GREENVILLE, Maine — When Gunner saw his leash in the hand of his owner on a recent day, he did what any dog would do — he whined and wagged his lanky tail.
The 7-month-old Brittany spaniel’s true excitement bubbled over, however, when his owner, Alison Snell, reappeared from an adjacent room at Wilson’s on Moosehead Lake carrying a wheeled contraption. The sight of the device prompted a frenzy of movements from the partially paralyzed dog.
Try as he might, Gunner was unable to get his hind legs to stand. With his rump seated on the floor and only his front legs moving, Gunner propelled himself in circles on the shiny tile floor, his toenails clicking as he did so.
“It’s OK, Gunner, settle down, good boy,” Snell cooed to the dog as she snapped on the leash and half carried the dog outside, pulling the wheeled contraption behind. Once outside, Snell lifted the dog’s front legs over some bars and placed his belly on a cloth seat that lifted his back legs into a standing position. After being secured, Gunner took off with Alison and her 3-year-old son, Cullen, racing behind. Like a horse that’s released into a pasture after being hitched inside a barn all winter, Gunner pranced, raced fast and sniffed everywhere.
“He has made huge progress,” Snell cried out. She said Gunner couldn’t move his tail or his legs after suffering an injury in November. Now he can move his tail and can straighten his legs at times and drag his body along in a lopsided way. Having lost control of his bowels after the injury, Gunner now recognizes when he has to go and pulls himself over to the door and whines, she said.
Gunner was a frisky puppy when the Snells purchased him in July. The couple and their three children — Colby, 12, Caleb, 7, and Cullen — recently had buried a 10-year-old dog that had died of a brain tumor. Since Scott Snell, Alison’s husband, enjoys bird hunting, the family decided to get another Brittany spaniel to join Dizney, a 2-year old, and Gizmo, a long-haired Chihuahua.
As projected, Gunner was a wonderful dog and he started hunting with Scott this fall at 5 months old, Alison Snell said. “He has a great heart and spirit and loves to please,” even after his injury, she said.
Scott Snell recalled with clarity the November day Gunner was injured. He said that before the couple left to do some shopping, they hitched Gunner to his outside run. While shopping, they received a call from one of their guests who said he’d heard a yelp and then noticed the dog was acting strange.
Upon their return home, the couple found a very sick dog.
“It was as if he was having a seizure. His whole body was stiff and he was shaking,” Alison Snell recalled.
A veterinarian who saw Gunner soon after said the dog had dislocated his spine from the middle of his back to his tail, and suggested surgery. While the veterinarian had no answer for the condition, he concluded that something must have landed on his back and asked whether the dog could have been run over by a vehicle or a larger dog could have jumped onto his back.
While she hates to consider it, Alison Snell said, the injury also could have been deliberately caused by someone visiting their lodging facility.
Despite the injury and the 50-50 chance given for Gunner’s full recovery, the Snells weren’t willing to give up on their pet with the large, penetrating eyes. While they could not afford surgery for Gunner, they took him to a veterinarian with chiropractic training who worked the dog’s spine back into place.
The Snells also put Gunner on a regimen of medicines, including painkillers and antibiotics, and a special diet, a costly expense for the young couple who have a business to run. They also faithfully attended to his needs, from massaging Gunner’s back to working to strengthen his muscles.
“It has been very costly, but we just can’t give up on him,” Alison Snell said. “He’s got a lot going for him — he’s young, he is in good health, he’s got the right personality and positive attitude. Dogs get depressed, and he hasn’t.”
To help Gunner’s mobility, Scott initially rigged up a harness and he or Alison would hold the dog’s hind end up to allow him to get some exercise, but the process was very tiring for the couple. Hoping to find someone with a pet wheelchair they could borrow, Alison contacted just about everyone she knew through e-mail. While she received many replies as well as some prayers, no one had a wheelchair to lend.
Scott then studied the “pricey” wheelchair designs on the Web and came up with a design of his own. In a few hours, he had assembled a device from scraps including copper tubing, two tractor wheels and a hunting vest, according to his wife.
That wheelchair has given Gunner fun and exercise, Alison Snell said as she watched the dog romp about.
“We have made huge progress. We hope he keeps improving,” she said. “We’re very optimistic. We can’t give up on him. He’s a member of our family — he’s like one our kids.”