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Posted by on Oct 16, 2015 in Blog | 2 comments

Her Name is Toni, and She’s a Three-Legged Dog

 

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Toni might look normal, except for some grey around the eyes revealing she’s become a senior.  But she’s different from most other dogs.  Instead of four legs, she has three.  But that doesn’t stop Toni from partially running and more frequently hopping around the house and yard, trying her best to keep up with her busy family.

 

Meet “Toni.”

She’s a special girl, filled with lots of love.  More love than you can imagine.  And more heart.  And more strength.  And more courage.  Just wait until you learn what Toni has been through.

Toni is a 12-year-old part-Labrador mix.  She lives a happy dog life with her human family in Fargo, North Dakota.

Toni might look perfectly normal, except for some grey around the eyes revealing she’s become a senior.  But she’s quite a bit different from most other dogs.  Instead of four legs, she has only three.  But that doesn’t stop Toni from partially running and more frequently hopping around the house and yard, trying her best to keep up with her busy family.

She’s also different in other ways, too, and when you read further about her tear-jerking start in life and the struggles she’s somehow endured and survived since that beginning, hopefully then you’ll come to appreciate the special bond Toni has with the Hanson’s.

Here’s Toni’s truly remarkable story.

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Toni was adopted about ten years ago from an animal shelter.  She was a rescue dog.  That means, she’d been rescued from largely unknown prior circumstances, with little or no dog history.

Toni’s dog history didn’t really matter.  The Hanson Family just wanted a pet, and the shy tricolor dog they adopted from a rescue shelter in Iowa that would eventually be known as “Toni” seemed like the perfect four-legged companion.  A gentle soul, a devoted pet, and a loving member of the family who was good with children.

You likely don’t know much about the Hanson’s, so let me tell you more.  They aren’t just a good family.  Outside looking in, they’re almost idyllic.  They’d undoubtedly shun and be uncomfortable with such admiration because that’s just how people tend to be from the Upper Midwest, humble hardworking people who accept and then fulfill their responsibilities to their families, communities, and each other.  But they’d certainly admit to being blessed, and — deservedly so.

Chris Hanson is a broadcaster and on-air personality on the most popular morning radio talk show in Fargo — which is BOB 95 FM.  He arrives at the studio at 5 am every morning, sometimes waking up to bone-chilling temperatures as low as 40 below degrees zero.  This can be a brutally tough and unforgiving country.  North Dakotans are survivors.  They’re proud.  They respect tradition.  And Chris’s voice is often the first thing the good citizens of Fargo and the surrounding region for miles around hear when they wake up in the morning.

Chris’ other occupation, one which might be more familiar to many of you reading this, is serving as host for the nationally televised weekly show, “Poker Night in America.”  He’s been heavily involved in poker for several years now, dating back to his start in the business with the Heartland Poker Tour, which was also founded and remains based in Fargo.

Hanson’s wife is Erika.  She’s a physical therapist with her own practice.  Chris and Erika have four children, and of course, a very special dog named Toni.

Now, that you know the Hanson’s, here’s the rest of their story.

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About three years ago one early evening, Erika stepped off the front porch and called out for Toni, who was nowhere to be found either in the house or the yard.

Erika called her name over and over again, but there was no sign of Toni.

The kids were rounded up and joined in the search, and then when it everyone became quite concerned, neighbors joined in, too.  No one could find the beloved pet, that was until Erika came upon a chain-link fence down the block where she found a horrible sight.

Toni was laying there by herself, shivering in the cold and lying in the snow, her head dipped down into the darkness, cowered in a state of surrender.  Her rear right leg, at least what remained of it, was mangled and torn apart.  Bloody, partially smashed, the leg dangled from the rest of her body.  She whimpered in pain but then when she saw Erika, she somehow mustered up enough strength to wag her tail.  That’s love.

Toni had somehow gotten out of the yard, run into the street, and been hit by a moving car.  Despite the unimaginable agony, she somehow dragged herself off the road to the closest comfortable place, preparing to die.

Erika scooped Toni’s fragile body into a blanket and the Hanson Family rushed to the nearest vet for emergency surgery.  Her leg was so badly damaged that it would have to be completely cut away from her body.  The surgery would be expensive, and there were no guarantees that she’d even survive.  Toni was in terrible shape.

