We've got some very exciting news to share about a top-secret project that you’re a part of!
There’s a very special Belgian Malinois named Ant who is going in for surgery today at VSCR in Leesburg, VA. Â
![Ant Brave Barker](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0218/1356/files/unnamed_fc6b044d-3907-4dee-9234-5809f4d4bb21.jpg?v=1647447783)
Ant is a 2.5 year old FEMA certified urban search & rescue dog who has been in a lot of pain recently due to a cartilage issue in his front left knee. It’s not only preventing Ant from his working dog duties that he loves so much, but it’s also making his normal days painful and difficult to enjoy.
 He’s been working with our friend Dr. Matt Brunke who diagnosed the issue, you can see here the kind of pain he’s in 👇
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0218/1356/files/ant_limp_demonstration_600x600.gif?v=1647447347)
Ant needed his surgery quickly, Dr. Brunke needed to raise funds to get him the care he needed. So he called us.
Why did he call us?
BECAUSE…. Dr. Brunke is our first partner in a very special project called Brave Barkers!
For the past few years, we’ve been setting aside a portion of all sales of Big Barker beds in order to create a 501c3 non-profit foundation that funds the surgeries and medical care of dogs with severe joint or mobility issues.
So that means, if you’ve bought a Big Barker bed for your own dog, then you’ve helped pay for Ant’s surgery! And for the medical care of many more dogs to follow 🤗
Here's the announcement we made on FB:
As a company, our mission is to extend the happy and healthy years of a dog’s life for as long as possible. To date, we’ve done that primarily by making a uniquely engineered dog bed that’s been clinically proven to reduce pain and enhance mobility in large dogs with arthritis.
Now the Brave Barkers project (because of your support) will help impact the lives of dogs in an extremely significant way, by paying for the surgeries, rehabilitation, medications, and ongoing medical care for dogs like Ant - not allowing financial hardship issues to delay or prevent these dogs from getting back to their best.
We were planning on having a special website and social media account for Brave Barkers, but Ant needed surgery NOW! So we didn’t have time for that. But I’m sure you don’t mind, right? That’ll come later.
For now… I’d like you to know that your support is directly responsible for Ant getting his leg fixed. He’ll have his surgery today, then will need a couple months of physical therapy, and should be good as new after that!
We’ll keep you posted on how he’s doing 🤞
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