Buddy is my 3 year-old puppy; he has paralyzed his back legs. This has impacted my life in a huge way.

The veterinarian announced that Buddy is going to be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Once I heard this horrible, sick to my stomach news I thought we were going to have to put Buddy to sleep. But I got some relief when my mom told me that she wasn’t going to do that. I almost hate having to live with my dog in this condition because it makes me so sad and knowing he can’t ever fully be a normal playful dog again. I wish I could change that.

Buddy is starting to be a very high maintenance pet because he poops and pees all around the backyard so we have to constantly clean up after him. He also has lots of sores from dragging his back legs around on our concrete patio. We put wraps (bandages) around his sores to keep them from getting worse and also to help them possibly heal, but they don’t seem to be helping. Buddy’s sores are hard to look at because a lot of his fur is rubbed off.

Since winter is getting closer the weather is starting to get colder, so we have to keep buddy inside more often or else if he stays outside he could freeze. My mom bought him doggy-diapers so we don’t have to worry about him going to the bathroom in the house. Since he can’t walk through the doggy-door to go to the bathroom the diapers are a big help. I wish he was able to go through the doggy-door and go to the bathroom all by himself again.

I’m still getting use to Buddy not running up to me when I get home or when I go in the backyard. It’s hard when I think to go out and play with my dog and tell myself that he can’t play because of the way he is. I still go outside every once in a while to pet his head and keep him company, but something I’ve noticed is that even though he is crippled, he still acts like the same sweet playful dog he always was and always will be.

This has really impacted my life because Buddy is very special and he means a lot to me. And seeing what horribly happened to him made me become more cautious of what I’m doing because I would be devastated if what happened to him, happened to me. I think I have grown more love for my dog because of trying to take care of him and making sure he’s always okay. Yet this puts a lot of stress on my family and me because he is so high maintenance and we already have five people to take care of. It’s hard to deal with Buddy being this way, I wish Buddy could walk normally again.