UPDATE: TWO-LEGGED DOG HAS PROSPECTIVE OWNERS, BRIGHT FUTURE

[alocispepraluger102]

UPDATE: TWO-LEGGED DOG HAS PROSPECTIVE OWNERS, BRIGHT FUTURE

By Jim Konkoly

News Journal

MANSFIELD — Sixteen days ago, a dog with no name and only two legs had no friends and was nearly dead. He was abandoned, hungry, sick and alone on the side of Trimble Road.

Today, he has a name — Gizmo.

He also has hundreds of new friends.

Since his story ran in Sunday’s News Journal, Gizmo has the certainty of a good home. The story also led to a Bellville company and a Perrysville engineer volunteering to make him a custom-fitted harness with wheels to substitute for the front legs he’s missing.

Beyond that, Gizmo’s story also has generated more than $200 in donations to the Richland County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center, which will provide veterinary care for other injured stray dogs.

“The response since the story has been phenomenal,” Richland County Dog Warden Dave Jordan said Tuesday afternoon. “Our phones have been ringing off the hook. That began as soon as we opened Monday morning and it hasn’t stopped.”

More than 50 people have asked to adopt the two-legged dog, which is recovering from a severe case of mange that left him with almost no hair and horribly painful skin rashes.

Because of the demand, Jordan is having each person who wants Gizmo to submit a written application. The dog shelter’s adoption staff will sort through the applications.

Gizmo is not a new name for this 2-year-old Chihuahua-terrier mix. The flood of phone calls in response to the story included four callers who identified the dog as belonging at some point to a neighbor.

“We were told his name is Gizmo and when we called him that he responded,” Jordan said. “He seems to like the name Gizmo, so that’s who he is — Gizmo.”

Jordan and the deputy dog wardens tried to trace Gizmo’s history to determine if someone should be prosecuted for throwing him out on Trimble Road near U.S. 30, where he was found by a woman who saved his life on July 3 by taking him to the dog shelter.

“We learned that he was born with no front legs and he was named Gizmo, and that the original owner gave him to another person,” Jordan said. “That second owner then gave him to a third person, but we couldn’t determine exactly who that third person is. So, that’s where the story ends; that’s as far as we could get down the rabbit hole.”

In addition to offers of a good home, offers to help Jordan make the dog a prosthetic

set of front legs came in too.

Jordan sifted through the offers and settled on TLC Kanvas, a Bellville company that is going to make a custom-fitting harness for Gizmo, who weighs between 7 and 9 pounds.

“On Thursday, I’m taking the dog to the company in Bellville where they’re going to make the custom harness for him,” Jordan said. “Then an engineer who works in Perrysville is going to make and attach the frame and wheels.

“It’s a two-phase process, first the harness and then the frame and wheels.”

Gizmo can get around by hopping on his hind legs. But, Jordan said, a dog’s skeleton is not made to walk on the hind legs, and so if the dog continued hopping it would eventually develop hip problems.

Jordan said donations totaling more than $200 for veterinary care came in Monday and Tuesday.

“We get donations that trickle in throughout the year for veterinary care for our shelter dogs,” he said. “But this amount of money came in over the past two days because of this special dog.”

Jordan then corrected himself and said that Gizmo isn’t so much a “special” dog as he is a “unique” dog.

He explained: “Every dog we get in here who needs veterinary care is special. This dog was also unique because he doesn’t have front legs. However, the medical issue he had, besides no front legs, is mange. And we get many dogs who need treatment for mange, and for many other medical conditions.”

The county dog shelter has no funds for veterinary care of stray dogs, and so all of the vet care is provided from donations for that purpose.

jkonkoly@nncogannett.com

419-521-7272

Originally published July 18, 2006

Edited July 30, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[slide_advantage_redoux]

I saw a video on line awhile back of a 2 legged dog that could run, and did so quite well! Amazing. But in his case, he wasn't left with front or rear legs only; the legs he had were front and rear on the same side.

How he managed to get up off the ground is beyond me. He had tremendous balance though. Kind of reminded me of inline skating!

Maybe I can track that video down and leave a link here later.

[Rooster_Ties]

The origin of Li'l Brudder.

[Free For All]

You know what?...............bring it on!

The "gimpy" dogs need a loving home more than any others. If I could I'd take home all the leg-missing, eye-missing etc. dogs. They're the ones that really deserve a break, and they will love you forever for giving them that break.

