Anyone who steps onto Korby Kost’s Carrington, North Dakota, feedlot would expect to see an average cow dog keeping the cattle in line, but on this operation, two wheels are better than four legs. Kost’s cow dog, Patton, is a 4-year-old Australian Blue Heeler who performs his duties from the comfort of a two-wheeled cart because he is missing his front legs.
“I’m kind of a history buff so I named him after General Patton,” Kost explained.
Patton was injured several years ago when he was a puppy.
“I was grinding hay one night and he was chasing the twines of the bales when I was taking them to the grinder and I was finishing up right before dark and I picked up some loose hay and spun forward and then I ran over his front legs.”
Kost did not expect Patton would live after such a traumatic accident, but he scooped him up and rushed to the vet hoping for any chance of survival. After an X-ray, the veterinarian expected to see numerous broken bones and Kost foresaw the difficult decision to euthanize the puppy, but miraculously Patton had no fractures. Since he was still young, it was decided to give Patton a chance to heal.
“He would move his legs but he couldn’t move the ends of his paws so he must have had some spinal damage,” Kost said.
With the nerve or spinal impairment, Patton would mainly use his elbows to get around and ended up dragging his lower legs and developing sores on his paws. The vet tried to keep them from becoming infected but unfortunately all attempts were futile. Eventually one of his front legs was amputated but they hoped the other would continue to heal. However, he soon developed another infection in the remaining front leg and became a double amputee dog.
“I thought, ‘oh boy, a two-legged-dog, are you serious?’ But even when he was first injured he was still trying to sort cattle and banging gates around so obviously he still wanted to work,” Kost explained.
Kost knew Patton wanted to be a cow dog even with his handicap. Along with his trusted veterinarian, a plan was concocted to get Patton back on the move.
“The vet clinic found the cart and the outfit out on the East Coast that builds them to the dog’s exact measurements. I would have never believed how he gets around in that cart if I hadn’t seen it.”
However, Kost says he keeps a close eye on Patton when he is sorting cattle and is careful to make sure his cow dog is always safe. For instance, the cart keeps him for crawling under gates to escape a charging steer so it does create limitations. Kost chuckled when he explained Patton sometimes gets his wheels stuck in the mud but can mostly pull himself out.
Kost credits the vet clinic for finding a way to give Patton a great quality of life. After two and a half years using his cart, his dog is more mobile than Kost ever dreamed. Even without the cart, Patton has learned to hop from one destination to another.
“He hops around on his back feet like a kangaroo,” he explained. “We really only put him in the cart when he wants to keep up with everyone.”
Kost estimates Patton is out of the cart 75 percent of the time.
“He gets around to beat the band,” he said. “He has no idea he’s handicapped. He just adapted to his condition and he’s spoiled as all get out. He just kind of looks at you like ‘you ran over me so you better take care of me.’”
Kost described Patton’s personality as the happiest, friendly dog you will meet. He loves people and always wants to be included. He has become so popular everyone is captivated by his story. WTHR-TV in Indiana came to Kost’s feedlot to film a segment on Patton and the footage floating around Facebook now has over 3.8 million views.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s city people or country people, he seems to be an inspiration to everyone. It’s not just an agriculture story, everyone can relate to Patton’s triumph over his obstacles.”
Even famed cowboy poet and author, Baxter Black is enamored with Patton.
“He called and said that video made his day and if anyone can appreciate a good cow dog, it’s him,” Kost said.
But Kost believes Patton should be used for more than just sorting cattle. A children’s book with Patton as the inspiration is currently in the works. Kost has also considered a more philanthropic path for Patton, such as volunteering with Wounded Warriors or visiting hospitals as a therapy animal.
Aside from Patton’s rise to fame, what Kost finds even more surprising is the good nature of the people who have come in contact with the dog in some form or fashion.
“There’s a lot of good people in this world, which is encouraging. You kind of get down and out and kick the dirt and then you read through some of the nice comments on Facebook and it just makes you want to tear up,” Kost said. “Between the politics and sex scandals on TV every day, it’s nice to have a happy story about a two-legged dog chasing cattle without a care in the world.”
And, for a moment, who cares what the Democrats or Republicans did or what new celebrity scandal is erupting. If we can learn a lesson from the way Patton chooses to live his life by finding the positive in every obstacle, we can see this is truly a doggone good life.
Lacey Newlin can be reached at [email protected].
