Dogs are happiest when they’re running and jumping and digging and frolicking! They’re designed to play fetch and enjoy their freedom. Have you ever seen any animal run faster than a dog to catch a ball? Ok, maybe cheetahs are faster, but they certainly don’t run for balls!
Sadly, for 8-year-old Sammi, the once happy and healthy Springer Spaniel, his mobility was compromised. It as discovered one day that his bone marrow started to grow inside his spinal column, putting pressure on his spinal cord and causing problems that made him go limp. He went from playing to falling down and lost his ability to walk at all. Sammi became a quadriplegic.
Worried and fraught with the thought that her dog might not live, Sammi’s owner did everything in her power to help him. Sammi underwent surgery to remove the bone, but it wasn’t successful. Sammi lost so much mobility; he could barely lift his head. So his owner took him to California Animal Rehabilitation where the poor pup was worked on – even after she was told he wouldn’t walk again.
The center details the rehabilitation process, saying: “After three months of daily rehabilitation to strengthen his core muscles, including electronic stimulation, electro-acupuncture, assisted standing in the underwater treadmill, and sensory rehabilitation over a therapy ball, Sammi was able to master sitting up from a down position. Treatment was continued to pattern his legs to walk again, while constantly fighting them, as they were stiff and rigid from his neurological condition.”
And then, after all that hard work, a miracle happened. He started to move his legs on his own! Sammi totally beat the odds, and it’s in this video that his progress is at an ultimate high. Now, he can do everything he did before. And, more – like going on 5k runs with his owner so he can stay active and healthy.
Click below to watch the beautiful moment between an owner and her dog and the long hard recovery process they both endured together come to a screeching halt! This is a really, really happy moment after a very bumpy road.
