Barrie, a seven-year old chocolate Labrador retriever, is living proof that it’s not just people who can triumph over adversity – dogs can, too.
When Barrie was six, he was living a normal, healthy dog’s life with Iris Martin and her two other dogs.
“He was fine, very active,” said Martin, Barrie’s owner. “The dogs would go to the beach every morning and to the mountains every afternoon.”
One day last April, when the housekeeper left the home at 4:50 p.m., all of the dogs were fine. Twenty-five minutes later, when Martin arrived home at 5:15 p.m., she found Barrie on the floor completely paralyzed, unable to walk on any of his four legs.
“I thought maybe it was epilepsy,” she said. “I took him to our veterinarian, Dr. John Lupo [at Malibu Vet Clinic]. He said, ‘This rigidity is not good.’”
After examining the dog and running tests, Lupo referred him to an animal surgical center with sophisticated diagnostic equipment.
“At 3 a.m., they did a myelogram, a CAT scan and several other high-end tests,” Martin said. “And by that time, he was starting to use his front legs a little bit.”
She said the surgical center’s eventual diagnosis was that Barrie had suffered some type of stroke.
“Stroke is not common in dogs,” Lupo said. “It may actually have been a thromboid embolism.” In any case, he vividly recalls the evening. “I didn’t think the dog was going to make it when she brought him in, but Iris really went the extra mile.”
The experts told Martin that physical therapy might help Barrie regain the use of his legs. At California Animal Rehabilitation (CARE) in West L.A., under the care of veterinarian co-owner Jessica Waldman, he underwent a grueling program for four hours a day, six days a week for six months.
Besides the usual exercises and stretches for strength, balance and conditioning, Barrie’s individualized program included acupuncture, underwater treadmill, homeopathy injections, vitamin E and massage.
“It was a life-changing event; everything revolved around his therapy,” Martin said.
After regaining the use of three legs after six months of therapy, CARE began an even more demanding exercise regimen to get Barrie’s fourth leg working. Up to this point, Martin said Barrie was eager to see the CARE staff each day, but it reached the point where it just became too hard for him.
From the waiting area, “I could hear him screaming,” Martin said. “He’d had enough. He didn’t want to go back.”
Today, Barrie can stand on three legs and even walk a few steps, “but his bad leg trips him,” Martin said. She tries to make his life as normal as possible – he sleeps in bed with her and the other dogs, goes for rides in the car and even keeps up his daily exercise routines.
A custom-made mobility cart was designed and built for Barrie by “Eddie’s Wheels” of Massachusetts for $550. The company custom builds “wheelchairs” for dogs of all sizes and disabilities all over the world. “It changed his life.” Martin said.
He started off using it 10 minutes a day and worked up to 90 minutes.
Leslie Grinnell, president of Eddie’s Wheels, wrote in an email, “Because of Barrie’s size and weight, his owner opted for a cart with a removable step-in saddle so she wouldn’t have to lift him into it at an angle. This is an option we offer to owners of large-breed dogs.”
The cart enables Barrie to continue his daily walks near Zuma Beach and on some of the local hills.
“All our carts are designed to be ‘all terrain,’” Grinnell wrote. “We use big wheels for good traction that are eva-foam filled — they’re lighter than air-filled wheels, need no maintenance and float over sand.”
Martin said Barrie also spends hours swimming in the pool going after tennis balls with the help of his canine life jacket and a pool noodle float.
Martin agreed to tell Barrie’s story hoping it might help other dog owners to know what kinds of resources are available. Even though Barrie’s’ case is “heartbreaking” and there’s “a certain sadness because there’s still things he can’t do,” she said, “the idea of not letting Barrie have a life never dawned on me.”
