Grand Teton

In September, 2007 the Nebraska Humane Society asked for our help in placing a number of animals that had been confiscated from a backyard breeder nearby. They had 50 dogs, wolfdogs and a bobcat all in need of homes. Once the breeder was convicted, the judge signed over the ownership of all the animals to the Humane Society. Given that Omaha is an illegal wolfdog area they quickly arranged for transport and we took in six very low content Great Pyrenees-Malamute-wolf mix puppies from two different litters. Most of the puppies were placed in experienced homes rather quickly however, Teton and his sister Shastina had to be quarantined.

They had arrived with runny noses and heavy congestion. So off they went to a local veterinarian who thought they might be in the early stages of pneumonia and put them on medication. When they had still not gotten any better two weeks later we took them to our usual vet where we were told it looked like canine influenza. It took the better part of 3 months to get them healthy again.

Just as the two were getting strong and healthy, Teton developed a little wobble in his walk. The situation became worse over the Christmas holidays and by the first of the year Teton was having trouble getting up. When he did try to run he bunny hopped.

He has been diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia and was placed in physical therapy for strengthening exercises in hopes of tightening the hip joint and reducing the risk of further damage to the ball and socket joint. Just as he began to show some improvement in his hips we noticed a slight lameness begin with one of his front legs and the therapist noticed some swelling in the elbow. The lameness went away after about a week, only to return again. Then it switched to the opposite front leg. Back to the vet we went and X-rays showed he had panosteitis. This poor puppy's legs were in sorry shape. Needless to say, we did not feel Teton would be a good canidate for adoption given the looming vet bills.

Teton is now doing much better and is quite a bit stronger, however, his therapy will be onging for the rest of his life. We hope surgery will not be necessary.