Moxie was first introduced to Dankmeyer in November of 2016, when she was seven months old and christened “Autumn” by her rescuers. When found, this little English Setter mix was missing her left hind leg below the knee. They approached Dankmeyer, Inc. about making her a prosthesis, and during that evaluation process, the pup was adopted by Dankmeyer staff member Jeanne Smith and her family. She was renamed Moxie after Jeanne asked fellow Dankmeyer staff to make suggestions in a naming contest. "Moxie" was the winner - meaning courage, determination, energy, and pep - and all those words describe this little bundle of fun!
Since then, the Dankmeyer team, headed by Jed Newhardt, CPO, have been collaborating, creating and trialling different prosthetic designs in order to find the best fit for Moxie. The process takes time and patience; monitoring her day to day, taking her out in the community and parks for walks and runs to check the functionality, fit and comfort; then taking those results and tweaking and redesigning and refitting. Moxie is adapting well to the challenges during this process. Soon she will be modelling her new high fashion leopard print designed prosthesis.
She is now learning to jump up in efforts to teach her balance and support when outside in the community. She has now mastered, with her newfound confidence, descending the stairs without sliding on her belly! As her confidence and strength grow, so does her love for meeting and making new friends.
Moxie is a true joy and inspiration to all who come in contact with her.
Here is a video of Moxie playing with her family, testing a prosthesis.