Our Special Needs Program

Blue is a sweet little pup that was an owner surrender with a cleft palate. He is about 13 weeks old now. He is completely spoiled rotten living with a member of our neonate foster team. He is now living his best life. He makes friends every where he goes and even dresses up to go to the office. He will be staying with his neonate foster.

Lola came to us as part of a little of 4 exotic bullies born with cleft lips in 1 litter. She also has rear leg issues that may need to be surgically addressed in the future. Miss Lola is 8 months old now and is living in a foster to adopt home. She is a little spitfire and has such a personality. She has to lay on the couch with any toys she has and if she drops it she will bark until someone picks it up. She absolutely loves the snow and the second she thinks where family is going anywhere she’s sitting at the door ready to go also. She gets in the car and sleeps the whole time. She can’t sleep unless she is touching one of her family members. Her foster to adopt family feel they are so blessed to have her. o blessed to have her .

Copper came to us 6 years ago as a 10-month-old puppy. He has scoliosis which had left him without full use of his back legs and unable to control his bladder/bowel. Copper is a favorite of the volunteers at the barn and loves to run/scoot around the dog room at lightning speed. He loves all humans, treats and squeaky toys.

This is Ariya she is 7months she was surrendered to us due to deformities in her hips and back legs. She will see the specialist in a couple weeks to see if there is an option for surgery. She is living with one of our foster moms. and her fur babies. They call her the troll because she hides under their couches and pops out like she's not giving us permission to pass. She's a doll and will most likely be adopted by her foster family.

Roger came up to us from Georgia when he was just a baby. He had an infection in his femur which led to him to have a fusion of his scapula & femur. He’s a black angus and is approximately two years old. He loves to hang out in the pasture with his buddy Kenny.

Dora is around 12 years old. She came to the barn from the SOI Dog Foundation in Thailand in November of 2017. Her Soi dog records show craniodorsal right hip luxation (usually caused by traumatic injury). The vet here in Union lake mentioned that seems to match up with a lot of what I see in Dora is degenerative myelopathy. Dora has been adopted by her foster mom. Dora’s most favorite activity is long walks with her rear-lift harness. Her disability doesn’t slow her down one bit. She only accepts the highest quality of food and treats. She has the most precious snore when she’s sleeping.

Stella came to the Barn thru the Mia Foundation as a puppy. She is 1 year and 5 months old now and has Hydrocephalus is. She is a tiny little girl, only 12 pounds compared to the average size of a Frenchie at 22-28 pounds. She went to live with one of our foster moms as a baby and is living her best life with her. Her likes/dislikes change daily. Currently she likes to snuggle with her mom and loves to smell her breath when she thinks she ate something without sharing it. So far, her Hydrocephalus has not been a problem for her. I know whatever challenges she faces in the future; her mom will battle it with her as she loves her so much.

Kenny is about 4. He was transported from southern Ohio when he was about 3 weeks old. His owners reached out to the barn because he was injured during the birthing process. They pulled him out with a rope wrapped around his leg which removed a lot of flesh. They didn’t get their vet to treat him. The ride back to Newport was quiet. He didn’t make a peep…didn’t even poop lol. He had the sweetest look on his face the whole way home. We got him just in time as his leg was already infected and beyond saving. He was named after the volunteers {the one who drove down to get him) dad, who passed from Dementia in 2015. What’s cute about Kenny, is when his favorite volunteer yells to him, “mommas here!!!” And he lets out a big MOOOO!!!

We were contacted by the Mia Foundation right after Frankie was born. Mel and Carrie drove to Cedar Springs to pick him up when he was four hours old. He was in great condition because his breeder knew not to let him nurse on mom because of his cleft lip and cleft pallet. He will be 2 years old May 28th. Frankie likes to sleep with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, he loves to run around in the snow and eat it as he goes, and he still loves to sit directly on his adoptive mom and cuddle even though he is 55 pounds now.

Rylee is a sweet little girl who came to us thru the Mia Foundation. Rylee was very underdeveloped when she arrived but with love and care she has developed into a beautiful little Frenchie. We took sweet Rylee to OSU and she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, Spina bifida and is incontinent. Ryle is living a great life with one of our farm animal coordinators. She loves to swim (so much so that she likes to try and swim in her water bowl), help with farm animal chores, and snuggle under the blankets. We know one thing for sure she’ll be kissed and loved the rest of her life.

Tucker is a cleft palate labradoodle pup who was born in December 2020 and came to us thru the Mia Foundation. He was cared for by the neonate team until he was adopted by his amazing family. He did end up having surgery on his cleft palate after he got older. He now lives with an amazing family in Chicago. His new mom takes him everywhere. He has been to New Orleans, and so many other places. He loves the beach and water and going on adventures.

