Naki'o with his four bionic pawsBionic man, meet the bionic dog. Naki’o is reportedly the world’s first dog to be fitted with four bionic legs. He gets along on them super well, and is able to run, jump, and even swim.
The poor pooch had a rough puppyhood. IncredibleFeatures.net reports that his family abandoned him and his siblings as very young pups when they moved from their foreclosed Nebraska home. With their dog mother dead, and a very harsh winter, the pups were malnourished and barely surviving. A weakened Naki’o apparently stepped in a nearly frozen puddle in the basement of the home and couldn’t move.
The bionic man: A prototype?Someone found the red heeler pups when they were a mere 5 weeks old, and took them to an animal rescue center. Nakio’s paws were slayed by frostbite and veterinarians had to amputate. He was left with four stumps. When they healed, he was able to walk around on them for a while, but as he grew it was too much, and he could only crawl around on his belly.
Veterinary technician Christie Tomlinson adopted him, and raised funds to get him fitted with two prosthetic rear legs. They worked out so well that OrthoPets decided to give him two more limbs free of charge.
“We wanted Naki’o to enjoy his life to the fullest,” said OrthoPets co-founder Martin Kaufmann. “We wanted him to run as fast as he could, to be able to hold a bone to chew. This breed of dog needs to run, jump and hike big mountains. I knew having the best quality of life possible would also prolong his life greatly.”
These prosthetic limbs are anything but peg legs. They’re high-tech wonders constructed to mimic a dog’s natural legs. Check out this short video of Naki’o below, and see just how well this amazing dog is doing with his super cool new set of gams. For some great pics of Naki’o, check out this IncredibleFeatures.net page.
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