Eddie's Wheels Fundraiser

This weekend, I attended an event called  'Wags For Wheels' - a fundraiser held at Active Paws Pet Supply in Waltham, MA.

'Wags For Wheels' was hosted by Cara and Gerard Armour, and yes, they are related to me - my brother and his wife. 

The goal for this event was to raise money for disabled pets, specifically dogs that need wheelchairs (or as they are called in the doggie world, carts).

Eddie's Wheels, in western Massachusetts, is a company that has been designing carts for dogs and other animals since 1989. They also have a charity called the Buddy Fund, which supplies carts at a substantially discounted rate to animals in shelters or pets whose owners are in financial need. So all the money raised from this event will go to the Buddy Fund.

Cara really pulled out all the stops - there was a ton of free stuff, including frisbees, dog food, and dog treats, and a lot of helpful information was also given out.

The free coffee and water sure made it easier to hang out with all the doggie peeps.    

Many people and pets showed up over the two day event, but one that really stole my heart was Baxter. I'll spare you the details, but he's on Eddie's Wheels website.

The star of the whole weekend was Cara & Gerard's own boxer Dozer, or (as I call him) "rubber legs." I say that with compassion. Since being diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, I have watched this elegant, graceful, full-of-life dog go deeper into his disease, and it's been hard. His mental acuity is fine - he's here, he knows what's going on, he totally wants to partake of anything you wanna do (running, hiking, swimming), but (and it's a big but) his legs can't and won't ever be able to do it.

At this point, most dogs are put to sleep.

I understand, and used to think that way too. How can they walk, pee, poop outside? 

It's gonna be really difficult, so let's just put the dog to sleep and put it out of its misery - it's the best thing.

That's what I would have thought, until a trip up to Eddie's (that included an unplanned visit to Vermont, but we won't hold that against Cara, will we Gerard?)

Webster & Willa

Sweet Pea

Baxter,Willa,Webster and the gang.

Leslie with her dogs.

Wow, what a cart can do for a dog!  It is unreal - it adds years (yes, YEARS) to a dog's life. It may be somewhat difficult for the dog AND human to adjust to cart life in the beginning, but seeing is believing. Carts are cool. 

If my dogs ever need one, it's a no-brainer. They will get one.

Gerard.

Cara giving Ollie a treat.

Eddie

Dozer

Have you ever seen a dog in a cart?