Can Chocolate the dog get any cuter?
First he toted his inseparable yellow squishy ball. Then he befriended anyone he met despite having two broken front legs.
Now add this to his heart-warming, tail-wagging tale: The dog wears booties.
Because he didn't use his front legs much for several months after he broke them -- before he was rescued outside of Pasco and put on a path to recovery -- the pads on his feet grew soft, not tough like a normal dog.
"So they've had to fit him with some special booties so when he walks on the treadmill it doesn't cause a lot of abrasion with those soft pads," said Dr. Janine Swailes, the veterinarian overseeing his care at Meadow Hills Veterinary Center in Kennewick.
Meadow Hills sent the 18-month-old Chesapeake Bay retriever to Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine three weeks ago for orthopedic surgery on his broken legs. The bones had somewhat hardened into improper positions.
After surgeries on each front leg, Chocolate began physical therapy, including time on a state-of-the-art underwater treadmill the university recently acquired with proceeds from a donation.
Chocolate's stints on the treadmill continue to be brief -- about five or 10 minutes at a time -- because he tires easily.
His rehab team hopes to give him some weekends off to make friends, Swailes said.
"One of the doctors at WSU has Chesapeake Bay retrievers at home," she said. "He has offered to take Chocolate home for a few weekends for some social time and to spend time with other dogs."
He also gets other kinds of attention at the veterinary school, such as going for walks while supported in his carrying harness and doing a couple of hours of traditional physical therapy exercises each day. And the surgical technicians let him hang out on a blanket in their office so he can re-acclimate to people.
"He's really mellowed out," said Darin Watkins, spokesman for the veterinary school.
Chocolate will cross another benchmark when he gets his surgical stitches removed, probably at the end of this week. Then he likely won't have to keep wearing an Elizabethan collar that prevents him from chewing at the stitches.
Meadow Hills has received about $29,000 in donations toward his veterinary costs and for now has quit accepting donations, assuming that will be enough to cover the costs.
Any money left over will go toward a fund in Chocolate's name to help other animals needing similar help.
In all, Chocolate will need another three to six weeks of physical therapy at WSU. He'll then be returned to Meadow Hills, where the next chapter in his story will be to find him a new home.
Print
E-Mail
