Paraplegic Dog is Man's Best Friend

This is the story of a man's everlasting commitment to his dog.

When Craig Mosher's four year-old pit bull became paralyzed in 2004, he had two choices: "putting Loois down and saying goodbye," Mosher tells Paw Nation, "or working very hard to keep him alive." Since Loois wouldn't quit -- "in his mind, he would not lay down" -- Mosher decided to fight alongside his dog, who he adopted as a 12-week old puppy after nearly being killed as dog fight bait.

Every morning, Mosher, a retired police officer and 27-year Army veteran, gets up at four o'clock in the morning and helps Loois, whose hind legs are paralyzed, relieve himself. "When you have a paraplegic dog, they're unable to go to the bathroom on their own, so you have to express their bladder and bowels for them," Mosher says. A veterinarian taught him the 10-minute procedure, which requires Mosher to place his hands on Loois' inner thighs and squeeze. Mosher then wipes Loois down with warm cloths and carries him to the living room, where he is gently placed on the couch. Mosher does this four times a day.

Breakfast and dinner are some kibble and stew. "I gotta keep his weight down," Mosher explains to Paw Nation. "He's 84 pounds right now."

At bedtime, Mosher carries Loois to his special dog bed -- a twin mattress with a soft, lambswool bed spread -- tucks him in with his favorite chew toy and kisses him goodnight.

Other than a single short trip, Mosher has not been away from his dog for more than five hours at a time since he was paralyzed five years ago. "I've got a Harley-Davidson, and they have a motorcycle club, and I think about traveling and visiting friends, but then I think, 'Nope. I've got Loois and he's more important than anything," says Mosher.

His family, including his three grown sons, wonder how Mosher does it.

"Because I love him," he says. "He's my rock and my best friend. When I got divorced, Loois is what kept me going."


In 2000, Mosher was working as a police officer when he got a report of a dog fight in Seaside, California. As Mosher and other officers arrived on the scene, the suspects gathered up all the dogs – both live and dead -- and fled with the evidence.

Not long after, Mosher's then-wife saw a local television news program about a pit bull puppy who needed a home. When they visited the pup at a veterinary clinic, "We walked inside the door and this puppy came running around the corner," recalls Mosher. "He slipped on the hardwood floor, fell, got up and kept on running toward us, like he already knew us." They decided to adopt him and name him Loois Armstrong Mosher.

The puppy had a large bandage around his neck and a tube sticking out of his neck for drainage. The veterinary staff said he had been used as bait in a dog fight -- the same dog fighting ring, it turned out, that Mosher had investigated.

Only 12 weeks old at the time, Loois was found whimpering in the bushes outside the veterinary clinic, where he had apparently been dumped. Loois was barely alive with a huge gash on his left shoulder, his neck was ripped open and his eyelid was torn. "They were going to euthanize him," says Mosher. "But they patched him up and we adopted him. He's a fighter."

At home, Loois immediately took to the Moshers' other two dogs -- another American pit bull and a chocolate Labrador Retriever. "I'm not sure if he forgot about what happened to him," says Mosher, "but Loois was an affectionate puppy. He loves people. He has never, ever bitten anybody and will not growl at you. Even when the vet clips his nails or gives him a shot, he just lies there and lets the vet do what he has to do."

After injuring his leg playing with the family dogs, an MRI revealed that Loois had an extra vertebra that was pressing painfully into his spine. On January 21, 2004, Loois underwent surgery to remove the extra bone. "The doctor was clipping away at the extra vertebra and the bone broke and he touched the spinal cord," says Mosher. "It paralyzed Loois."

Mosher was devastated. "I felt sick to my stomach," he says. "Can you imagine? Loois woke up and discovered he couldn't walk." Still, the dog loves going for daily strolls. "As soon as I get my hat and put on my tennis shoes," says Mosher, "he's propped up on the couch all ready to go." At first, Mosher used a "walkabout" harness -- which he had lined with fur so Loois wouldn't chafe -- to hold up Loois' hindquarters. They have since gotten a cart with wheels and walk a half a mile a day.

When the Moshers divorced in 2005, Loois gave focus to Craig's life. "He gave me inspiration to keep going," Mosher says. "It was humbling. He looked at me like, 'I've got it rough dad, and you've got it rough too, but together, we'll walk through this thing.' And we came out on the other end with flying colors."

Rather than viewing his dog as a burden, Mosher feels blessed. "I'm very, very lucky and privileged to have him," says Mosher. "There's no doubt in my mind that Loois has made me a better person." Still, isn't it a lot of work taking care of Loois? "It's a lot of work for him too," says Mosher. "He won't stop fighting. As long as he's not going to give up, I'm not going to give up on him."

In October, Loois will be nine years old. His neurological system can shut down at any time due to the one millimeter bruise on his spinal cord. "When that day comes, when I'll have to say goodbye to him, it's going to be the toughest thing I'll ever have to do," says Mosher.

Loois serves as a daily reminder to keep things in perspective. "Sometimes you get down on yourself, that's just human nature, " says Mosher. "But when I think I got it rough, I look at him and think, 'Man, I don't have it rough at all.' He can't walk! He's a living, breathing creature, just trying to make it."

Watch the below video of Mosher taking Loois for a walk.

Tags: express bladder, ExpressBladder, paralyzed dog, ParalyzedDog, paraplegic dog, ParaplegicDog