Today, I want to share something very personal and current with you. In January 2025, our four-year-old rescue pup Ozzie became paralyzed in just seconds.
Over the past two months, my family has struggled with adjusting to Ozzie’s new normal, where hopes of recovery have gone down and up, and we take everything day by day.
This is only the beginning of our story, and we have a long road to recovery ahead. I’ll be posting updates mostly on Ozzie’s Instagram, but I wanted a place to share how Ozzie came to be paralyzed, and to share his motivating journey to recover.
Because that’s what this story is: hopeful and inspiring.
It is my hope that this story reaches another family who could use the encouragement and example from Ozzie for their own little four-legged friend.
My Squeaking Meatball
In the midst of the pandemic in 2020, my little dog Meatball passed away. During his last few years, he was completely blind. By the time he passed, he had turned senile, and it was difficult to watch him struggle. So, we knew it was his time to go.
Meatball taught me a lot about adaptability. We learn so much from animals. Let me tell you, Meatball was a resilient teeny tiny fella.
He LOVED rubber duckies. A friend gifted him a little rubber ducky; it was love at first sight for Meatball. He loved how the duck would squeak, carrying it around in his mouth.
He did this even while blind. As a Boston Terrier, his nose didn’t stick out farther than his eyeballs. His eyes were big, bulgy, and stood out. So, when he first went blind, he kept injuring his eyeballs when he would walk into things.
Originally, I thought I would need to get him some sort of cone to stop him before he walked into something. But in the end, he came up with his own solution and started carrying the rubber ducky in his mouth everywhere he went.
Whenever he would walk into things, he would hear a squeak squeak and squish the rubber ducky instead, telling him to stop walking.
It was hilarious, but also brilliant. Animals are these amazing creatures that are here to teach us to much about love, resilience, and adaptability. And Meatball was just that.
Meeting Ozzie
When Meatball passed, I had a really hard time. I told myself I wouldn’t get another dog for a while, as I was also going through life changes, including separation, moving houses, and all that comes with those things.
Kiddo was six years old at the time, and I was trying my best to help him adapt to the changes. Meanwhile, a pandemic was still raging.
But as it happens with many pet owners, the moment I was ready for a new dog just suddenly clicked. While scrolling on Facebook, I saw a picture of this cute, scruffy dog complete with a little beard from a rescue called Bone Voyage, which helps homeless Mexican dogs find homes in Canada.
I tell everyone Ozzie’s my very successful online relationship.
I submitted myself as interested. The next thing you know, they approved my application and soon we would have a little dog in our life again.
Ozzie was found on the side of the road between two towns where nobody lived, apparently abandoned. Some patron spotted a tiny puppy. When they pulled over, they found him covered in mites, scabies, and fleas, and the poor puppy was starving.
At the rescue, they gave him medicinal baths to help fix his skin and lots of love. Immediately, he blossomed into this funny, loving little dog.
After he was old enough for his shots and had been neutered, they transported him to Canada. On August 6th, 2021, Ozzie was ready for me to pick up.
When they handed him to me, he put his little paws around my neck and clung to me. And since that day, we’ve always been together.
Ozzie Adapts to Canada
Since I work from home, I take Ozzie with me everywhere I go. When I first got him, I already had a camping trip booked. Ozzie quickly found himself in the Canadian woods…and he wasn’t so sure about that.
It took him a lot of time to adjust to living in Canada. And I totally get why! After flying on a plane and being transported in many cars to many locations, he was pretty dozy in those first few days.
Over the next three weeks, he got into plenty of mischief and learned the rules, including living with Magic the Cat. Once he felt settled, I really saw him build that trust with me and kiddo.
He became the friendliest therapy dog. Ozzie has such a big heart and gets along with everyone. He’s not skittish or jumpy; he just loves every dog and human he sees. When people come over, especially those who are going through something, he will walk right over and sit on your foot.
Without saying anything, Ozzie tells me when others are upset. If I see him sit on someone’s foot, I’ll ask, “Are you okay?” and sure enough, they could use a hug and a friend.
