His Story, in the words of his adoptive mom: 

Teddy is a Male Miniature Australian Shepherd that was rescued by The National Mill Dog Rescue from a foul puppy mill in May-June 2020. Had he not been rescued when he was, he would have been shot and thrown into a mass grave where dogs who are deemed to have "served their purpose" for breeding are dumped. He spent the first many years of his life in a 2x2 cage with minimal movement, veterinary care, poor food, no grooming and due to how the cages are stacked one upon the other, surrounded by other mill puppies defecating and urinating on each other from above and below day in and day out. As a result, at the time of his adoption he was practically feral - anxious, nervous, fearful of human touch and absolutely terrified of other dogs and people in general. He didn't know what grass was, or stairs, or what it is like to sleep in a soft, warm place. He had no idea what potty training was and would just go wherever and whenever the urge struck - in
the house, in the car, on the sidewalk, etc.. At the time of his rescue, his coat was terribly matted and dull, full of dirt, feces, and urine - and he had terrible infections in his ears. He also had an awkward way of walking - kind of stiff and jerky - and was prone to stumbling, often ending up in a faceplant when he tripped. His paralyzing fear of human hands moving in his direction, and especially of being handled or picked up - a fear that tripled when it came time to be set back down - leads us to believe he may have been dropped or thrown at some point or repeatedly. He would shake terribly and go into panic mode flailing his legs and feet until he could feel the ground again. Teddy never makes any sort of sounds, which we think may be because he was de-barked, a barbaric and excruciatingly painful procedure that some puppy mills use to prevent dogs from making any noise. 

Fast forward to July 2020, Teddy was adopted by someone with experience adopting mill pups. After adoption, his first vet visit revealed that Teddy, in addition to infested ears, has severe osteo-arthritis / degenerative joint disease in his front elbows and some sort of damage to his upper spine / neck all of which is causing him to walk so poorly. In addition, the damaged area in his neck also seems to be terribly infected. Was his neck broken at some point and never treated? Was he dropped or abused in some way that caused damage to his neck? We will never know. What we do know is the little guy is in constant, often excruciating pain.

Despite the pain, Teddy so desperately wants to be included as part of the family and to participate in walks and play time and socialization activities with his little brother Loki (who needed more than $5,000 of veterinary care when he was adopted). However, given his current disabilities and constant pain, his activity must be kept to a minimum so he is often left out of some of the bigger adventures his little brother gets to have. He tries SO HARD to keep up, he huffs and puffs and tries to push forward - - you can see his little heart just bursting with the effort. He will eventually stop and look up as if to say "I want to keep going, I really want to!!" - but he just can't. After a few short minutes he just stops and hangs his head, and needs help to get back to his bed to rest. 

His owner is committed to caring for him in the best way possible, and to make sure he lives a life free of pain, abuse, thirst or hunger - no matter what. With the help of the Animal Care Center in Castle Pines - Dr. Merry Gibson and Dr. Marie Bartling, Teddy is on a treatment plan that has eliminated the ear infections and includes medication to lessen his pain and hopefully slow the degeneration in his joints. But, it is only the beginning. The treatment plan also calls for some very expensive testing including an MRI to help diagnose exactly what is going on his neck, and then surgery to repair the damage. The cost of which is quickly becoming out of reach for his owner. We are hoping for assistance to help pay for Teddy's treatment. Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated - especially by Teddy. Thank you for reading about him - and his little brother Loki - precious little souls who don't deserve to be mistreated or to live in pain.