His rear left leg was fractured beyond repair and had to be amputated.
When his new foster parents with Grand Rivers Humane Society arrived to take him home after emergency surgery, “we had no idea what we were going to pick up,” Rachael Kappius said.
As volunteers with Grand Rivers, Kappius and her husband, Braden, have fostered a lot dogs with medical needs, but they still were caught a tad off guard by the 32-pound, 10-month-old husky with light blue eyes.
“He looked like a little mange ball,” she said.
Zeus’s fur was falling out in places, and he was infested with fleas. Foxtails by the dozens had burrowed into his skin and between his toes. He was skinny, and an absolute mess minus one leg.
He looked then far different than he does now, racing through his yard sporting a happy canine grin, his soft fur getting fuller by the day.
Zeus is in his forever home for the holidays. He has a family who adores him, and he even has his own Christmas stocking.
He also has a fan following from a Saving Zeus series of posts on social media that Rachael Kappius created for Grand Rivers.
Zeus is the Kappiuses’s first “foster failure,” which is how Rachael Kappius referred to succumbing to urge to adopt a foster dog.
The couple has fostered more than 30 dogs, many they loved, but not one got to them quite like Zeus.
Even before they met Zeus, they learned about his lovable determination and spunk from a vet tech, who told them Zeus already had chewed through several of his stitches while still semi-sedated post surgery.
When they got him home, they stayed outside the house to pull out the foxtails that were tangled in fur or embedded in Zeus’s skin. There were hundreds, Braden Kappius said.
They started in the late afternoon and were still at it with tweezers after the sun went down, using headlamps for light, Rachel Kappius said.
Then came baths to get rid of the fleas, followed sleepless nights as Zeus adjusted to the Kappiuses home and schedule.
But overall, Zeus did extremely well. When the Kappiuses took him back to the vet for his first post-surgery check-up, he had gained weight, meaning he weighed more with three legs than he had previously with four.
They also introduced Zeus to the rest of their family: rescue dogs Maya and Oz and two Nigerian dwarf goats, Waylon and Eugene.
“Maya absolutely fell in love with him,” Rachael Kappius said. “We’ve never seen Maya play with another dog like she does with Zeus.”
And Oz, who at 11 is their “old man,” doesn’t play with Zeus, but will let Zeus affectionately rest his head on Oz or cuddle up next to him, things Oz wouldn’t let other foster dogs do, she said.
Zeus also was and still is very curious about the goats. To meet them, he jumped a four-foot fence, something the Kappiuses thought he couldn’t do with only one back leg. He also somehow squeezed himself through a narrow opening and around a gate to get into the goat’s pen.
The goats weren’t as excited to play Zeus as he was with them, so the Kappiuses had to get a higher fence and make the narrow opening at the gate even narrower. In addition, they put a tarp over the fence to block the goats from view “because he will stand there and watch them (the goats) all day,” Rachael Kappius said.
Exercise is key important to keeping Zeus’s mischievous side in check, said Braden Kappius not long after Zeus guiltily looked over from a hole he was starting to dig across the yard.
The family goes on hikes and runs and Zeus keeps up just fine on three legs. He likes to tear off after tennis balls and then not bring them back, Braden Kappius said.
He is loving and will put up a paw or two paws for pets and attention.
“He’s a howler,” Rachael Kappius said. He howls in a sing-song way when he’s happy or hungry or playing.
It wasn’t long — about four weeks — before the Kappiuses knew Zeus was meant to be part of their family for two big reasons among many.
First, Maya would have been heartbroken if her best friend was no longer always around, Rachael Kappius said.
And second, “I don’t think we had a dog in as bad a shape as he was,” she said. “I wanted to guarantee that he has an amazing rest of his life.”
Since the couple adopted Zeus at the end of August, they have fostered four other dogs.
Seeing their foster dogs find forever homes is why they continue volunteering with Grand Rivers, Brandon Kappius said.
Fortunately, Zeus loves to be part of a group.
“He’s a bundle of fun,” Rachael Kappius said.
GET INVOLVED
Grand Rivers Humane Society is a cat and dog rescue organization. Not only do Grand Rivers’ volunteers provide foster homes for pets waiting for adoption, the nonprofit uses donations to provide life-saving medical care for unfortunate pets such as Zeus, a dog that was involved in a motor vehicle accident and required a leg amputation and recovery care. Grand Rivers also provides spay and neuter surgeries and immunizations. For information about Grand Rivers, how to volunteer, make a donation or adopt a pet, go to grandrivershumane.org.
