HOW SCOUT’S HOUSE CAME TO BE




She was barely seven weeks old when she was dumped in my neighbor’s unlocked car in a Petco parking lot. Just looking at her, you could tell there was something wrong: she had a far-away look in her eyes and she didn’t walk so much as wobble. Every few feet she’d trip and fall down, but she always picked herself up and tried to walk again. She was determined that way.
After many months and as many tests, I finally found out what had happened to Scout. Somewhere in her early life she had suffered from distemper, and although she survived it—a miracle in its own right—the neurological damage it left was extensive. She was partially deaf and partially blind and her back legs were severely weakened. But what she lacked in physical strength and coordination she made up for in determination. Trip, fall down, get up and try again—that was Scout’s motto.
Inspired by her courage, I vowed to help her be the strongest dog she could be and that set me off on a journey of my own, looking for someone who could help my dog get better. Three days a week, Scout and I drove 90 minutes each way for physical rehabilitation therapy. And although it took a lot of time, I kept at it because of the remarkable transformation she underwent. Eventually, her gait got stronger, her steps surer, and one day she stopped falling down altogether.
Her experience made me a believer in the power of physical rehabilitation therapy for animals—and made me want to open a facility near my home so that other pets could benefit from it too. We opened Scout's House on May 9, 2005 and have helped more than 500 dogs and cats live more comfortable and more functional lives since then.
The truth is I planned on opening Scout’s House with Scout at my side, but instead we did it in her memory. Just as suddenly as she came into my life, she left, dying of a congenital kidney defect just around the time of her third birthday.

Scout’s House is her legacy.--Lisa Stahr