Meet Sweet William. He is almost a year old, and he is still figuring out this big, big world one brave step at a time.
When you've spent your whole young life on the end of a chain, hungry and forgotten, it's a wonder there's any trust left in you at all. But William arrived at GSRA still gentle. Still soft. Not aggressive. Not defensive. He would eat food placed in front of him, though he was hesitant to take it from a hand. He was learning, slowly, that hands could be kind.
William is only about ten or eleven months old. When he came into rescue, he weighed 46.8 pounds, roughly 10 to 15 pounds underweight for a dog his size and age. He had been severely neglected, and his young body was carrying the evidence of it.
At intake, our veterinary team confirmed what we feared and then some. William was heartworm positive, though thankfully the load was low and he was asymptomatic. He had multiple intestinal parasites at once: whipworms, roundworms, hookworms, and giardia. He had a dermoid on his left eye, a growth of hair on the surface of the eyeball. He had a pronounced lameness in his right front leg, with an abnormal gait and joint laxity. And he had additional musculoskeletal weakness, a dropped carpus on his left front leg and slightly dropped hocks in both back legs, all consistent with poor nutrition during his most important growing months.
The first order of business was getting weight on him. A young, growing dog cannot be put under anesthesia safely when he is this depleted. William was started on a high quality puppy diet and a careful medication plan: doxycycline as part of his heartworm protocol, Panacur for the parasites, carprofen for pain and inflammation, and Dasuquin for joint support. The plan was to get him stronger, then address his neuter, his eye, and the mystery of his leg all under one sedation.
By March, his worm load was low enough that our veterinarians cleared him to be neutered before starting full heartworm treatment. His weight was climbing steadily, from 46.8 pounds at intake to 53 pounds, then 54.6 pounds. But his limping had grown worse, not better, and we knew we needed answers sooner rather than later. Vaccinations, additional vet visits, and imaging were scheduled.
On April 1 and 2, William had a full day of care. He was neutered. His eye dermoid was surgically removed and sent out for biopsy. His dewclaws were removed. He weighed in at 55.8 pounds, nearly nine pounds heavier than the day he arrived. And we got the X-rays that began to tell us what his leg had been trying to tell us all along.
A week later, his eye biopsy came back: benign. A fibroadnexal hamartoma, with clean margins. One worry, off the list.
But the leg told a more complicated story. The X-rays of his right front leg showed an abnormality near his elbow that was at least five weeks old, and our veterinarian referred him to a board certified veterinary surgical specialist for evaluation. On April 20, William was seen a Veterinary Specialty Hospital, with a follow up review by a board certified veterinary radiologist.
There was one more thing on the radiographs. A small metallic BB pellet, lodged in the muscle of his right thigh.
Someone shot him.
We do not know when. We do not know who. We do not know whether it has anything to do with the lameness in his front leg or whether it is simply another injury he carried alone, untreated, in a body too young to deserve any of it. The specialists believe the BB itself can be managed conservatively for now. But it is one more piece of the picture we are still putting together about what this gentle dog has already lived through.
The path ahead for William is a CT scan first, to map exactly what is happening inside his elbow. From there, the surgical team will be able to recommend the right procedure, which may involve a right ulna ostectomy and an arthroscopy of the elbow joint to improve the joint's congruity and remove a fragment of bone if one is present. In an ideal world, his heartworm treatment would happen before any of this, since untreated heartworm disease meaningfully raises the risk of anesthesia. Chest radiographs will be done first as a safety check. The sequencing of his care is being worked out by a team of veterinarians who are determined to do this right.
What we know for certain is this. William is safe now. He is warm. He is fed. He is up to 55.8 pounds and gaining. He is learning that food can come from a hand, and that the hand is not a threat. He is surrounded by people who are going to make sure he gets every chance this world owed him from the start.
And somewhere out there, we believe, is the right family for him. A family who understands that "small and sensitive" isn't a flaw. It's just part of who he is. His foster describes him as "just as sweet as pie," with a really nice personality and the biggest, softest lemur eyes you've ever seen. With patience, reassurance, and a predictable routine, William will relax and begin to show the sweet, loyal companion he was always meant to be.
One thing his foster wants any future adopter to know: William is not a solo dog. He absolutely loves other dogs, and he would make a wonderful playmate for some lucky pup. He needs a friendly, well mannered canine buddy in the home to help him feel secure and to share the good things in life: walks, playtime, and cozy naps. If you've got that kind of home, William is ready to be your little shadow and your biggest fan.
William will not be available for adoption for some time. His medical journey is long, and we are only partway through it. A CT scan, orthopedic surgery in whatever form it takes, heartworm treatment, specialist consultations, follow up imaging, medications, and recovery all add up quickly, especially for a young dog who deserves every option on the table.
This is exactly the kind of dog The Benny Memorial Medical Fundraiser exists for. The ones who arrive broken. The ones whose care is measured in months, not weeks. The ones who have been failed in every way a dog can be failed, and who still somehow show up gentle.
GSRA is an all volunteer organization. Every dollar raised goes directly to the dogs in our care, dogs like Sweet William, whose story is still being written.
The Benny Memorial Medical Fundraiser runs through June 20, 2026. If you are able, please consider making a gift today. Your donation, of any amount, is what gives William the chance he should have had all along. To donate, visit: https://gsdrescue.org/donate/
