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Hoppy Love Unfurling from a fuzzy coil in a triangle of afternoon sun, the Hawkins' family cat licks its paw, unaware of the creature snaking and hopping its way toward it. By the time the cat looks up, it is too late. A soft bite to the paw and a playful growl tell it that Hoppy has come.
Watching Hoppy -- a small dog with large ears and prosecutably sweet, big eyes -- try to play with the tabby that outweighs him 2-to-1, it is hard to imagine the pup as disabled. He seems unbothered by the fact that he was born without front legs and instead given two fleshy stumps akin to baby bird wings. His adopted mother, Gerry Hawkins, smiles as she watches him and says Hoppy doesn't know he's disabled -- at least not most of the time. He may have a taste of his disadvantage when the family's terrier mix, Tiki, and chocolate labrador, Bruno, jet across their lawn in rural Clovis to chase a wandering cat or warn a passing car. Hoppy tries, Hawkins said, to worm and sway and hop his way alongside but gives up exhausted after a foot or two. She, her family and an entire class of high school students at the Center for Advanced Research and Technology would like to change that for Hoppy. For a month or so, Bill Von Felton's bioengineering classes at CART have been working on wheeled devices that would give Hoppy the mobility to play like any other dog. Hawkins thought of CART for help right when the California Feline Foundation told her that she could adopt Hoppy. One of her two daughters, Gabrielle, attends the school. Hawkins called Von Felton, who agreed it was a perfect project for CART. "We really like to do real-world projects here that actually help someone or something and make a difference in our community," said Von Felton, whose students were drawn immediately to Hoppy's story. "I told them about it as a volunteer project, and without ever even seeing Hoppy, they all wanted to do it, so we made it a class project. Once they met him it became important to them. We have done other projects for handicapped people and animals, but this particular little dog had a real, special appeal." Hawkins herself fell victim to Hoppy's animal magnetism last year. While driving home from work and listening to Ray Appleton's talk news radio program, she heard about the special dog who had spent much of his first year under the care of recovering addicts at a methadone clinic. The story of Hoppy goes that a woman in the neighborhood of the clinic had owned him but had trouble taking care of him. She gave him to someone else but later discovered that Hoppy's new owners were treating the little dog badly, putting him in remote-controlled trucks and running him into walls. Occasionally he would be fed and loved at the clinic, but he wasn't getting the care he deserved. His original owner realized Hoppy needed a better situation, so she bundled him in her arms and took him to the only place she could think of, the California Feline Foundation. Never mind that they focus on cats; it was a place for animals without a home. The staff fell in love with him and supervisor Grace Appleton-Cooper called her father, Ray Appleton. Before long Hoppy was a wanted puppy. Appleton-Cooper said the foundation was flooded with calls from people all over the Valley who wanted to take in Hoppy. He needed a special home where he would be cared for all day by someone willing and able to give him physical therapy and find him a device that would not only allow him to move about with ease, but also save his joints and lower back.
Hoppy has found his own way to move in spite of his disability by swinging and swaying his front and hopping on his back legs -- hence his name. It is inspiring to see his innovation, but his method will put too much strain on his back and his joints and eventually cause injury. "Something about his story, something about this little dog just connected with me," Hawkins said. Since the day she took him home, she has doted on Hoppy and can hardly put him down. The bond is mutual. After being left so many times before, Hoppy hates to be even one room away from her. Cradled in her arms, Hoppy nods in and out of sleep. After she strokes his head, Hoppy returns the favor by softly licking Hawkins' neck. "I mean, how can you not love this little dog," Hawkins said. It was impossible for the students at CART who have all fallen under his spell. After a full morning of testing out the class' prototypes, a tuckered-out Hoppy nuzzles Hawkins' arm as she gets ready to take him home, but not before his fan club gives him a little more attention. Softly petting Hoppy's head, a young man consoles the dog. "It's OK, Hoppy, we'll have you running around in no time." Despite their varying levels of experience and talent, Von Felton said all the students have worked hard and shown improvement on their prosthetic designs for the dog. They weighed and measured Hoppy, asked questions about his history and how he moves and did research on devices and methods. One group even went to the rehabilitation clinic at Children's Hospital of Central California, where mobile devices are made for children with disabilities. The staff there gave advice and time to the students and even let Hoppy come to their lab for test runs. "We feel like we're really doing a good thing. Everyone feels good about the fact that our hard work may allow him to get around and have a better life," said Gina Cox, a junior at Clovis West whose group cried when they first met Hoppy. They call their prototype Hoppy's Roadster.
"I think all of us want to see him happy and see Gerry happy and for Hoppy to be able to do what all dogs can do." And while their hearts are guiding them, the students are learning about bioengineering, physics, torque, center of gravity and the skeletal and muscular systems. "Reading about all this in a book doesn't make an impact on us teenagers. We like to do things ourselves. We want to see it and do it and know that it is making a difference somewhere," said Jennifer Bradford, a junior at Clovis West High School, who is now considering a profession in bioengineering. "Hoppy is absolutely adorable. I loved working on something that could help him. It was fun and frustrating at times but something I have never done before. It was special." Jennifer's group is perfecting a two-wheeled design with a harness that crosses over Hoppy's back. It started out with one wheel but proved unstable. She's hoping modifications will make a difference. The goal is that by next week, all of the students' designs will be done, and Hawkins can test a few at home before picking the one that best suits Hoppy. There is one little hitch. Soon after Hawkins called CART she learned from Appleton-Cooper that people who heard the story on the radio sent in money to have a device made for Hoppy. The professionally built device arrived when the students were still working on their prototypes. It might have been a bittersweet ending for the students, who have been working so hard on their cause, but instead it was an opportunity. As it turns out, Hoppy dislikes his special-made device. He won't move in it at all. Hawkins and Von Felton feel certain the students will come up with a design he likes better and the professional device will serve as a learning tool. And already there is a device among the student creations that Hoppy seems to enjoy more. It is Hoppy's Roadster, a design with aluminum tubing attached to two back wheels and a harness that tightly wraps around the dog. Just before winter break, the group took the design back to the hospital rehabilitating clinic so Hoppy could try out some of the modifications. "He got in it and took off down the hallway," Gina said. "I cried. He's a miracle." E-mail Heather Kulterman at hkulterman@clovisindependent.com.
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