Ace is an exotic bully that was born with hydrocephalus. One of our volunteers and her daughter drove down to Ohio to pick him up from the breeder. Despite having hydro he is a normal pup. He loves his mama and his kitten siblings. One of his favorite things to do is going over to the barn and chasing the chickens. He is one of our volunteers foster fails and she is so grateful to have him. he is 4 months old

Fry came to us as part of a little of 4 exotic bullies born with cleft lips in 1 litter who were owner surrendered. Fry is way more laid back than his sister Lola. He has his very own boy who he loves, and the family also adopted Yoshi (now named Mavi). He’s very cuddly and loves to play. He lives near the Barn so we still get to see him which is awesome. Fry and Lola were taken care of by their team of Moms, and they went back and forth every few days. They are very social and still greet their foster Moms with kisses and wiggly butts

Huey came to us as a breeder surrender due to an illness. He has Epiglottic entrapment which causes respiratory noise and exercise intolerance. The epiglottis is a flap of tissue that, in normal situations, functions something like a “trap door” to keep food from entering the trachea and airways while the animal is swallowing. In this disease, the epiglottis is partially trapped by other tissues and cannot move normally. Huey is two years old and is such a sweetheart to be around. He is quickly becoming a favorite of the horse crew.

Frankie came to the barn in the fall of 2021. She is an ex-Amish plow horse that was disposed of at a kill pen because she could no longer carry the workload. Frankie has chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL) due to the lack of care she received while with her previous owners. She also has a wound on the same leg she acquired while at the kill pen. Melissa and Emily treat her wound two times a day. Frankie is a Belgian Draft horse and is enjoying her retirement at The Devoted Barn. The vet thinks she is in her mid 20’s. Frankie loves to lay down in the pasture and sunbathe!

Charlie is an amazing Golden Retriever who was an owner surrender due to injuries sustained after getting hit by a car. The car accident left her incontinent- she came to the barn in 2017. Charlie has suffered from UTI”S due to her incontinence but the Vet has figured out ways to help with that. Everyone a the barn knows Charlie as she is one of the friendliest dogs we have ever had. She loves to go for walks, swim in the ponds and love on everyone she meets. In July 2021 she went to live with one of our volunteers. She is about 8 years old now and goes to work every day with her foster mom. She loves squeaky toys and will live out the rest of her life with her foster mom. .

Finn (AKA Diesel) came to be a part of the Barn family in September 2021. He came to us as a 10 week old puppy who was very underweight. as a breeder surrender. He is a purebred lab who we discovered has Mega E. He has been with our foster team since we got him and has learned to eat in his Baily Chair, has put on weight and is doing great in a foster home. He is currently up for adoption to someone who is willing to work with his Mega E.

Aria was surrendered to be euthanized by her family when diagnosed with mega e. The barn pulled her just in time. She was very underweight. She has mastered life with mega e well. She is currently showing some neurological issues. She loves everyone but especially her foster human brother Wyatt.

Barn family member Nancy lives in California but she's a vital part of our team. (If you have read any of the Devoted Barn books, she is part of that process.) A year ago, this beautiful puppy was born with a cleft lip. The Kingdom Rescue took her in, and Nancy connected them with us. We've watched her progress and we were thrilled when Nancy adopted her. Sweet Kiwi is considered part of us, and we're so happy to see another cleft puppy thriving. Happy 1 year birthday Kiwi.

Doodle came to the barn as a very young puppy thru the Mia Foundation. Doodle has a upper and lower cleft palate, cleft lip, spondylosis, deformed sacrum, elbow dysplasia and fluid filled knees. Doodle was tube fed as a baby. She is two years old now and has had numerous surgeries on her cleft lips, palates and knees and will have to have more in the future. She has a personality that won’t quit. She is a typical bully and doesn’t like to share her toys, bones or her people. She loves her fur brother Ruger to clean her eyes and her and Monkey love to play. She is living her best life with all of her fur-friends and humans. But her true loves are her “Mommy” and “Dadiption goes here

Meet Rocky. Rocky was born in Petoskey, Michigan. He had a beautiful time as he grew up with his mother and other friends. When Rocky was a few years old, his human mom moved to Montana and took Rocky and Rocky’s mom plus 15 other horses with her. He lived on a beautiful ranch for many years. However, hard times fell on his human mom, and she had to sell all her horses. Rocky was sold to a good friend in Montana and time went by. Fast forward to now, Sue, the original human owner saw Rocky in a kill pen in Texas, the worst one in the nation. Sue called our Barn family member Sue who then called Melissa, and he came to the Barn. Rocky has a neurological disorder known as Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), a disease from eating food that was contaminated. This was discovered while he was in quarantine in Texas still. He was brought to the Outlaw Equine hospital where he received the treatment for it. He’s now on a daily medication to help and he will have a great life here with us. We are SO blessed to have him here at the barn.