Thanks to the OU Innovation Center, a local puppy is getting a fresh start on wheels.
From the very beginning, Karen Pilcher knew Tumbles was no ordinary dog.
Rescued at two weeks old by a volunteer from Friends of the Shelter Dogs, a non-profit Athens-based rescue organization, Tumbles arrived in early autumn with an uncommon disadvantage — he was born without his two front legs.
“We’ve helped with a lot of disabled dogs, but we’ve never dealt with one like this before,” Pilcher, rescue coordinator for Friends of the Shelter Dogs, said. “He’s not saying, ‘Poor me, I don’t have legs, I can’t get around, I can’t do this.’ He gets anywhere he wants to go.”
Thanks to 3D printing, however, Tumbles can get around easier. The Ohio University Innovation Center’s 3D printing laboratory has offered to create dog-sized wheelchairs for every stage of his life.
By last Friday, a video of Tumbles, a terrier-mix, on the Friends of the Shelter Dogs Facebook page had garnered more than 8,700 views.
In just one week, however, the story has gone viral. From ABC News to BuzzFeed, Tumbles’ story has received worldwide attention, with The Telegraph in the U.K. and Malaysian Digest also writing stories.
Thursday, members of Friends of the Shelter Dogs gathered at the Innovation Center to witness a milestone in Tumbles’ young life — an improved set of 3D-printed wheels.
Despite his disability, Tumbles was a beacon of energy as he arrived at the Innovation Center. Awaiting his new gift, he hopped and rolled around the carpet, taking breaks to wrestle with his stuffed animals, seeming to ignore they were easily twice his size.
The latest wheelchair model, with its smaller build and dog-bone shaped spokes, includes a training wheel for additional support. Both models have been designed by Brad Reed, a security analyst for the OU Office of Information Technology.
Reed’s wife, Jennifer, showed him the video from the Friends of the Shelter Dogs page, and he was inspired to help Tumbles.
“She saw the original story, and then she brought it to me as an opportunity — as a way to help out,” Reed said. “So we looked around and saw a project that was very similar on Instructables ... and thought, you know, maybe this could work.”
Tumbles, however, hasn’t taken to the wheelchair as easily as the team had hoped. First, the chair was too large, causing him to slip out before he could get used to his new wheels. Even after modifications, the device doesn’t fit well enough. Nevertheless, the Innovation Center team will continue designing and building new models and Reed and his wife will cover the cost, he said.
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For now, Tumbles has found a home with Pilcher, who after spending 37 years running an animal shelter and working as a registered nurse in California, has decided to dedicate her life to helping the homeless dogs of Athens County.
“My heart has always been huge, and I’ve always loved animals,” Pilcher said. “It’s just been where my passion is and where my dedication is.”
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For the volunteers of Friends of the Shelter Dogs, Tumbles’ story has been about far more than fame. Instead, it has served as a platform on which they can bring awareness to the plight of local dogs who find themselves in need of help.
“It’s exciting, not only to see his story, but to be able to talk about the other shelter dogs … because that’s something that happens every single day,” Anne Cornwell, a Friends of the Dog Shelter board member, said. “Over 1,000 dogs come into the Athens County Dog Shelter every year. … It’s a big project to keep up with, so it’s neat when some great story like this can give focus to why we stand here.”
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