Fall in Love With Stew D. Baker, Fayette County’s Two-Legged Chihuahua

Home is where the heart is and home is also where your dog is and who knows that better than career realtor Deb Dahlberg-Rowland of Fayetteville who has a two-legged chihuahua named Stew D. Baker.

“My husband names almost all our dogs after automobiles,” said Dahlberg-Rowland. “He is also known as Stewie after the cartoon character on Family Guy. After all, he is the baby of the family.” Stewie may now be the center of Dahlberg-Rowland and her husband’s life, however he did have a rough start.

He was found on the streets of Bastrop 11 to 12 years ago and was three-legged. Dahlberg-Rowland worked with the woman who found him but the woman was unable to keep him. However, once Dahlberg-Rowland heard he only had three legs she decided she would take him since she and her husband previously had two three-legged dogs. “I did try to find his owner by contacting local shelters and vet clinics,” said Dahlberg-Rowland. “I knew he had to have been taken care of before because the surgery on his missing leg was great. I think he jumped out of somebody’s car. He was covered in fleas. When we got him home he got along great with our other big dogs.”

However, about four years ago around Christmas time, Dahlberg-Rowland was out with her horses when she heard Stewie screaming in the backyard. She ran to him and he was sitting up and his leg was hanging. “I was screaming and I called my husband who said it was probably just a sprain but I knew better, “ said Dahlberg-Rowland. “My husband took him to the vet. Dr. Finch at Fayette County Veterinary Clinic said they couldn’t pin it because of his age and they couldn’t cast it because if that didn’t work he would have a bad leg anyway so it was either take it off or put him down. An hour later the phone rings and her husband says I told the vet to take his leg off and we made the commitment to have a two-legged chihuahua. I think what happened was with his chihuahua personality he was probably running with the other dogs after a cat and got hip-checked into something because his break was at his elbow.”

After two weeks his staples came out, a custom wheelchair was ordered and from there Stewie took off and he’s been the center of their life since.

“He will sort of stand like a meerkat and he scoots on the ground. He is also on a diet so he won’t have too much pressure on his back legs and he goes just about everywhere with me,” said Dahlberg-Rowland. “He will either be in his stroller, wheelchair, or his pack ’n play and he is forever making friends.”

“He loves people. He lives for his interaction with people. People are drawn to him because of his mindset. It is not a handicap, it’s just a different way of life,” said Dahlberg-Rowland.

“Right before COVID hit, I registered him as a therapy dog to visit nursing homes and kids and then I had two knee replacements so he has sort of become my therapy dog. He sleeps in our bed and after my knee replacements as I was recovering from the pain I would touch him at night and it helped me stop feeling sorry for myself. I am just so blessed to be his human and his caretaker and he has repaid me with his unconditional love.”

Stewie not only has made a huge impact in Dahlberg-Rowland’s personal life but also in her career. “I do something a bit different with my real estate business, I will donate up to three percent of my earned commissions to my client’s (buyers or sellers) favorite charities and if they don’t have one in particular I will make donations to various dog rescues with special needs dogs in Stewie’s honor.”

In addition to herself, Dahlberg-Rowland is always able to see how he is inspiring to others. “He is inspiring because of his attitude and he doesn’t slow down. He doesn’t have that ‘woe is me’ feeling. He just goes and accepts his situation and lives to the fullest.”

Dahlberg-Rowland added jokingly, “He has more friends than I do.” Stewie has become so popular that it was time for him to get his own publicity pages. “People always want to pet him, know his story, and get their picture with him so I started his own social media pages,” said Dahlberg-Rowland. On Instagram, she has even found other two-legged chihuahuas. One is a little girl in Katy and Dahlberg-Rowland is hoping to get them together soon.

Follow all of Stewie’s adventures on Facebook at Stew D. Baker the two-legged chihuahua and on Instagram at stewdbaker. I’m sure he will have your heart in no time.

After all love is a four-legged word – or in Stewie’s case two.