KING is a 3-month-old German Shepherd in New Lebanon, OH, who needs $1,000 for Persistent Right Aortic Arch.

For Mother’s Day, my husband and my kids brought King and his sister, June, home. King holds a special place in our family. My husband and I both have kids from previous relationships, but due to my health issues, we will never have one of our own. That’s what our dogs are to us, a huge part of the family and a huge part of our hearts.

King is a full of life puppy who loves to play with our kids and his dog siblings. When I come home from working as a nurse, King does his best to howl (in his puppy voice) because he is so excited to see me. He loves playing outside, playing in the water. Following his big sister around and napping. He loves watching tv, he is mesmerized by the movement.

King has such a sweet soul and you can see in his eyes how gentle and loving he is. Looking at his face, I can’t imagine a reality in which I can’t save him, because in a way, he saved me. The silly puppy things he does always has someone laughing and smiling. Watching him play with our kids and other dogs lights up our life.

King came home at 7 weeks and right away we noticed him regurgitating. While we waiting on the vet appointment, we tried slow feeder bowls, soft foods, elevating while eating. While all this helped, nothing solved the problem. We suspected something more and we were right. He was diagnosed with ‘persistent right aortic arch’.

I am a nurse and my husband does construction. We have 4 kids between us and while we have what we need, we were not prepared and can’t afford such a large amount of money at one time. We don’t have the time to save up money due to his urgent need.