"Her name transcends all religions, really."
May 16, 2013 10:01 PM Subscribe
Faith the Dog has only her hind legs, so she does what any other biped would do and walks upright! She was until very recently involved in morale work with returning soldiers and would travel by air sometimes, and it's just fun to watch her go. Bonus: watch Oprah's heart just melt in real-time!
*jazzhands*!
*jazzhands*!
I've seen videos, images, and articles about Faith a number of times. My own pup doesn't suffer from any disabilities (other than "bad dog" syndrome), I always feel fortunate for her that she has all her "parts".
Dogs live in the now, they don't know or acknowledge differences, what is, is. We can all learn from this.
posted by HuronBob at 10:26 PM on May 16, 2013 [3 favorites]
Dogs live in the now, they don't know or acknowledge differences, what is, is. We can all learn from this.
posted by HuronBob at 10:26 PM on May 16, 2013 [3 favorites]
Well I'll be.
I hope she gets a lot of backrubs.
In the Oprah video one of the daughters of the family explains how much work they have put in to training her. They got their Military Occupational Specialty so she can work with the military.
posted by oneironaut at 10:45 PM on May 16, 2013
I hope she gets a lot of backrubs.
In the Oprah video one of the daughters of the family explains how much work they have put in to training her. They got their Military Occupational Specialty so she can work with the military.
posted by oneironaut at 10:45 PM on May 16, 2013
Wow, Faith gets around pretty well on just two legs, and seems to enjoy running around in the park just like any dog doing regular dog stuff. Good on her, and her humans too!
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:37 PM on May 16, 2013
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 11:37 PM on May 16, 2013
Well, this ...well this just gives ya a lot of good feelings. She seems to have a really joyful energy.
posted by Miko at 11:38 PM on May 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 11:38 PM on May 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
I haven't looked at those videos, and I probably won't. Too happysad.
I like HuronBob's comment.
I have Terrier with a bad heart. It slows her down and it's gonna kill her early. She's still young, just four now, and her condition isn't really apparent unless it's hot and I'm running her hard at fetch or chase the hose water. When it gets her, she stops, lays down, rolls over, breathes deep, and waits. It's syncope --- the light headed thing you feel when you stand up too fast. She gets it 'cause her heart can't keep pace with the running and the heat and eventually there just isn't enough blood getting to her brain. When she was a pup it would sneak up on her while she romped --- Boom, and over she went. But she's older now and can feel it coming and puts herself down and on her side and then to her back, breathing patiently, waiting.
When it passes, up she goes to her feet and after that she finds the frisbee again or the spray from the end of the hose, the game only ends when I get bored of it.
posted by notyou at 12:11 AM on May 17, 2013
I like HuronBob's comment.
I have Terrier with a bad heart. It slows her down and it's gonna kill her early. She's still young, just four now, and her condition isn't really apparent unless it's hot and I'm running her hard at fetch or chase the hose water. When it gets her, she stops, lays down, rolls over, breathes deep, and waits. It's syncope --- the light headed thing you feel when you stand up too fast. She gets it 'cause her heart can't keep pace with the running and the heat and eventually there just isn't enough blood getting to her brain. When she was a pup it would sneak up on her while she romped --- Boom, and over she went. But she's older now and can feel it coming and puts herself down and on her side and then to her back, breathing patiently, waiting.
When it passes, up she goes to her feet and after that she finds the frisbee again or the spray from the end of the hose, the game only ends when I get bored of it.
posted by notyou at 12:11 AM on May 17, 2013
well if there's any sad in the happy, it's not on Faith's part, afaict- those videos show an extremely happy dog! Yay Faith!
posted by hap_hazard at 12:19 AM on May 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by hap_hazard at 12:19 AM on May 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
and I know it's the wrong species, but damn if this dog doesn't exactly remind me of Ray Smuckles.
posted by hap_hazard at 12:21 AM on May 17, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by hap_hazard at 12:21 AM on May 17, 2013 [4 favorites]
youtube brought me from this to a cat without legs (not a birth defect, the result of a bad run-in with some dogs).
posted by el io at 12:39 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by el io at 12:39 AM on May 17, 2013
The dog walks better than I do.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:01 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:01 AM on May 17, 2013
Wow, great. I was surprised to see how watching Faith made me understand human locomotion a little better...I didn't realize how much the leg length helps counterbalance the upper body. That and kept thinking how strong Faith's tail and core must be, too.
How does the airline explain sending her on the wrong plane to Orlando??
posted by iamkimiam at 1:50 AM on May 17, 2013
How does the airline explain sending her on the wrong plane to Orlando??
posted by iamkimiam at 1:50 AM on May 17, 2013
Apparently I'm full of how today.
posted by iamkimiam at 1:50 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 1:50 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
That jazz hands gif is absolutely slaying me. Like, laughing so hard I can't breathe. Brilliant.
posted by sidereal at 2:22 AM on May 17, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by sidereal at 2:22 AM on May 17, 2013 [4 favorites]
Oh geez, that's good.
