My Name is Joe Burton and I am not a Dr. or a Vet or have any medical background whatsoever.  I am just a father of 3 and an animal lover who personally has been blessed by having two IVDD Dogs come into my life.  My family and I adopted Elsie several years ago from a breeder who was just looking to make a quick dollar off here because she was no longer useful to her.  At the time we did not know she had early signs of IVDD and just thought we were opening our home to a dog who needed a place to be loved.  Almost immediately Elsie took to me and began to feel safe and secure.  You could tell she had needed someone to love her for years and her story up to that point was scary and ugly.  After having her for a few months, we noticed that she was losing a little strength in her back end.  She would be walking and then her back legs would give out for a second or two causing her to stumble and fall.  She had a ton of health issues from her breeder lifestyle and at the time we thought this was just another issue we had to work through.  We took her to the vet the next day to have it looked at and they informed me she had IVDD.  I had never heard of this before and was naive to how serious it was.  they recommended doing surgery and kept her over night with surgery to come the next day.  Unfortunately, during the night, she lost all the feeling in her rear legs and even with the surgery she never regained it.  While Elsie may never walk again that has not stopped her from having an amazing life.  She is spoiled and still leads a normal and happy life.  She has a wheelchair that she uses outside, can move around the house and is very playful and happy pup. 

 

I started this foundation because i want to share her story with the world and offer guidance for those that are going through this with their pups.  While IVDD is fairly common among certain breeds it was very hard for me to find any real help or information on it.  I struggled with how to properly care for her, how to deal with issues as they arise and a lot of it came down to trial and error.  IVDD Awareness Org is going to connect thousands of pet owners and vets around the world and let them share ideas, stories and more and really help insure dogs who have this are properly cared for and owners have the resources to give their dogs a happy life.

 

We also never want to see a dog not get the care they need.  Sadly, when faced with the surgery costs many owners elect to have their dogs put down.  I never want to see a dog be put to sleep over a financial concern.  We will be raising funds to help pay for surgeries of dogs who need it and also take care of dogs whose owners choose to surrender them.

 

I Can promise you that you will never have a dog love you more than one with special needs and they all deserve a chance to live and be happy dogs.  I now have owned 2 IVDD dogs (we rescued a second that needed a forever home) and can tell you first hand the amazing joy they bring to your life.