The Kharisma Magazine The Kharisma Magazine (Full) Premiere Issue | Page 90

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{
” GORDON.....
HELPED
ME ON
THE DAYS
THAT I
DIDN’T
EVEN WANT
TO GET
OUT OF
BED ”
They came to see me March 13th, 2017 and brought Gordon to me. They were doing the Drooling Across America Tour. Had
Marley’s Mutts had not been doing that, Gordon probably wouldn’t be sitting here today. I wouldn’t imagine they would adopt a
dog way out here in West Virginia from California. I’m lucky to have him. I feel like I need to give back to Marley’s Mutts, so I’ve
decided to run the Chicago Marathon and help them raise money to keep rescuing dogs like Gordon and dogs like Moose. I’m just
still in the honeymoon stage with Gordon right now. I’m so blessed to be able to have him.
Kharisma: Gordon had a very traumatic experience. Share a little bit about that and the special needs that Gordon requires. Even
though you treat him just like a regular dog, there’s still some special requirements and special care that you have to do on a daily
basis, right?
Janet: He was shot with a 22 caliber bullet. He is what you call an incomplete paraplegic dog. He does have some paralysis.
He does have some sensation, but he’s very inconsistent with
incontinence, due to the paralysis. Therefore, he has to be
diapered, sometimes multiple times in a day, which is okay. At
first, it was a challenge, to try to figure out how to do it. I’ve
never had children and I’ve never diapered a dog before. We got
it all worked out. He walks on two legs, and I did take him to
the doctor to see about what that would do to him long-term.
Yes, he looks really good walking on two legs, but over time... I
provide physical therapy to people, and over time, I knew that
it would do some damage to his shoulders and to his spine. The
doctors also said the same thing.
We’ve looked into a cart from Eddie’s Wheels. We did receive
one, but it didn’t quite work. We’re actually going to pay a
visit to Eddie’s Wheels, and see if we can’t get something to fit
Gordon properly. I think that that will increase the quality and
the quantity of his life. He gets a bath, I think, at least once a
day. He gets one when I come home from work. If he has any
accidents throughout the evening, he gets his butt wiped. Other
than that, he’s just like any other dog, except for diapering.
Kharisma: I know this is still tender for you to talk about, but
share a bit how your life was impacted after losing Moose.
Janet: After the loss of Moose, Gordon, along with Sam and
Lefty and Carter, have helped me on the days that I didn’t even
want to get out of bed. I’ve said once before that I love my dog
more than I loved anybody or anything, except my dad. Moose
knew all my secrets. She didn’t judge me. I told her everything.
Moose was a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week supervised dog, so
when she was not in her crate, I had to have eyes on her. So,
when I lost her, I was lost, I was completely lost. I didn’t know
what to do when I came home from work. At work, I provided
physical therapy to patients for 28 years, I think I know what to
do, and it’s all I know. But when I come home, for seven years I
had to make sure that my dog didn’t bite another dog or didn’t
bite a person. So, when we lost her, I was lost.
Today, I feel so grateful to be able to have a dog, in general,
but especially Gordon, because he has some special needs and
requires a little extra attention, so instead of coming home and
feeling sorry for myself, I let Gordon out first and then I’ve got
to bathe him and then I’ve got to diaper him and I’ve got to
feed him. So, there’s a few steps that I have to take when I first
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come home, but I don’t get caught up in, “Oh, poor, pitiful me,”
when I walk in the door. I take the old therapist hat off and
come home. So, Gordon has definitely given me back my life,
in a sense. I was definitely down, it was some bad days. So, if
it weren’