Jackson is special needs Dane. He has wobblers disease and hip dysplasia, and will need ongoing medical care for the rest of his life. Wobblers disease is a spinal condition that affects the ability to walk and get around normally. In Jackson’s case, we do not know if it is congenital or a result of past traumas.
Please don’t stop reading — you can still help even if you can’t adopt.
Jackson’s family couldn’t care for him, and he had a hard time with stairs and would fall and trip down them. They live in a three story house and had had him since he was a small puppy. We aren’t sure if his Wobblers disease contributed to the falls or is a result of the falls.
He is one of the sweetest Danes we have ever met. Jackson has been going for acupuncture treatments and has gotten such a good report from the vet that he doesn’t have to go back unless his condition deteriorates. This makes us happy! We will care for Jackson until someone very special adopts him or until we can no longer keep him comfortable with a good quality of life. There is not much we can do for his knees and hips. A dog with Wobblers is already unstable on their feet and doing surgery on either just would not be fair to him and his recuperation time would be extremely difficult. We have put him on high quality grain free food and joint supplements along with weekly Adequan injections.
A word from Jackson (June 9): My vet said I can start reducing one of my herbal supplements and come completely off of it! That means I’m only taking one herbal supplement! Wow!! If you’ve come out to meet me then you know I’m feeling good because I am always on my feet ready to greet the next person who comes by with some talking and some loving! I just get so excited to meet new people! Sometime, if my foster mom isn’t close enough to the person I want to see, I get down on the ground and do a sort of spider-crawl to try and get near them!! I think people think it’s very funny! I love ALL dogs and I even like the cat at my foster house-although I don’t think she likes when I bark at her to try and get her to play with me! Kids are awesome too and as long as I can have some space on the couch, I am set! I’ve got some amazing tricks! I’m very stealthy at sneaking food if you leave it too close to the front of the counter (hello people, I’m a Great Dane-push the food to the back of the counter) and I LOVE to drink out of people’s cups! I’ve also figured out that if I stand in front of you while you are watching TV, you are bound to scoot over and make room for me on the couch!! Now I don’t know about you, but I think those tricks are better than the typical sit and down (which I can do too!)
If you can’t adopt Jackson or a Dane with special needs, please consider a donation. No amount is too small to help Jackson or other Danes in need. You can donate on his bio on our Medical Fund page, our shelter page on Petfinder, or mail a check. All donations are tax deductible — and — GREATLY APPRECIATED!
MORE INFO:
Did you know poor breeding (back yard breeding) can contribute to hip dysplasia. We also know his owners fed him puppy food with too much protein content which caused his growth plates to close too soon and caused abnormalities in his knees. Great Dane puppies should eat adult dog food!
Jackson has his own Facebook page! “Like” him on Facebook to join his page: Friends of Jackson the Great Dane
