Woody the Wonder Dog

Meet Woodward Spalding-Kahrs.

When you first meet Woody, you can't help but think what a handsome fellow he is. His coat glistens and his huge dark brown eyes sing out his good humor and his great outlook on life.

But then you look again, because something is missing.

After their ancient Cocker Spaniel died, Elaine Spalding, president of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, and her husband Keyth Kahrs, a successful LowerTown artist, adopted Woody as a puppy from Project Hope's no-kill animal shelter in Metropolis. A litter of terribly ill tiny puppies had been dropped at the facility.

"We had to wait, because he was too young, and they didn't know if he would survive the disease," Elaine recalls. "It turned out that he was the only puppy of the litter who did."

Keyth smiles. "We got him in November 2004. He can 'shake hands,' you know. He learned to balance on his butt."

This might not sound like such a big deal. Lots of dogs can do the gimme-five trick. But Woody only has five to give.

On December 23, 2007, Keyth and Elaine were visiting family in the country near Elizabethtown, Ky. Woody and the family dog were playing outside. The home is on a private loop, off the main road. Woody dragged back into the kitchen. Literally. He had been run over, and his left front leg was dangling uselessly. Keyth and Elaine rushed him to the family's vet, where he was kept overnight.

Woody came back to see his regular vet, Dr. Ceglinski, when he was stable. He had suffered a head trauma, lacerations and contusions and a brachial plexus injury, which meant that he had torn the nerves that supply feeling and motion to that left front leg.

Doc treated Woody, but warned Keyth and Elaine that dogs with a brachial plexus injury usually must have the leg amputated. "We'll give it four to six weeks," he said.

"We tried everything," Keyth remembers. "Woody had acupuncture in Benton, and he was treated by Tony Hicks, who's an equine chiropractor. Both Julie and David Dean did Reiki on him." Elaine bandaged the leg every day to keep Woody from chewing on it, but there was no improvement. Keyth and Elaine agonized over what was best for their dog.

"I was afraid of him not making it. I just didn't know what was right for him," recalls Elaine. Keyth nods. "He did better than we did. It was much harder on us."

Dr. Ceglinski had no choice but to amputate — but Woody never seemed to miss the dead leg. "He just keeps on trucking," says Keyth. Elaine adds, "He still loves the lake! He jumps right in — it hasn't slowed him down a bit! He loves to swim."

"And he doesn't just go in circles," jokes Keyth. "I've gotten so accustomed to his look, that I forget what people are gawking at. Then I think, oh yeah, it isn't every day you see a three-legged dog."

Woody as a puppy, painted by Keyth Kahrs

"But the other dogs don't care," notes Elaine. "They just do their sniffing and playing as usual."

Keyth brags that Woody is a great gallery dog at Leaping Trout Studio. And on cue, a couple of shoppers from St. Louis come into the gallery to see Keyth's watercolors. Woody jumps up to greet them at the door, wagging and smiling. They don't appear to notice that anything is missing.

Neither does Woody.

Rock on, Woody!

---