HOLLY SPRINGS - As far as homeless dogs go, Jasper has a couple things going for him: He's a baby and he's purebred -- qualities craved by people in the market for a puppy.

But there's something about the spunky schnauzer that might be a deal breaker for the typical buyer.

His hind legs don't work.

Now, a Holly Springs group is taking up the task of finding the right home for Jasper.

After all, that's what the North Carolina Schnauzer Rescue does. The group was founded here five years ago with a mission to find owners for abandoned schnauzers.

But it probably hasn't had to find a home for a puppy like Jasper. "It's like having a newborn," says Michelle Weerasuriya, Jasper's foster mom. She's been caring for him the last two months in Charlotte while her group searches for a permanent home for Jasper. "Knock on wood; I've got him potty trained," she said.

Jasper was born four months ago to schnauzer breeders in a harrowing three-hour delivery that involved humans pulling him out of his mother. He came out not breathing. The breeders performed CPR to jump-start his first gasps. And then there was the thing with the legs.

The breeders decided to surrender him to the rescue group when they realized the extent of his disability.

Jasper landed in the home of Weerasuriya. They quickly formed a routine: She takes him out every three hours on the dot. He sleeps in her daughter's bed, on a special blanket. Sometimes he wears a diaper. And he's getting used to his $260 canine wheelchair, a chariot that holds up Jasper's rear end, allowing him to get around without dragging his bottom half.

What exactly is wrong with Jasper is still a puzzler to veterinarians at N.C. State University, where he has been taken for evaluations. Their working diagnosis involves a combination of neurological and orthopedic concerns, apparently caused during Jasper's birth. Both femoral heads, the tops of the leg bones that fit into Jasper's hip joints, are malformed or almost missing. He is able to do his business on his own, even if he sometimes has an accident that requires a wet nap and diaper rash ointment.

The doctors suspect nerve damage, although the fact he can wag his tail is also an oddity, since the same nerves control the back legs and tail.

"He has no idea that he has a limitation, which is really kind of neat," said Regina Kaiser, another volunteer. "That's what he thinks is normal."

The group recently raised $600 for Jasper at a dog wash in a Raleigh pet store in Raleigh. It helped pay for the chair and some of the medical costs. The organization plans hopes to have another fundraiser soon.

Meanwhile, Jasper is in training. Weerasuriya puts him in the chair an hour at a time. He recently had a breakthrough: She put a pillow in front of him and he rested his body on it, wheels in the air.

Even though he can't move his legs, he's somehow found a way to let everyone know not to give up on him: that thwacking tail, which defies medical explanation.