Born January 30, 2007.
Dozer is a gentle giant, Saint Bernard. He was the product of a puppy mill breeder that was not breeding for the good of the breed, but for money. He was breeding puppies born with hip dysplasia, and unfortunately Dozer was born with bilateral hip dysplasia. He was diagnosed at 6 months when he started to limp. His first owner returned him back to the breeder and exchanged him for a new puppy. Dozer had been neutered by this time and the breeder had no use for him and was going to shoot him. Fortunately he was rescued by an individual that concentrated on puppy mill rescues. She posted his profile on petfinders.com .

This is where we come in.

Chester our 3 year old saint died the day before Dozer was born. He was undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his back leg when he cardiac arrested on the table. They were unable to save him.

After some time we began to periodically check the pet finders site for that special dog. We still had 4 dogs and 2 cats, so we were not really looking for another dog; but, if one called out to us we would see what we could do.

I have always been partial to saints, having had one growing up I was wanting another one. Shaun caught my bug and began looking also. One day I came home from work to see him crying in front of the computer reading Dozer's profile and story. I read it a knew we had to have him and began calling the rescue shelter.

One October day we started out on the long drive to get him. The second we saw him we knew we had made the right decision. We quickly got him to our vet for evaluation and we were referred to the specialist for a right total hip replacement/reconstruction. Dozer's right hip was completely eroded and out of the socket. He could not walk without dragging that foot. His Left hip was not great but was good in comparison. At 10 months of age he underwent this first surgery. There was a prolonged recovery, as he was treated with kid gloves- always on leash, never out unattended, etc. He did very well for about 2 1/2 years. In fact he grew to be taller than the breed standard. But he was lonely as far as doggie friends were concerned. We were never able to let him run and play with our other dogs because of possible hip dislocation.

February 2010 we found Maggie. These 2 were a match from the start, they bonded immediately. And have really been inseparable since. However, we started to notice that Dozer was getting a limp with a rotation in the right back leg when he walked. He fatigued a lot faster and fell down more. (He was never really very graceful) Another trip to the orthopedic vet showed his right hip was dislocated. He had outgrown the prosthetic and came out of socket. He was scheduled for a revision to the hip- an extension with a bigger ball to place in the socket. No big deal we thought.

He did great with that surgery for a bout 2 weeks. He developed a fluid filled pocket called a seroma over the hip joint. Again no big deal, this happened with the first surgery. The vet drained the fluid and placed two drains to relieve the pressure from the hip and allow more fluid to drain until it stopped. Unfortunately Dozer is an obsessive licker and dislocated his hip. They were able to successfully do a closed reduction and pop it back into place. This was the start of his downfall. The surgical incision opened up several times, developed several infections, more drains, and more pain. November 2010 was particularly memorable because we came home one afternoon to find that he had licked so obsessively at the drains that he filled his stomach full of air and bloated. On a aid note there had been an incident of bloat- partially in January 2010 but he vomited in the car on the way to the emergency vet and relieved the pressure. This time however was a complete torsion of the stomach. We were able to get his to the emergency vet again, in time for them to decompress his stomach and prep him for surgery. His stomach was tacked to the abdominal wall to prevent flipping. He made it through this with flying colors. No complications, no arrthymias, or set backs. Besides being so spoiled he would not eat for the staff, so I had to make a trip there on my lunch break to feed him so he could come home.
But the hip continued to be a problem. He was limping so badly and dragging the right foot that his nails were worn past the quick and would bleed.
March 22, 2011 he underwent surgery to remove the hip prosthesis and associated hardware. This turned into a prolonged surgery because the femur had to be fractured to remove the bone cement and wired back together. Again, the trooper that he is, recovered from anesthesia without issues. But he was in pain, slow to be able to move and did not want to eat much. March 25, 2011 he was still at the orthopedic vets. I went to visit. He looked good, bright eyed, attentive and started eating. The plan was to keep him over the weekend, get his meds down to one pain med and bring him home possibly Monday.
When Monday came around we had a different story. Dozer had fallen Sunday afternoon and crushed what was left of his femur and he was bleeding from the incision.
After many tears, phone calls and intense conversations about possibilities and prognosis' we made the decision to amputate Dozer's right hind leg.
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He was up moving around within hours and able to come home Tuesday March 29, 2011.
Since that time he has been unstoppable. Stealing Maggie's bone, wanting to play and be with his people. He still has a long way to go for recovery- he is unsteady, slips and lands on his butt, tries to go to fast, licks at his incision licking the staples out, and has more drains causing us to have blanket and towels everywhere he might lay down.
But this is nothing to have him home and happy. Most importantly free of PAIN.