You wouldn’t know it just by looking at her happy face but Juniper has had it rough before she was rescued.
This is why her happy and curious nature is more astounding considering she has facial scars from a forced life of dog fighting and is missing her left leg due to a stroke. Watch the remarkable Juniper here:
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Video credit: Rumble
Juniper is estimated to be nine years old at this time. Before she was rescued, her former owners had her teeth filed down and was forced into dog fighting. Following her rescue, she stayed put at a shelter in Puget Sound, Washington, where 27-year-old Maggie Hull from Seattle fell in love with her.
“I was told that she had been a bait dog,” said Maggie.
“They usually take a smaller, more vulnerable dog and train other dogs to fight and injure that dog.
“She has a lot of scars on her face and her teeth were filed down so that she couldn’t defend herself. She had been through a lot.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of Juniper’s trials. After five blissful months following her rescue, Juniper went through a spinal stroke that paralyzed her from the waist down. She had to undergo a year of rehab after surgery but sadly, only her right leg regained its nerve function.
Because of this, the pit bull mix had to have her left leg amputated which was conducted in October 2017. Juniper now moves around through a special wheelchair.
Maggie said: “We were at the dog park and she jumped in the car and writhed around in pain. I rushed her to the hospital. The vet told me she had suffered a stroke.”
Despite what she’s been through, they haven’t been enough to keep Juniper down and she’s always game to go on adventures with Maggie.
Maggie said: “She needs the wheelchair to hold her up and support her on longer runs. At home and in my office, she is out of the wheelchair.
“She can hop around fine on three legs for short distances but when we are out she needs the wheelchair. It is pretty sturdy – she can go in the water and in the mud and run over curbs.”
Because Juniper is also incontinent, she unfortunately has to keep wearing diapers when inside the house.
Maggie said: “The most difficult thing is that she is fully incontinent. She can’t go to the bathroom on her own. She wears doggy diapers when she is inside.
“She is prone to getting UTIs and she is constantly on antibiotics.”
But Juniper is enjoying her new life regardless, contentedly swimming in lakes and happily chasing birds.
“She is comfortable and happy,” Maggie added. “I hope she will be around for a good, long time.”
What’s even more remarkable is Juniper’s emotional and mental resiliency.
“Junie has certain fears and some anxiety but for the most part she loves people which is interesting as I assume people didn’t treat her very well in the first part of her life.”
Replaced!