By Debbie Emery - Breaking Celebrity News Reporter

John Unger was preparing to make the gut-wrenching decision to say goodbye to his most loyal companion of nearly 20 years, when a single photograph of man and dog literally turned both their lives around.

"I am blown away by the response from everyone. Schoep has been my world for nearly two decades and I have based many life decisions on what would be best for him," Unger told Breaking Celebrity News in an exclusive interview.

As Breaking Celebrity News previously reported, at 19 years old, the shepherd mix was suffering from debilitating arthritis that Unger couldn't afford to treat and realizing that time was not on their side a friend captured the moving image of the duo as the Wisconsin native tried to ease his dog's pain by floating with him in Lake Superior.

The outpouring of support from the photo after it went viral in August has caused more than $25,000 to flood in from around the world to fund expensive laser treatments that have Schoep feeling like a healthy young pup again.

"We've seen a dramatic difference in his health," the vet behind the dog's groundbreaking treatment, Dr. Erik Haukaas, DVM of Bay Animal Area Hospital, Ashland, Wisconsin, exclusively told Breaking Celebrity News. "Schoep is very happy, he is comfortable, he is much more active and he likes to go on his walks at night.

"He is very interested in eating again, his ears are up and he is wagging his tail," he revealed.