5th grader learns teacher has disabled dog and builds him a wheelchair
Dogs are one pet that, no matter the circumstances, watching them bound around with joy and happiness can lift your spirits.
But what happens if your little pup loses the use of his back legs?
That’s what was happening to a 9-year-old dachshund mix named Leonard.
Leonard, who is owned by 5th-grade teacher Dana Holden, said that was what was happening to her little dog, vets thought there was a tumor pushing on his spine, and he could no longer use his hind legs as a result.
Ms. Holden had made the background picture on her school computer one of Leonard basking in the sun, and once her students saw it the pup became an instant classroom celebrity.
When one boy found out about Leonard’s mobility issues, he pledged to make the little dog a wheelchair.
11-year-old Emmett Rychner, who had had another news story done about his friendship with a WWII veteran when he was only 3 years old, is the boy who made that pledge.
Emmett fell in love with little Leonard and was determined to help the dog be able to walk and run to his heart’s content again.
The 5th grader is an inventor of sorts and believed that he would be able to construct a wheelchair that would suit Leonard perfectly.
With a functioning dog water fountain and air-conditioned lunch box under his belt, Emmett thought a dog wheelchair would be a piece of cake.
Little did he know that every single part of his design would have to be just right if he wanted to get Leonard moving again.
His first attempt at the design did not work out, Leonard didn’t properly fit into the chair, but that didn’t stop Emmett from trying again.
Emmett’s parents, Anika and Bryan Rychner, both shared their concern that the boy was looking sad and disappointed that his invention hadn’t worked out.
They had raised a resilient boy though, and he got right back to work on building the perfect wheelchair for Leonard.
After some more testing and tweaking, it was finally time for Leonard to get his new wheels.
Ms. Holden brought the pup over to the Rychner household, and, together, the boy and his teacher fitted the dog into his new wheelchair.
While Emmett kept Leonard at one end of the room, Ms. Holden went to the other side and called out to the dog.
Everyone held their breath as they waited to see if the dog would be able to move.
Without hesitation, the little pup galloped towards his owner and moved better than he had in months.
Realizing that he could now move and run with ease, Leonard then turned and ran back to Emmett, he ended up doing laps between the 2 humans as he got the exercise he had surely been missing.
Dana Holden had been told by her vet about a number of different doggy-wheelchair companies, but she knew Emmett would be the perfect designer for Leonard’s chair.
When informed about these other companies Dana simply smiled and said, “Nah, I’ve got somebody I know.”.
Meet Emmett and Leonard in the adorable video below.
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