[alocispepraluger102]

You know what?...............bring it on!

The "gimpy" dogs need a loving home more than any others. If I could I'd take home all the leg-missing, eye-missing etc. dogs. They're the ones that really deserve a break, and they will love you forever for giving them that break.

Article published Jul 23, 2006

Gizmo doing fine as donations roll into county animal shelter

By Jim Konkoly

News Journal

MANSFIELD -- Thanks to dozens of small donations and one big donor, Gizmo is doing fine.

The abandoned and sick two-legged dog was rescued along Trimble Road on July 3. The woman who found him wrapped him in a towel and took him to the Richland County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center.

Within two to three weeks, Gizmo, a Chihuahua-terrier mix, will have prosthetic front legs and a new home, county Dog Warden Dave Jordan said Friday.

Since Gizmo was featured in a front-page News Journal story a week ago, about 50 people have offered to give him a home, and donations for veterinary care of stray dogs have picked up at the dog shelter, 810 N. Home Road.

One man who chooses to remain anonymous went to the shelter and donated $500 for the two-legged dog's care.

"He stops in personally at the front counter, writes a check and always says, 'Here's for the dogs,'" Jordan said. "He's a good-hearted guy and he likes what we're doing here for the dogs. He's been stopping in on a regular basis and making donations.

"This is the largest donation," Jordan added. "He didn't say if it was specifically because of the two-legged dog, but he did say, 'That's quite a story,' and we talked about Gizmo when he wrote that check."

Staff at the dog shelter and adoption center reported their phones "ringing off the hook" after the July 15 story with inquiries about adopting Gizmo and donations for his care.

As of Friday, just over $800 had been donated.

Jordan said it will take at least that much to cover the dog shelter expenses for the little dog, which include treatment for a severe case of mange and the extra care the staff has to give him every day.

The dog shelter takes in about 200 stray dogs per month and finds homes for 100 or more through adoption.

No county funds are available for veterinary care of stray dogs at the shelter, so all treatment must be covered by donations. Any donations not needed for Gizmo's care will be used for other dogs, and there is a constant need for contributions to care for injured or sick dogs, Jordan said.

Donations come in throughout the year, by mail to Dog Shelter, 50 Park Avenue East, Mansfield 44903, by people giving staff members checks, or by cash dropped into a glass jar near the main information desk.

Jordan learned Gizmo's name from four callers who reported the dog had lived with a neighbor after they saw his story and pictures in the News Journal.

Jordan also learned that the dog, which weighs between 6 and 9 pounds, was born with no front legs, that his original owner gave him to another person, and that the second owner gave him to someone else whom Jordan and the deputy dog wardens could not identify.

Calls to the dog shelter about Gizmo have come from throughout the Richland County area, as well as from Cleveland and Columbus after television stations in those two cities did stories about Gizmo.

Edited July 23, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[Free For All]

That dog has paid his MF dues and is due a refund.

I hope he finds a dedicated person, one who is not just feeding on the hype.

This dog has earned some good karma (or dogma- whatever) .

[alocispepraluger102]

Article published Jul 30, 2006

Gizmo takes his wheels out for a test drive

By Jim Konkoly

News Journal

MANSFIELD -- Gizmo has his wheels.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, an engineer and a seamstress strapped a custom-made harness and wheels on the tiny two-legged dog to replace the front legs he doesn't have.

"This is going to work," the engineer said as the 6-pound Chihuahua-terrier mix took his first steps down a hall at the Richland County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center.

As Gizmo, wildly wagging his tail, took off in a mad-dash sprint and toppled over, the engineer, who wished only to be identified as Phil, joked that "it's going to take a little while."

When the seamstress, Carol Browne of TLC Kanvas in Bellville, and Phil unstrapped Gizmo to adjust their prosthetic device, the little dog immediately hopped on his hind legs toward Dog Warden Dave Jordan.

"It has been a joy to work with Gizmo," Jordan said, gently handing the 2-year-old pooch back to Browne for another practice run. "He is such a sweet, wonderful dog. To rescue a dog in his condition and be able to do something to really enhance his life, that's very special."

The prosthetic front wheels will give Gizmo full mobility.

But nothing could enhance the spirit and drive, friendliness and happiness of this rambunctious, irrepressible dog.

