A guest blog by Megan Rowlands
Hello there! We are Megan and Abby, and we share our home with our three amazing Spanish rescue sighthounds: Sally, Brisa, and Marilyn. Megan spent time growing up in Spain, and witnessed the heartbreaking animal welfare situation there. Podencos and Galgos are used for hunting due to their strong natural prey drive, and are often abandoned, tortured, or even killed when they are no longer needed. It’s estimated that around 50,000 hunting dogs suffer from this cruelty each year. Unlike other domestic breeds, hunting and working dogs in Spain don’t have the same legal protections, so they rely on rescue organisations for care and advocacy. Marilyn was rehomed to us through a wonderful UK-based charity called Project Galgo, and they have more information about the terrible challenges faced by Spanish hunting dogs here:
Marilyn’s story
Marilyn’s journey hasn’t been easy. She was hit by a car in Spain at less than 1 year old, and left to die alone at the side of the road. She suffered a broken spine and would never walk again. Thanks to the incredible veterinary team at Fundacion Benjamin Mehnert hospital, Marilyn received the care she needed to recover. They even equipped her with a doggy wheelchair to get her back on her feet, and adorned her with the title ‘the earthquake on wheels’! Despite her incredible spirit, Marilyn was still waiting for a loving home. When we saw footage of her dramatic rescue from the roadside, and videos of how she’d progressed in the hospital, we couldn’t bear the thought of her being overlooked. So in November 2023, after a year of her waiting, we welcomed Marilyn into our family!
Why we decided to adopt a dog with disabilities
We had never considered having a dog with disabilities before Marilyn came along. Marilyn is rear-end paralysed and incontinent, so she uses her forelimbs to pull herself around (with help from a doggy wheelchair outside). We also manually express her bladder and bowels. Although we now know this isn’t that scary, the reality is that most people are put off by it. We live a quiet, simple life (some might say boring, but we love it!) with one of us working from home and we knew that we could give Marilyn the support she would need.
How does having a dog with disabilities differ?
Marilyn’s needs are not much different to that of any dog. The difference is how we fulfil those needs. For example, when we let Sal and Brisa out to go to the toilet in the garden, we take Marilyn to the bathroom to express her bladder. We all go out for a walk together, and Marilyn goes on her wheels. She doesn’t need a special diet, but we make sure that she has joint supplements, and we keep an eye on her weight so that she’s not putting unnecessary pressure on her forelimbs. She loves to play with Brisa, and her disability doesn’t stop her from winning tug or bitey-face, although Brisa is a bit mean sometimes and will run upstairs knowing that Marilyn can’t chase her!
We’ve also learnt to be extra-mindful of keeping the house clean and tidy, so that she doesn’t pick up any infections because her feet drag on the floor, and that she doesn’t get stuck on anything around the house.
If she wants to do something, she’ll either find a way to do it or she’ll tell us what she wants. Going up stairs is the only thing she can’t do on her own, so she’ll stand at the bottom step and rest her head on it to let us know that’s where she wants to go! It’s important to keep an eye out for communication cues, so that we know when she wants help. But this is much the same for any animal! Once these things become normal routine, it’s no additional effort to live a safe, clean and fun life with her!
What have the challenges been?
The first couple of weeks with Marilyn were hard to adjust to. We’d never expressed an animal’s bladder or bowels before, and were constantly worried that we weren’t doing things right or that we weren’t giving her what she needed. We desperately didn’t want to let her down. I remember looking at her little wonky body and crying at the sheer tragedy of it all. It was hard not to look at her and be affected by the hand she’d been dealt. But it got easier. We began to find lightness and humour in things. Marilyn is very cheeky and funny and she never feels sorry for herself, so we learnt not to. The more we did things, the more they became part of normal life. We followed a couple of helpful pages on social media, which developed our knowledge and allowed us to feel less alone. There really weren’t many sources of help out there, and at times it felt like we were the only people on the planet who had a dog like ours. It’s hard to know what’s ‘normal’ for a dog who isn’t ‘normal’! But thankfully there are more and more resources out there now to help (just like Woofability!), and more communities of very special fellow carers to join!
Another interesting challenge is people’s perceptions. Marilyn attracts a lot of attention, and her situation is both unusual and impressive. A common reaction is sympathy, and we often get people saying things like ‘poor thing!’. Whilst we know that comments like this come from a good place, we always advocate for Marilyn to explain why she wouldn’t want sympathy. We remind people that she’s very happy, she doesn’t know she’s different, and she effectively walks everywhere in a handstand, which is a darn sight more impressive than what you or I can do! As with humans, the language we use around disability is important in order to change perceptions, and we always focus on what she can do (impressively well!), rather than what she can’t. We are also determined to change misconceptions about disabled animals in the veterinary and wider animal welfare world, specifically around the quality of life they can have. Marilyn and many others prove that animals with disabilities can live fulfilled, happy and healthy lives, if just given the chance.
Why you should consider a special dog!
We already know that dogs are wonderful, but dogs with disabilities are extra-wonderful! They will surprise you, fill you with joy at watching their zest for life, and teach you valuable lessons. The bond between you is a powerful one, and you develop a unique partnership and we wish we had known about how wonderful having a dog with disabilities is sooner!
We would like to thank Megan and Abby for sharing Marilyn’s amazing story xxx
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