If you have recently come across this website, or someone has been kind enough to share it with you, then you may be wondering – who is Lucifer anyway?
Beyond just being the namesake of this site, Lucifer is a happy little pup with a story to tell.
It all started on the streets of Tennessee where Lucifer and his littermates were found abandoned in a ditch. Luckily for the pups, the person who found them was an animal lover. They were brought to the Baker Bridge Rescue where they were given veterinary care and taken care of until they were adopted out to their forever families.
For Lucifer (Gibby at the time), this meant a long road trip from Tennessee to Ontario, Canada to join our family. Shout out to Rescue Riders Pet Transport and their incredible drivers who took Lucifer as far as Michigan where he was then brought over the border by Julia, an amazing volunteer driver.
Lucifer was the runt of the litter but despite his small size, we quickly learned he was full of energy and spunk. He was a happy, playful pup that loved our other dogs, but he was very skittish around people (especially men).
With a lot of love, care, and plenty of patience, we eventually started to earn this little man’s trust. When we did, we discovered he was a VERY affectionate pup. In fact, after a long day of puppy play, this little Mommy’s boy loves nothing more than curling up with his mom for cuddles all night.
When he didn’t grow nearly as big as we had anticipated, we became curious. We could see the German Shepherd in him, but clearly, there was something else… With the help of DNA My Dog, we discovered that he is a German Shepherd/Bernese Mountain Dog/Australian Cattle Dog. That explained the crazy energy!!
Early in March 2022, Lucifer was playing with our older German Shepherd mix Daviana when he launched himself off the couch to tackle her.
We noticed after he stuck the landing, he had a slight limp. Concerned that he may have landed wrong and hurt himself we made a vet appointment. He was checked over and we were told that there was a good chance he had a soft tissue injury, and he was given 2 weeks of crate rest.
Following the crate rest, we started to slowly get him moving again, introducing physical activity but as soon as he was moving more, the limp returned, and we were back to the vet once again.
Concerned that he may be suffering from the early signs of elbow dysplasia, a condition that is known to be a risk in all 3 breeds, we agreed to x-rays. The x-rays were sent directly to an orthopedic specialist. We were shocked by what was discovered…
At some point early in his life, Lucifer had suffered some sort of trauma resulting in fractures in both of his front legs. They were pretty significant, enough so that the orthopedic specialist had assumed the x-rays came from a dog that had been hit by a car and not a dog that walked into the exam room. The fractures were older, and it was determined that they had originally happened before he was rescued and then aggravated during the play session causing the limp.
Whether the injuries occurred from when he was thrown in the ditch with his littermates or some experience before that, it was clear that this boy had suffered a rough start to life.
After a full month of crate rest (which was no easy feat with such a high-energy pup), he returned for follow-up x-rays. We had hoped to see evidence that he was healing but, sadly, the news wasn’t what we had hoped for. The fractures had shown some signs of healing, but the specialist informed us that they were likely never going to fully heal.
Today, he still has surprising mobility despite his injuries. He does take Metacam occasionally to address any pain and allow him to live life to the fullest while we prepare for the next step – surgery.
The orthopedic specialist advised that he would have to have both of his front wrists fused, a surgery that he quoted at approximately $3800 per leg. That, combined with both pre- and post-surgical care, meant a large veterinary bill but we would do anything to give this sweet boy the life that he deserves.
And so, we have created this site… an opportunity to raise some of the funds needed to move forward with his care.
Interested in seeing more adorable Lucifer content?
Our little man is on social media! You can follow him on Instagram or TikTok.