about the artificial turf for him to pee on?  That way he wouldn’t have to walk outside.

Finally, it was time to speak with the vet. In the first place, it seems Dollar completely tore his ACL in his right leg. Not to mention, he has a partially torn meniscus on the same leg. Additionally, he’s got a slight tear in ACL in his left leg.

When you love your dog so much, this is not what you want to hear. He needs surgery on the right leg.

Not so fast.

The doctor says, “When I was going over his records from his last checkup 6 months ago, I discovered that he may have an issue with his kidneys. If that’s true, we won’t be able to do the surgery.“

That means they can only give him pain meds and he’s gonna suffer the rest of his life!

“We’ll need to do some tests. Come back in 2 days and we can go over the results.“

…to be continued.