"I don't even feel sorry for him," said Phil, who designed and made the front-leg wheels device. "He acts like a dog that doesn't know he's not normal. He's so sweet, and very intelligent. I can tell, because my wife's been an obedience (dog) trainer for 20 years and I can see that special spark in this dog."

Browne and Phil will come back to the dog shelter as often as needed to keep tweaking and adjusting their device until it's perfected.

Browne is convinced that Gizmo's incredible spirit will make his prosthetic front wheels work.

"He's got a magnetic personality," she said. "If he wasn't a fighter, he wouldn't even be alive. ... Just look at him now!"

At that moment Gizmo, getting a break during his first hour-long training session with the harness and wheels, was hopping down the hall, his tail wagging furiously, to get to Jordan.

Jordan is considering Phil's suggestion that whoever adopts Gizmo agree to bring him back to the dog shelter for special events.

"For sure, we are going to want to be seeing Gizmo again. ... And, say, maybe three months down the road, (we'll have) to see how he's getting around. That's going to be the payoff."

Mark Germann, a kennel attendant, said Gizmo has to learn a whole new way of walking.

"For two years, he's been hopping on his back legs," he said. "Now he has to learn a new set of skills and he's got to use a whole new set of muscles. He's going to have to work at it like a person in rehab."

Germann has no doubt Gizmo's going to make it.

"A dog with two legs, and still he's so happy," he said. "You can be having your worst day in the world, then you take one look at Gizmo and you just have to smile -- and think to yourself, nothing can be all that bad."

A month ago, Gizmo had severe mange and horrible skin rashes. Most of his hair was gone and he was in danger of death when a woman found him abandoned along Trimble Road near U.S. 30 and brought him to the dog shelter.

He's recovered nicely and will be ready for an adopted home in a couple of weeks, Jordan said.

"This is a (research and development) project," Phil said as Gizmo's first test run on wheels ended. "It's going to take a lot of trial and error 'til we make it work just right."

Edited July 30, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[Free For All]

[alocispepraluger102]

COMING SUNDAY: GIZMO GETS A NEW HOME

News Journal staff report

Gizmo, the two-legged Chihuahua-terrier mix who has captured the hearts of thousands of News Journal readers, left the Richland County Dog Pound and Adoption Center today.

Wearing the prosthetic wheels that replace his missing front legs, Gizmo ran to the arms of his new owners, Bill and Judy Bodenschatz of Strongsville.

Be sure to see Sunday’s News Journal for the full story and click on the link on the right now for a video of Gizmo and the Bodenschatzs.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p...NEWS01/60811007

Edited August 12, 2006 by alocispepraluger102

[Eric]

Be sure to see Sunday’s News Journal for the full story and click on the link on the right now for a video of Gizmo and the Bodenschatzs.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p...NEWS01/60811007

Goodness ... Gizmo certainly seems "excited" about his new wheels ...

Edited August 12, 2006 by Eric

[alocispepraluger102]

Be sure to see Sunday’s News Journal for the full story and click on the link on the right now for a video of Gizmo and the Bodenschatzs.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p...NEWS01/60811007

Goodness ... Gizmo certainly seems "excited" about his new wheels ...

from the looks of them, somebody(s) spent dozens of hours thinking about and building them.

[Free For All]

Be sure to see Sunday’s News Journal for the full story and click on the link on the right now for a video of Gizmo and the Bodenschatzs.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p...NEWS01/60811007

Goodness ... Gizmo certainly seems "excited" about his new wheels ...

[alocispepraluger102]

Gizmo has new wheels, new home, new caretakers ... and a future job

By Jim Konkoly

News Journal

MANSFIELD -- Forty days after he nearly died in a roadside ditch, Gizmo has a new home.

The little 2-year-old Chihuahua-terrier mix who has no front legs left the Richland County Dog Shelter and Adoption Center on Friday with his adoptive owners, a couple from the Cleveland suburb of Strongsville.

Gizmo left with the entire shelter staff wishing him well.

The 6-pound dog took with him the custom-made harness-and-wheels device he's learning to use as a substitute for his missing legs.

Dog Warden Dave Jordan described Gizmo's departure as "kind of bittersweet."

"It's kind of sad to see him go," Jordan said of Gizmo, whom he affectionately gave the nicknames of Gizzard and Gizzie.

