How Haatchi the Three-Legged Dog Is Helping a Disabled Boy

Seven-year-old Owen Howkins doesn't have to deal with Schwartz-Jampel syndrome by himself.

Like any good best friend, dogs sometimes push us to be stronger people. For one boy, canine support opened up his life to a whole new world. According to the Daily Mail U.K., a seven-year-old child with a fear of leaving the house is starting to take trips outside, thanks to his three-legged dog, Haatchi.

Owen Howkins became fearful of social situations at a young age when he was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, which made him look different from other kids his age. His anxiety became so severe that the boy started to loathe leaving his English home.

Those with Schwartz-Jampel syndrome experience constantly tense muscles. Will Howkins, Owen's father, thought that finding his son an understanding companion might help relieve Owen's fears. At a local animal rescue center, Will found the perfect candidate in an Anatolian Shepherd named Haatchi.

Haatchi arrived at the rescue center after being tied to some railroad tacks and getting hit by a train. The incident cost the dog his tail and a back leg. Staff at the shelter feared the damaged pup may never find a home due to his disability. Now both Owen and Haatchi have found the perfect friend to help them overcome their challenges.

Owen's family says the the doting dog helps the boy cope with his frequent hospital visits and understand that physical differences don't change how people feel about you.

"Owen used to be scared of strangers but he now wants to talk to everyone about Haatchi and wants to go out all the time to dog shows," said Colleen Howkins, Owen's step-mom, to the Daily Mail U.K. "The difference we see in him can't be put into words."

Haatchi will soon start bringing his healing company to others. The dog recently completed therapy training, so he can visit solider amputees and terminally ill children in hospitals.

Haatchi's wonderful work has earned him an award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a fact Owen is eager to chat about with his new friends.

Photo Credits: All shots via Haatchi's Facebook fan page.

This article first ran on our friend site, Pawnation. See more recent stories from that site:

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Before You Go To Heaven: Helping Terminally Ill Dogs on Death Row

Annie, who finally lived

Two weeks ago we ran a poignant, inspirational guest blog by Ashley Owen Hill, of Lucky Dog Rescue. We’re back again with another powerful post from her.

Maria Goodavage

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I was asked to share the story about what I do for special case dogs on death row in shelters. I do realize that this might not be the most popular idea with all of you, but I’m hoping that maybe it will inspire someone to do the same. If you ever have the chance to do this, it will change your life.

When there are terminally ill dogs on death row, I’ve made the decision to do something very special for them. Because treating these dogs for their conditions would cause them immense suffering, I choose not to treat them. However, I also choose not to leave them in the shelter to be killed. In short, I bring them into my home for a few days. I adopt them into my heart. I love them with all that I have. And then I do what’s best for them, and let them go.

Annie had never known happiness. She had been beaten, neglected, and starved all of her life, and then she was dumped at a shelter to die. Annie waited on death row, terrified and lonely, crying every night for someone to help her. She was very ill, and the pound asked if I was willing to take her. Yep, I’m on my way.

When I saw Annie, it was obvious that she was very sick. She was underweight, coughing, and having trouble breathing, in addition to skin and eye issues. The vet told me that Annie had advanced heartworm disease, congestive heart failure, and several other severe medical conditions. It was highly unlikely that she would pull through any of the treatments, and she would suffer tremendously throughout the process. The vet asked me if I wanted to go ahead with euthanasia. “No. I’ll bring her back next week. Before she goes to Heaven, she needs to know love.”

That day, I brought Annie home with me. I looked at her — so broken, so sickly, so unsure of whether she could trust — and I cried. I sobbed uncontrollably for Annie. Over the sad life she had led, the abuse she had endured, and now the life she would never have, thanks to the worthless people who never cared for her. And while I was bawling like a baby, Annie walked over and licked my tears, as if to say, “Don’t be sad. It’ll be okay.” This precious, wounded soul was comforting me. This girl, who had never known compassion in her life, was consoling me.

Annie with Ashley

And so, I got up, stopped my crying, and vowed to give her the best week of her entire life. No more crying. Not around Annie. She deserves to know only happiness now.

That week, Annie slept in the bed with me. She ate the best food. She played as much as her little heart could stand. She laid next to me on the couch for belly rubs. She laughed at funny movies with me. That week, Annie was home, for the first time in her life.

Every day, Annie and I sat on my special bench by Rudy’s grave and talked to him. I told Rudy that he would have a new friend in Heaven soon, and asked him to take care of her. I told Rudy all about Annie, and Annie all about Rudy. Annie loved our talks with Rudy. She loved anything that involved love. She’d never had it before.

When Annie got so weak that it was painful for her to live, I took her to the vet to end her suffering. I stayed with her, comforted her, and Annie wasn’t afraid. She was happy because I was there with her. Her mom was by her side — the only family she had ever known. The only person who had ever truly loved her. She felt safe.

Annie knew it was time — it hurt too much to go on. And I was there to hold her, to love her, to say, “It’s okay. You can go now, baby girl.” And as they stuck her with the needle, I whispered into her ear, “Know that I loved you. Know that you mattered. Know that you finally belonged to someone — you were everything to me. You will never really be gone, because you will live forever in my heart. Thank you for sharing your last days with me. It was truly an honor to love you.”

As the drugs entered Annie’s veins, she looked up at me one last time, and her eyes said, “Thank you. I love you.” And before she closed her eyes forever, I said: “When you get to Heaven, ask for Rudy. Tell him I sent you.”

And then, she was gone. I buried Annie in my backyard next to Rudy. She died on September 14, 2010.

