Your Stories
“Nina” Terri J. Miller’s Story
Published: September 23, 2012
We were breeders of working line German Shepherd Dogs in Corpus Christi, Texas. I kept back a puppy that I really liked from a litter we bred out of two imports from the Netherlands. Nina was always a very special little girl. When I had a preliminary hip x-ray done when Nina was 6 months old, we discovered she had substantially loose hip sockets. I took her to Dr. Anderson on recommendation of my veterinarian. Dr. Anderson concurred that Nina’s hips were very loose and being she had no radiographic signs of arthritis she would be a prime candidate for the Triple Pelvic Osteotomy.
Even though Nina was no longer a candidate for our breeding program, I always knew this puppy had so much to offer. She underwent two back-to-back TPO surgeries. I will admit that it was a long haul but I followed Dr. Anderson’s instructions to the ‘T’. Nina healed beautifully and remained an incredibly athletic and sound dogs through the years.
When she turned 4 years of age Nina had a career change. She had always had a very special way about her while in the presence of physically or emotionally challenged individuals. She was kind, gentle and those special souls seemed to migrate to her and visa versa. At that time Nina was my obedience demonstration dog, going to work with me everyday while I taught and trained. It was at work when I became good friends with a co-worker whose husband came back from Iraq with severe post traumatic stress disorder to the point where he was no longer mentally functional as a husband or a father to their very young daughter. It was only his visits to our workplace that lent any signs of hope. It was there that he would play fetch with Nina, and he opened up and showed signs of happiness when he was around her. I made a very hard decision, and did some additional training with Nina and had her tested and certified as a Working Service Dog and donated her to this deserving US Serviceman. Over the course of a few years he went from being a severely troubled and tortured young man that wouldn’t even get out of bed in the morning, to gradually making simple trips to the grocery store, attending college, and now holds a full-time job, all the while with Nina at his side. He has recovered to the point where Nina can now stay home (much to her displeasure) when he goes to work. Over the course of the years and many the many miles she’s guided her partner, Nina never made a lame step on her incredibly well-muscled rear. Nina saved his life and she saved his family. So Dr. ‘Andy’ Anderson, thank you for saving Nina because if it weren’t for you this happy family would most likely have had an entirely different ending.