This is Lefty, who we adopted about a month ago from a shelter near Belle Meade, NJ. He is a shepherd mix, probably 4-5 months old. 

The story behind his 3-leggedness is a little unclear.  Allegedly his leg was broken in his first home and the owners never took care of it properly.  It healed stiff, and he was mostly unable to use it.  The shelter took him to an orthopedic surgeon who determined that it was best to amputate.  He lost his back left leg when he was about 3 months old. 

Lefty does not seem to be aware of this -- he runs and jumps along with the rest of the pack, and even tries to scratch his ear with his missing leg (I guess this proves that dogs can have phantom feelings as well.) 

We are working with the vet to keep him at a good weight given that he will need to be able to support himself and they expect him to grow to 50+ pounds.  He also needs a lift getting in & out of the car, but other than that he's a normal, perfectly happy dog!

 

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