We call Ozzie a heart dog because he’s just the most amazing animal and has quickly become the heart of our family.
Ozzie’s Paralysis
At the beginning of 2025, I went on a trip out of the country. While I was away, Ozzie was staying at a friend’s house with their family and their dog. While playing, the other dog jumped on his back. There was a snap, and he was immediately paralyzed.
Accidents happen, and unfortunately, Ozzie was on the receiving end of a bad moment.
Many dogs wrestle, and I’ve always been careful with Ozzie and his back. I was warned long before I got him that long-backed dogs have vulnerabilities, and you need to be extra careful around their backs. We had a rule in our house that you didn’t just pick up Ozzie because we didn’t want to hurt his back. We’ve always been gentle with our little guy.
Unfortunately, this dog liked to jump on backs, and it was too much for Ozzie and he got paralyzed. We got the news while we were away on vacation, and it was extremely devastating and stressful. I arranged for him to stay at the hospital where he could have 24/7 care.
The Surgery Option
There was a lot of back and forth on whether surgery would be right for him. At the time, he was diagnosed with stage 4 paralysis, meaning he had feeling in his feet and tail, but he couldn’t use his legs, bowel, or bladder.
According to the vet, he had a large chance of recovering with surgery, but he also had a 60% chance of recovering the use of his legs with rest and medication. We were quoted for $12,000 to have the surgery. Having already spent $5,000 on his evaluation and treatment, the 60% chance of recovery sounded like the best option.
Unfortunately, Ozzie went into stage 5 paralysis overnight. He lost all feeling in his legs and tail. Now, his chance of recovering the use of his legs, bladder, and bowels went down to 10%. For surgery they said he had a 50% chance of surgery.
At that point, they didn’t give us much time to decide, and it was really difficult to think through. After weighing the options overnight, we decided to go for the surgery.
But then the vet changed their recommendation. Now, myelomalacia was a concern. This is a condition that can occur after a spinal cord injury, impairing the blood supply and ultimately killing the spinal cord. This is extremely painful for the dog, and it slowly moves towards the head. Euthanasia is the recommended course of treatment.
Myelomalacia takes time to develop, so the vet recommended we wait a week to see whether or not he would have this fatal condition.
And while we waited, we ended up getting good news: Ozzie had regained feeling in his feet and tail.
The Road to Recovery
This is the news every pet owner wants to hear. It was a straight up miracle. Even the vet and neurologist were shocked. Everyone couldn’t believe that he was starting to get feeling back.
Now that he was getting feeling back, the treatment options changed. We would postpone the surgery and keep up with medication and rehabilitation over the next 4-6 weeks instead.
Since then, Ozzie has been doing constant rehabilitation. He requires round-the-clock care, as he can’t walk or pee on his own and has no control over his bowels. We have to manually express his bladder, change diapers, and constantly wash all the pee pads and bedding. We have crates, ramps, and booties. While he’s scared, we’re also trying to adapt and navigate it all.
The main issue is that I have an injured back, and Ozzie is far too heavy for me to carry. While he may not look like it, he surprises everyone with his solid chunky body. He feels more like a big dog when you carry him around.
Ozzie has a special harness called the Help Me Up Harness, and along with his booties, we get him outside as much as possible. But it’s an extreme amount of work on my already aching body and for my family too.
Right now, we’re doing what we can at home to help him regain feeling. We do bicycles with his legs, massage them with a toothbrush, and bounce him on his feet a little bit using the harness so he can start to regain feeling.
Ozzie has done some water therapy, but most of the work is done at home, followed by plenty of cuddles, love, rest, and support, so he feels like he wants to heal.
Support Ozzie Dog
While we’re doing what we can at home, I face my own physical limitations due to my own disability. We’re asking for help sending Ozzie to rehab, which is extremely expensive. We want to get him more water therapy and work with some rehab specialists to continue to strengthen him.
If you want to support Ozzie journey, you can do so by supporting my fundraiser here.
And if you’d like more information and to follow along with Ozzie’s journey, I made him his own account where you can stay up to date with his journey.
Thank you for your support and love. It means the world to me, my family, and little Ozzie dog.
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