For the Love of a Dog

Jason Parker graduated from Spooner High School in 1988 and went out to make his mark in the world.

One of the biggest advantages he had was that his mother, Jean Parker, worked with disabled students for years, teaching Jason and his sister, Jaimee, by example that these students were people with wants and needs and hopes and goals, just like everyone else. Some just had to work a whole lot harder to achieve these goals.

Jason got comfortable with these kids and developed a real heart for everyone with disabilities, no matter what their age. The list of his kindness is a long one and includes facilitating a handicap friendly fish pier on Lake Martha in Osseo. Little did he realize what his life was going to be based on his genuine care and who he would meet in his life.

Jason also loved dogs. Naturally, living in the north, he owned a black lab named Gunnar, who, in 2014, was 7 years old. Being a typical lab, he loved to swim and run and retrieve and duck hunt.

But then one day Gunner was hit by a pickup truck outside of his home in Strum. Gunnar’s upper palate and some teeth were knocked out, but worse he sustained major back injuries.

When he regained consciousness, he was not able to use any of his legs. They rushed the dog to the vet clinic where he got stitches and X-rays, which did not reveal any broken bones; the only trouble was, Gunner could not stand.

The following morning, a veterinary surgeon friend told Jason that Gunnar might have a spinal cord injury. With that information, Jason strapped Gunnar to a slab of plywood and drove to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center in St. Paul where it was suggested the dog have a CT scan, which revealed two fractured vertebrae.

Gunner went into surgery and 2 rods were inserted into his backbone, but several weeks later Gunnar was back in surgery to have the rods removed due to complications.

Friends and family sent money to help with the mounting vet bills and the laser therapy Gunner received in Eau Claire to stimulate the nerves along his spine. He had over 38 laser treatments.

Working tirelessly with Gunner, Jason and then girlfriend Stephanie took him for water therapy in what became “Labrador Lake,” 50 yards from their house.

Two months after the accident and the surgeries and the therapies, Gunnar got his wheelchair, or more formally known as his mobility cart.

For the first time, Gunnar was able to be upright and moving on his own and eventually started to wag his tail again. It was a long and arduous summer working constantly with Gunnar, tending to his bed sores and the sores he developed on the top of his rear paws once he got his mobile cart and his back feet dragged along behind.

The miracle came almost seven months later when Jason returned to the kitchen to get more coffee and saw Gunnar standing at his dish eating. “How many times have you been doing this?” Parker asked his canine friend

Gunnar is back hunting with Jason and doing all the other things labs like to do, but just a little more slowly than before.

This is where the story would end if it was about the average Joe. But Jason was raised to care about others and because the wheel chair that Gunnar used helped in his recovery and gave the dog his freedom back, Gunnar’s Wheels has been created and Jason and wife Stephanie have helped 97 dogs to date and their owners with loaner wheelchairs, 96 in the US and one in Portugal.

His site, Gunnar’s Wheels, was shared almost one hundred times in the first six months and every penny donated went to Gunnar’s vet and physical therapy bills.

Since then, Jason has set up a Go Fund Me page that joins the thousands of other sites looking for donations. But Jason’s story isn’t just online, his story has been written by several newspapers and he and Gunnar have been featured in Able Outdoors, a magazine for handicapped men and women.

Recently the Go Fund Me people have created a new division they are calling Go Fund Me Heros. This site is for people just like Jason who is a non-profit organization in order to accept donations, using all the money he receives to buy, recycle, mend and mail wheelchairs for other dogs and now four cats. Seeing a new wheelchair costs as high as $800, the money sometimes goes quickly.

Go Fund Me Heros is so impressed with the work Jason’s doing that they are sending a professional photographer from Los Angeles to get photos of both Jason and Gunnar for their National news outlets, like the major stations; Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS.

“This has become way bigger than I ever thought,” Jason says. “And I want people to know this is not about me.”

Jason joined the fire department in Osseo when he moved there and he says that seeing accident after accident over the years that take lives or disable people wears on everyone who does this kind of job. The success stories of the dogs receiving the wheelchairs and the people he’s met has lightened what was often a gruesome story for both man and beast.

Each time there is a request for a chair; Jason has long conversations with the folks who are doing the asking as to evaluate their story and their need. He also shares stories and photos on Gunnar’s Wheels and each and every one of them pulls at the heart strings. From dogs living in shelters to others who were born defective to others injured as a result of an accident, each dog has a story and Jason encourages owners to tell them online. Their stories are on the Paralyzed Dog site.

He has partnered with Rescued Rollers, another nonprofit organization in Ohio that supplies low-cost pet wheelchairs to rescue organizations and shelters and individuals who cannot afford them. Jason receives a discount on carts and parts through them.

Included free with his service has always been advice and encouragement and counseling that he gives to other pet owners going through what he and his wife went through.

Another organization Jason is partnering with Is Hell or High Water Outdoors out of Texas. This organization works with handicap veterans offering them rides on a special boat to go fishing and duck hunting. Jason and Gunnar have been invited to go down to show them how a still somewhat handicapped dog can swim out and retrieve a duck.

“Gunnar still has some trouble on land, but once I help him into the water, he swims like an otter. He still loves to swim.”

Another product that Jason has given to a dog or two is a drag bag. This is like a pillow case that encases a dog’s rear end and is attached to his collar; this way a dog can still get around in the house without using his wheelchair which handicaps the dog even more by getting caught on the furniture and hitting walls.

Jason’s sister, Jaimee, writes and emails shelters and vets around the country to see if anyone has wheelchairs not being used. They received four out of Missouri this way.

Once a needy dog is finished with the chair, it’s sent back for repair or sometimes sent directly to the next person for their dog.

There’s always a possibility that someone will go on E-Bay or Craig’s List and sell the chair they’ve gotten from Jason, but he says that it hasn’t happened yet and credits the pre-conversation he has with each owner before the initial chair is sent.

Gunner’s Facebook page, Gunnar’s Wheels, keeps everyone up to date on Gunnar and the ever growing cart business. It also gives information where donations can be made on Go Fund Me.

“If everyone who reads the Gunnar’s Wheels page, or cares about dogs, would just donate $1 to Go Fund Me, it would make a huge difference. We repair, buy and give these chairs for free, so we exist on donations.”

And just maybe as you’re watching morning television, you might see Jason and Gunnar on the show and you can say, “I support them, what a great cause.”

Diane Dryden has been a feature writer for twelve years and is the author of two novels. Order your copy of the Accidental King of Clark Street and Double or Nothing on Foster Avenue today!