Since arriving at the shelter nearly dead July 3, the dog had been following Jordan everywhere, hopping on his hind legs before he got the prosthetic wheels.

"But," Jordan added, "I'm happy, very happy, to know that Gizmo is getting a great home and he'll be with good people."

The dog shelter staff had to sort through more than 50 adoption applications after Gizmo's story spread from the News Journal to Cleveland and Columbus TV stations and generated more than $2,500 in donations for veterinary care.

"They made it easy to make the decision," Jordan said of Bill and Judy Bodenschatz, who will team Gizmo with their first dog, a miniature poodle named Mister Madison.

"Over the past couple weeks they came down to visit him six times and spent hours and hours with him."

Bill Bodenschatz marveled at Gizmo's tail-wagging enthusiasm Friday.

"His energy level and his love of life are just amazing," he said as Gizmo took a test run on his harness-and-wheels front legs.

"He's such a beautiful dog," Judy said. "And his real beauty is in his personality. The first time I saw his eyes, that was it. And his tail! What a tail!"

Everybody who has seen Gizmo, even when he was terribly sick, noticed one thing first -- how he constantly and wildly wags his tail.

"He even uses it to balance himself when he's hopping around on his back legs," kennel attendant Mark Germann said.

Thanks to two area business owners -- Phil Gerwig of Perrysville and Carol Browne of Bellville -- Gizmo won't have to get around exclusively by hopping on his hind legs or crawling on his belly.

Three weeks ago Jordan asked for help in designing and building prosthetic front limbs for Gizmo. While the little dog had learned how to survive with no front legs, a dog's skeleton is made to walk on four legs, not two, and constant hopping would have damaged his spine over time, Jordan said.

To the rescue came Gerwig, who runs his own engineering firm, Thorntech Company, and Browne, who does custom sewing at her canvas shop, TLC Kanvas.

Gerwig designed a lightweight frame made of a stainless steel/aluminum alloy and fitted it with wheels, then asked Browne to attach it to an adjustable harness. During the last two weeks they made several trips to the dog shelter to adjust Gizmo's wheels.

The Bodenschatzes left Mansfield with their new dog and a booklet titled "The Gizmobile." In it, Gerwig included computer-aided schematic drawings of each part of the dog's harness and wheels, made by 18-year-old Brent Haag.

"If any part of the device wears out or breaks, Gizmo's owners can take the drawings to any machine shop and have a new part made," Gerwig said.

Haag graduated from Mansfield Senior High School in June and will enter The Ohio State University in Columbus next month to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. He's been working this summer with Gerwig on an alternative energy project through a collaborative agreement with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster.

"Brent donated his time on the Gizmo project, and I was glad he did," Gerwig said. "Life is not always about making money; sometimes it's about doing the right thing."

Browne said she's never particularly been a dog lover, but donated her time on the Gizmobile "as a community project."

On July 3, Gizmo wasn't far from death when a woman found him abandoned, starving and very sick on the side of Trimble Road near U.S. 30. She took him to the dog shelter wrapped in a towel, and Jordan remembers being amazed by his first look at the dog.

It wasn't just Gizmo's missing front legs that struck Jordan. The little dog also had a severe case of mange, which had destroyed nearly all of his hair. His skin was raw and red and Jordan didn't know if he could survive.

"When I first saw him," Jordan said, "I didn't know whether to get him to a vet for treatment right away, or to have him put down because he looked so bad."

Today, Gizmo is getting ready for a job. The Bodenschatzes plan to train him as a therapy dog to visit people, especially children, in hospitals.

"He's very inspiring, the way he's survived and stayed so happy," Judy said. "And we think he could be inspiring to children who are sick or have a disability."

Next weekend, Bill and Judy will take Gizmo to meet Faith, a two-legged collie from Oklahoma who not only is a therapy dog, but also tours the country and has appeared on national TV shows, including "Oprah!"

"We're hoping to get some pointers," Bill said.

Jordan tried, but couldn't hide tears that welled up as the Bodenschatzes carried Gizmo out of the dog shelter Friday afternoon.

"See ya, Gizzie," he said. "Be good."

jkonkoly@nncogannett.com 419-521-7272

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/p.../608130325/1002

Originally published August 13, 2006

Edited August 13, 2006 by alocispepraluger102