TurboRoo's first family will be cheering for 'Underdog'

INDIANAPOLIS — When two-legged, two-wheeled Chihuahua TurboRoo receives the Underdog of the Year award on the CW's World Dog Awards show Thursday, his first family will be watching, cheering, barking and tail-wagging at the TV.

Ronnette Wilson, 47, was there when TurboRoo was born June 15, the third pup from the litter of five of Mia Jane and Izzy Dale.

"Oh, God, he's got no legs!" Wilson screamed when TurboRoo was born.

She called her boyfriend, Jeff Wallace, who rushed home from work.

"He was a Father's Day baby. He was my Father's Day present," Wallace said of the small dog who has a big social-media presence and more than 72,000 Instagram followers.

"I could hold him in the palm of my hand," Wilson said.

Early on, Wilson and Wallace thought TurboRoo was blind, too. But Wilson said she didn't abandon TurboRoo at the vet's office.

And she and Wallace aren't breeders. TurboRoo being born without two legs just happened.

"We both cried like babies when we left TurboRoo at the vet's office," Wallace said.

"When I fought to keep him alive for four weeks, we felt we'd beat the odds. It's not that I couldn't afford to keep him," said Wilson, who was and is between jobs. "It was just really hard,"

Caring for the disabled pup was a 24/7 operation. With just two legs, he would get wedged in the back of the cage behind his mother and was unable to get free.

"I'd be sleeping by the cage, so I'd hear when he whined," Wilson said. That whine was his signal he was stuck and needed Wilson's help.

The others in the litter? Moo Moo, Toby Roo, Thelma Lou and Snowflake. All of TurboRoo's littermates except for Thelma have found other homes. And those owners call and text Wilson any time TurboRoo is in the news.

Without his front legs, TurboRoo couldn't drink water from a dog bowl like the other pups. Wilson filled a lid with water and put that on the floor for him.

Vets told Wilson that TurboRoo's front legs likely grew inward and that he probably wouldn't survive. Four veterinarians advised her to have him euthanized.

"I never put any of my dogs down," Wilson said.

Sue Rogers founded the Mia Foundation, in Rochester, N.Y., to help animals with birth defects. She said she knows of no statistics of how common TurboRoo's birth defect is.

"I do think there may be more of an awareness now that dogs with birth defects can live everyday lives," she said. "Just because these dogs are born this way doesn't mean we can't get them carts or find ways to help them."

For the owners, the challenges of a pet with a birth defect can be overwhelming.

For four weeks, Wilson and Wallace, 44 and a roofer, provided round-the-clock care for TurboRoo.

But the cost of X-rays loomed. And Wilson's mother died.

"I was afraid for the dog," Wilson said. "I just wanted it to be better for TurboRoo."

Wilson and Wallace again took TurboRoo from vet to vet to vet. Wilson had shot video on her phone of TurboRoo being active that morning, but by the time they made it to the fifth vet's office, the Downtown Veterinarian, TurboRoo was worn out and hardly moving.

The video, though, showed he was an active dog. And in the video, he barked for the first time.

Ashley Looper of Speedway, Ind., a vet tech, was working that day.

"You could just see she fell for that dog," Wilson said.

And Looper did. She took TurboRoo into her home, built the first mobility cart for him, created TurboRoo's social media pages, survived a media avalanche, got help from the president of a California aerospace design company and an Indianapolis 3-D printing hobbyist in the creation of a better mobility cart and created TurboRoo Designs last month to turn out mobility carts for other small dogs born with birth defects.

"He's doing great, and he's helping out other dogs," Wilson said. "We just wanted a better life for him."

She and Wallace said they are glad that TurboRoo is loved.

"But I loved that dog first," Wilson said.

She said she and Wallace show Izzy, Mia and Thelma Lou pictures of TurboRoo, keeping them up to date on his latest adventures. Can a dog be proud? At the mention of TurboRoo, Izzy's tail wags like a fan blade.

"He loves to hear he's the daddy," Wilson said.

At 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT Thursday, Wilson, Wallace, Izzy, Mia and Thelma Lou will be gathered around the TV as TurboRoo is recognized as the CW's Underdog of the Year.

And you can bet that Izzy's tail will be wagging as his son rolls across the green carpet.