Vesper is a 10 month old Border Collie in Chino Valley, AZ, who needs $2,000 for Pin and Plate Placement for Mid-Femoral Fracture.

Vesper came into my life when my service dog SD Djinn passed at 15yrs. At 10wks Vesper was a gift from friends at MM Stockdog Ranch to replace SD Tessa (6yrs) who was killed in a traffic accident. Vesper at 10mo is well into her training as a mobility assist, PTSD and medical alert dog on a small farm in AZ with SD Kei, a 3yr old English Shepherd, doing both service dog and farm work.

Vesper broke her right rear leg (spiral compound fracture) between the knee and shoulder jumping out of the car at a training facility. Triage was at Yavapai Emergency Animal Hosp. in Prescott Valley. Surgery was done by Dr. S. at Prescott Animal Hosp. in Prescott AZ where a tungsten rod was inserted in the bone to repair it. Vesper is basically on bed rest until her leg heals, about 2-3 months.

I am a 79 year old disabled Vietnam veteran with 65+yrs experience with working border collies and using service dogs since 2009. Losing SD Tessa then SD Djinn was a severe emotional catastrophe for me. They were a team, SD Kei was still in training. I am 79! How much time is left to me? I have one more dog to train. My last border collie. Her name is Vesper. I was not going to lose her.

I live with my 2 service dogs on a fixed income . My dogs are my life quite literally providing mobility, medical alert and help around the house. Vesper is already alerting for 2 conditions. I paid out what I had, friends helped me a bit, still I had to borrow the rest.