Ashlyn Barton went viral for solving the emergency with a pricey item of clothing

NEED TO KNOW

• A Georgia woman found a clever solution to help her Great Dane recover from gastropexy surgery after she forgot to bring home one important medical device
• Ashlyn Barton ended up using one of her outfits as an emergency fix, then went viral for it on TikTok
• She says taking her and her husband’s 2-year-old dog, named Stone, in for the procedure was “one of the best decisions” they’ve ever made

A woman from Augusta, Ga., took her 2-year-old Great Dane named Stone in for surgery and then went viral for how she helped the 132-lb. dog recover when something went slightly awry.

Earlier this summer, Ashlyn Barton — who, along with her husband, brought Stone home when he was 6 weeks old — took her dog to get neutered and simultaneously undergo gastropexy surgery, a preventative operation for severe or sometimes fatal bloating in large-breed dogs, according to VCA Animal Hospitals.

It was “one of the best decisions” the couple made for their “one and only baby,” but they did make one mistake after the procedure — forgetting his recovery cone at the vet.

Close to midnight that day, Barton realized they didn’t have the medical device at home, but they needed a way to prevent Stone from interfering with his incision. Her solution was in her closet.

@stonethegreatdane

Yes, I did cut a hole for his tail 😭 #mypoorbaby #neuter #greatdane #freepeople #fyp

♬ original sound – 🌺🍍

In a TikTok video posted on June 12, which now has over 2 million views, she showed Stone wearing her pink Free People jumpsuit, cut in areas that made it dog-friendly. The clip showed the large dog climbing into bed in the cut-up one-piece, which Barton DIY’ed so that it covered Stone’s stomach and “balls.”

“I had to do what I had to do,” Barton tells PEOPLE. “I just wanted him to be comfortable, and I like to think that if dogs bought their own clothes, he would’ve done the same for me.” Of course, she “hesitated” making any changes to her clothes. “I’m not someone who spends a lot of money on a single piece of clothing,” she says, adding that the Free People item was $70. At the end of the day, it did the job.

Barton explains that it was “surprisingly easy” to get Stone in her outfit; the anesthesia he was on definitely helped. “I really don’t think he cared at all. I think he would have hated a cone, though. It would have been like walking around with a satellite dish for his size.”

The one “struggle” they had was keeping the “little shoulder straps” from falling. They eventually got rid of the custom onesie in exchange for a surgery-specific one they got from Amazon.

What humored Barton and her husband about the situation was all the comments they received on TikTok after their video went viral. “My husband and I were cracking up at some of the comments! It was either someone saying he ‘looked Bonita’ [in reference to an internet-famous scene from Family Guy] or someone saying they thought it was someone’s grandma climbing into bed because of the legs.”

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Most importantly, Barton was just happy to bring awareness to the fatal risks that Great Danes are exposed to. According to VCA, gastric dilatation and volvulus, which is when a gas-filled stomach twists and blocks its entrance and exit and can be life-threatening, are most commonly seen in deep-chested dogs. “I spent so much time researching how we could keep him as healthy as possible…” says Barton. “Getting a preventative gastropexy [for Stone] just made sense.”

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