If you haven’t followed Sprout’s journey to forever and his successes as a special needs warrior, you have missed out.  Sprout is an amazing dog who happened to be born with front limb deformity to both limbs.

Sprout helping make the bed at Wild Hearts PetCare where he spent a week for evaluation
Sprout at 7 weeks
Sprout at 11 weeks making friends at therapy



We secured an invite to WGN TV for their Adopt A Pet segment and I asked Sprout’s foster parents to begin making a list of all his good points and his less than favorable points.  We felt positive that him appearing on TV and on their website would give him the needed exposure to find a forever family. They were shooting video shorts showing, “this is how Sprout…. eats, sleeps, goes outside, plays in the yard, plays with his toys, etc..  They made a list of his favorable traits and less than favorable, it went like this:

Sprout Positives
Dog and People Social, hasn’t met a stranger yet.
House and Crate Trained, like a champ.                         Enjoys strolls in the park, playing fetch, swimming, peanut butter, cuddling with mom and being sassy with his dad.
He is a thinker, very intelligent dog who will stick with a problem until it’s solved. This comes in handy when he is being mischievous with his family.
He is a lover not a fighter and charms people with his big Staffy smile.
He can do stairs, hop on the sofa, knock everything off the coffee table, sneak things out of cabinets and chase with the other dogs around the backyard or down the hall.
Sprout is so well trained, he puts himself in his pop up crate at night to go to bed.

Sprout with canine siblings Maddie and Alfie


Sprout Negatives
His farts will clear a room
He snores-loudly
Has a peanut butter addiction, may need intervention

Sprout is the total package, everything you look for in a dog, but overlooked because of his legs.  How sad is that?  People have dogs that are leash aggressive, dog aggressive, unmannered, pooping and peeing in their homes, chewing up furniture, and on and on with poor behavior; yet with Sprout, “not interested, seems like it would be a lot of work”.   

Silly people, for 9 months we promoted him, he attended events, and worked hard at improving his mobility and no one applied.  The one couple who did returned him because he was “too mobile”, ain’t that a kick in the pants. 

While his foster Dad and Mom were making videos, preparing what they wanted to share about Sprout in the interview, they realized they were trying to find him a home when he already was home. He is his dad’s buddy in the man cave, he loves to play with his canine sister, a goofy golden, he respects his older brother, a pittie with boundaries and he refuses to allow anyone to get down on themselves.  He puts a sparkle in his mom’s eye with his smile and sassy ways.  Sprout fills their hearts as much as they fill his with their nurturing care and love of all things Sprout.

Was it work training a 8 week old landshark to stop biting because he was removed from his biological mom and litter so young to be euthanized.  Sure was, we all got tagged by him.  Was it work to house train him, yep, just like every other dog you bring into your home.  Was it work to plan your schedule around his needs as a puppy, yes, but that’s any puppy. His daily therapy stretches take time and commitment, yes, and it also creates quiet time to bond as you work together; plus lots of peanut butter.

Special needs warriors take work on the family’s part, but aren’t the most special things in life those you worked for?

Thank you to Wild Hearts Foundation and Wild Hearts Petcare for your dedication to Sprout. 

Wild Hearts provides continuous, comprehensive care to animals with mobility issues and the people that love them. Please consider a donation to this amazing group to help provide assistance to dogs with mobility issues.

Sprout at 11 weeks testing a cart at Wild Hearts Petcare