A tab that shall stay open all day.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:52 AM on May 17, 2013
A tab that shall stay open all day.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:52 AM on May 17, 2013
This is both adorable and fascinating - I am astounded that she's able to get into a standing position so readily, and it's really interesting how she seems to break into a hind-leg gallop when moving faster; I wonder if the gait transition is instinctive?
posted by NMcCoy at 3:04 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by NMcCoy at 3:04 AM on May 17, 2013
NMcCoy: certainly gaits in horses appear to be genetic: example from Nature
posted by edd at 3:23 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by edd at 3:23 AM on May 17, 2013
hap_hazard: "damn if this dog doesn't exactly remind me of Ray Smuckles."
Holy shit, you're right! And with those jazz hands. Now all she needs is a ridiculously expensive jewel-encrusted cellphone and Airwolf.
posted by vanar sena at 4:20 AM on May 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
Holy shit, you're right! And with those jazz hands. Now all she needs is a ridiculously expensive jewel-encrusted cellphone and Airwolf.
posted by vanar sena at 4:20 AM on May 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
"I have Airwolf. This is not code language. I am flying Airwolf because I own Airwolf. Nothing else I could say would make more sense given what I own and what I am doing at this moment."
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:44 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:44 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
There's another dog like this. It's visible briefly in at least two movies, one of which is All the Real Girls and the other ... I'm blanking on but saw it only recently.
posted by dobbs at 5:47 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by dobbs at 5:47 AM on May 17, 2013
I had to wonder how hard this must be on Faith's hips. Dogs' legs are simply not meant to be stressed in quite the way she is using them and it will probably take a toll on the joints in the long run. I'm hoping there are other options waiting in the wings when this mode of locomotion is no longer viable for her.
That said, animals are great when it comes to living in the present. It's something I have to work on.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:32 AM on May 17, 2013
That said, animals are great when it comes to living in the present. It's something I have to work on.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:32 AM on May 17, 2013
Her hopping as she picks up speed reminds me a bit of how sifakas get around on the ground.
My grandparents have a Good Dog who lost a front limb after she was hit by a car; it hasn't slowed her down much. In fact, the stress of walking is greater on her shoulder than running is because of the biomechanics of it. For exercise, she plays fetch for hours and hours and hours instead of going on long walks.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:37 AM on May 17, 2013
My grandparents have a Good Dog who lost a front limb after she was hit by a car; it hasn't slowed her down much. In fact, the stress of walking is greater on her shoulder than running is because of the biomechanics of it. For exercise, she plays fetch for hours and hours and hours instead of going on long walks.
posted by ChuraChura at 6:37 AM on May 17, 2013
Can she stand on her own if she's laying down?
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:08 AM on May 17, 2013
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:08 AM on May 17, 2013
Chocolate Pickle: "Can she stand on her own if she's laying down?"
They show her do it in the "moral work with returning soldiers" video (at around :40). Looked like a very powerful thrust with some set of core muscles and and directing the momentum into an upright position.
posted by idiopath at 7:17 AM on May 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
They show her do it in the "moral work with returning soldiers" video (at around :40). Looked like a very powerful thrust with some set of core muscles and and directing the momentum into an upright position.
posted by idiopath at 7:17 AM on May 17, 2013 [1 favorite]
I had to wonder how hard this must be on Faith's hips. Dogs' legs are simply not meant to be stressed in quite the way she is using them and it will probably take a toll on the joints in the long run. I'm hoping there are other options waiting in the wings when this mode of locomotion is no longer viable for her.
Yeah, I wondered that too. Someday, we'll have to do the equivalent of A Dolphin's Tail just to solve that exact problem.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:28 AM on May 17, 2013
Yeah, I wondered that too. Someday, we'll have to do the equivalent of A Dolphin's Tail just to solve that exact problem.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:28 AM on May 17, 2013
Now imagine whole herds of these dogs, thousands, gallimimus-like, flocking over the planes just like birds... They're flocking this way.
posted by cmoj at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by cmoj at 9:13 AM on May 17, 2013 [2 favorites]
Chocolate Pickle: "Can she stand on her own if she's laying down?"
Sure, it's shown in the Oprah video — she just pops up onto her hind legs.
What a sweetie.
posted by Lexica at 10:43 PM on May 18, 2013
Sure, it's shown in the Oprah video — she just pops up onto her hind legs.
What a sweetie.
posted by Lexica at 10:43 PM on May 18, 2013
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