What might have seemed unthinkable before was also discussed?  It had to be discussed and seriously considered.  Given the grotesque severity of her injuries and her obvious pain, it might have been an act of mercy to put her down.  After all, Toni was 9-years-old, well past middle-age in dog years, especially for Labs, and given her condition, she might never walk again.  The Hanson’s also feared there might be other unknown internal injuries.

But the Hanson are a special bunch, with strengths and bonds that are not easily broken, nor are challenges abdicated without a fight.  Everyone agreed that the emergency surgery was the right decision.  The leg would have to be amputated at the right buttock, leaving her nothing remaining of her limb.  Even if she survived, she’d then have to re-learn many of the most common dog activities all over again.  But Toni was in good hands.  Remember, Erika is a physical therapist, and the Hanson’s when they set their minds to something, shouldn’t ever be doubted.

The vet removed the leg that same evening and predictably, the next few months were very difficult, especially for Toni.  The huge scar looked like something straight out of Halloween.  When she tried to bend over and scratch herself as dogs do, she’d often forget she had no leg.  She’d flop over onto her side and twitch anyway, believing she still had the full use of all her limbs.  Old habits die hard.  Perhaps the memories of a dog even remain forever.  But after a while, Toni slowly adjusted.  She hopped around on three legs and even got to the point where she could run some.  Funny how Toni became extra vigorous around mealtime or when there was a fresh meaty bone was tossed in her direction.  She also adjusted her way of standing up.  She always rose and wagged her tail when someone was around to pet her.

The Hanson’s, with much love to give, petted Toni a lot, especially after her ordeal.  If Toni’s story ended then and there, that might be a heartwarming tale.  And so, I finally got to meet Toni for the first time a few nights ago, when I was invited over the Hanson’s for dinner.  And that’s when I learned Toni’s amazing story, in full.

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Wednesday evening when I knocked on the front door of Hanson’s home, Chris and Erika were standing there to greet me.  But it was Toni who caught my eye.  She rested at the front entrance and when the door opened struggled to rise to her three feet.  When I reached down and petted her, she wagged her tail.

I’d made a friend instantly.

A few hours later, after dinner, as I was leaving the Hanson’s, they revealed something a bit more about Toni that floored me, and even temporarily choked me up and disrupted my ability to speak.

Remember the animal shelter in Iowa from where Toni had been adopted ten years earlier?  Turns out, a group of dogs had been transported north and sent there, more than a thousand miles away.  Their journey had begun in New Orleans.  Including Toni’s journey.  That was her start, which could have been an undeserving fate, and a quick end.

After Hurricane Katrina which devastated the coastal region back in September 2005, local shelters ran overcapacity.  They became filled with dogs and cats.  Tens of thousands of homes had been vacated and submerged underwater, utterly destroyed beyond recognition.  Many citizens died.  Virtually everyone in the city was forced to abandon their homes, in many cases leaving behind beloved family pets that had once been members of loving families.  Hurricane Katrina wasn’t just a humanitarian disaster.  It became an animal welfare crisis, as well.  Their owners gone, as the floodwaters rushed in, helpless dogs and cats crawled and scampered onto the rooftops, in most cases starved and thirsty, begging for rescue, hoping to be lucky enough to be touched again by a human embrace.

This was Toni’s story, her beginning.  Surviving the storm of storms and flood of floods, her family’s whereabouts unknown, her earliest home became a distant memory.  All these years later, one wonders if Toni still remembers those who raised her in New Orleans.  Some questions have no answers.  Some mysteries shall forever go unsolved.

It’s been said that dogs are man’s best friend.  But in Toni’s case, while that’s true, their love goes both ways.

Dogs may be man’s best friend, but the Hanson’s have become Toni’s best friend.  They’re all lucky to have each other.

That’s the power of three legs, and an infinite amount of love.

 

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Update:  Toni passed away in 2018, but lived a wonderful life filled with love.

2 Comments

  1. what an amazing pooch. their love and caring is truly unconditional and what a will to survive. all of us with dogs are incredibly fortunate to have them be a special part of our lives.

  2. Made my day!!! I am volunteer at local animal shelter in Santa Barbara!
    I get my “dog & cat” fix there every day! You know God made “all” animals EXCEPT…dogs! He already hand one!

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