Mick, Boston Terrier with ‘Swimmer Puppy Syndrome,’ Learns to Walk

When Mick, a puppy born with swimmer syndrome, a condition that causes dogs' legs to be splayed so they can't walk, arrived at Sue Roger's home in upstate New York, she says she wanted to cry. Although she started the Mia Foundation to rehabilitate dogs and cats with born birth defects that would otherwise be euthanized, she tells Yahoo! Shine, "I couldn't fathom how I was going to help him." The six-week-old Boston Terrier could only lie flat on his chest, just watching her other puppies, unable to stand up even to relieve himself. Only two weeks later, Mick is romping in the grass, and Rogers describes him as "the leader of the pack."

Rogers posted daily progress reports on the foundation's Facebook page and a video on YouTube titled "Amazing Mick-Must see to believe!" that has now been viewed nearly 200,000 times. The video shows the puppy in a special harness to help him stand, strengthening his limbs swimming in the bathtub, and finally, taking his first tentative but eager steps.

"In late June, I received an email from a breeder in Oklahoma asking me if I could help him try to figure out what was wrong with one of his two puppies-he wasn't acting like his sibling." She did a little research and concluded that the puppy suffered from pectus excavatum, a deformity of the ribs and sternum, which usually leads to lung and heart damage as well as the inability to walk, and told him that he needed to started working with the puppy immediately. Without intervention, these dogs can die within a matter of months or even weeks. "Four weeks later he emailed and said he couldn't do this."

As soon as Mick arrived on July 16, Rogers says she swaddled him up like a newborn baby to help his limbs align more correctly. She and her veterinarian mapped out a treatment plan that would include six hours a day of therapy. Rogers is used to intense work with her rescues. For puppies with cleft palates, she has to feed them every two hours around the clock.

She says she's often asked why she devotes so much time to puppies like Mick. "If people, and breeders, and vets would only give these little dogs a chance. They give back so much more than they take. Just look at how many people have smiled watching this video."