But the week before her death, she finally lived.

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Petfinder: 15 years of helping pets find homes

March 11, 2011

Petfinder turns 15 years old on Tuesday, and all they want for their birthday is for homeless pets to take over the Internet.

In the decade and a half since Petfinder first assembled its pixels and bites and turned adopting a pet from a shelter or rescue pet into something you could do from your chair while wearing fuzzy slippers, the face of pet adoption in this country been revolutionized. Petfinder has been a big part of that change, with around 350,000 animals from around 13,000 shelters and rescue groups available for adoption on the site today.

In celebration of their 15 years of pet-person matchmaking, Petfinder is asking that its supporters help spread the world about adoptable pets by talking about them on Facebook and Twitter, blogging about them, decorating your blog or website with their widget, and several other fun ideas for spreading the Petfinder adoption message.

The date is next Tuesday, March 15, and the place to get more information is here.

Happy Birthday, Petfinder!

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Helping dogs deal with grief: A tragically first-hand account

Gina note: When I read this post by Dawn McMahon, one of the trainers at Liz Palika’s her Kindred Spirits dog training center, on their Dog Sense blog, I knew we had to share it with our readers as well, Fortunately, Liz agreed.

On the heels of a tragedy that hit the Kindred Spirits family hard last week, I feel compelled to write about how stress can affect our dogs. Most of us have daily stresses that we deal with and are normal to our lives, and our dogs learn to read what is normal for us. After all, their lives revolve around us. They are keen observers of our behavior and know when something is not right. Some dogs are more perceptive and sensitive to anomalies in our behavior than others, but they all know when something is not right.

All dogs react to unusual stress in our lives differently, and according to their individual personalities and sometimes age. For example: Sierra, my 6-year-old Lab, handles stress differently than my 17-month-old Aussie, Raz. Sierra is my bomb-proof girl. She is laid-back and not much fazes her. Raz, on the other hand, is a teenager trying to learn her place in the world. She is at the challenging stage in her life and is a little more wary of her world. She is considerably more reactive to stress than Sierra. She has less experience in this world and is relatively new to our home.

When Paul Palika was killed, the lives of the entire Kindred Spirits family were thrown into turmoil. Our love and feelings of loss for our fallen family member permeates our lives right now, and  it is not only stressful to the human family members, but also to our canine companions. We are all devastated, and our dogs are having to figure out what is going on, and why we are all acting weird. This transmits our stress onto them.

For my own dogs: Sierra is reacting to the stress by acting really goofy to get me to laugh and play with her, cuddling up to me and sleeping. Now, these are all normal behaviors for her, but she is doing them more than normal. For Raz, this stress is much harder. She is more reactive than normal, wants to be protective and is being a little bitchy. She is really feeling the stress and does not know what to do with it, so she is offering behaviors she thinks are necessary.

What do you do when your stress adversely affects your dog? Well, for me, I try to stick to my routine as much as possible, and make sure I maintain the structure I have already provided of my dogs. I let Sierra be more goofy. I cuddle and play with Sierra more. She is not offering anything that is inappropriate. For Raz, I try to help her understand what is an acceptable reaction and what is not by following the rules I have put in place since we brought her home. I also make sure they both burn off their excess energy, both physically and mentally, so they can settle down and relax.

If you have unusual stress in your life or if things just get too hectic, take steps to reduce that stress for your dog. It may help reduce your stress, too.

Three things you can do to minimize the stress:

Stick to your normal routine as much as possible.Go for a walk. Get your dog tired physically.Work your dog’s brain. Do some trick training, puppy pushups, or play a game.

Right now, all of us here at Kindred Spirits are not only turning to each other, but to our dogs to help comfort us. Working with our dogs gives us a break from our sadness and helps us calm our minds as well as the minds of our dogs. Talking to them can be therapeutic because they listen to us without judgement. Hugging or loving on our dogs makes us feel loved, unconditionally. Playing with our dogs is diverting and fun. There is nothing better than spending quality time with your canine companion.

Image: Maggie, courtesy of Kindred Spirits

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Dr. Becker kicks off a year of helping shelter pets

Shelter pets want nothing more than to move from a cage to a couch. One of the ways to help them do that is to cut down on the number of pets who find themselves in the shelter in the first place. And I’d like your help to make that happen.

As a practicing veterinarian, I’m all too familiar with the hard choices pet owners are having to make in these tough economic times. Facing a veterinary bill you can’t pay is painful, and your pet’s veterinarian feels that pain, too.

Fortunately, the American Animal Hospital Association created the AAHA Helping Pets Fund to assist veterinarians with the expenses of pets whose owners can’t afford them, as well as for pets who are abandoned at their clinics.

At the recent North American Veterinary Conference, I stopped by the AAHA booth to record this video about how I’m planning on help the Fund help pets:
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That’s all you have to do: Visit my Facebook page, and if you haven’t already done it, click “Like,” and I’ll donate $1, up to $1,000 total, for everyone who clicks.

If you’ve already “liked” my page, be sure to ask your animal-loving friends and family to do the same!

I’ll be continuing to raise funds and awareness for animals in need, particularly those in shelters, all year. I’ll also be helping pet owners find new, better and more cost-effective ways to keep their pets healthy and happy.

To follow the campaign, be sure to sign up for my free newsletter!

Let’s all join together, pet owners and veterinarians alike, and help the AAHA Helping Pets Fund keep pets out of shelters!

Photo: My beloved mixed breed shelter dog, Gracie.

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