Leo is a 1-year-old Cockapoo in Cheverly, MD, who needs $2,000 for Balloon Valvuloplasty.

Leo, our loving, friendly, curious, and spunky puppy came into our arms unexpectedly last December at only 4 months old. At the time, we wanted to adopt a puppy and Leo’s foster mentioned that Leo is looking for a forever home. We all have grown a lot ever since Leo came into our lives and we truly love him with all of our hearts.

Leo adores puzzles and learning new tricks. He is not a fan of sleeping since he prefers to play 24/7 if he could but when it is quiet in the house, he would sleep by our feet. Leo LOVES to meet new people and animals, if he sees you on his walk, he will sit down and wait for you to come pet him. He is truly loving and friendly puppy.

Leo's premium insurance is giving us hard time about reimbursement. We already spent over $7k in medical bills in few months. His upcoming surgery will be additional $6k-8k, this puts the total at approximately $15k of medical bills in few months. It is simply too much.

Leo was born with congestive heart failure called pulmonary stenosis. This means one of his valve is too thin to circulate oxygen properly so his other valve is working overtime to make up for the lack of oxygen circulating. He needs a balloon valvuloplasty (heart surgery). If he doesn’t have the surgery, he will not live longer than two years. With this surgery, he can live for more than 8 years.

Leo loves to paw at us at 6am. If we ignore him, he will just go up to our pillow and paw at our head until we wake up. Once we wake up, he would roll on his back and beg for belly rubs. Leo is an observant, especially in a signing household. He is always keeping his eye out for his favorite signs, "treat," "walk," and "play."