Dog inspires with resolve to recover from injury
An Arlington Heights family has learned the hard way not to walk their dog on busy streets. She draws too much attention.
Their dog, Payton, suffered a debilitating accident last summer when jumping to grab a ball in a Frisbee-catch type motion. She twisted her back, apparently, and came down with a thud.
"She'd ruptured several vertebrae in her back and her back end was completely paralyzed," says Anne Grego, who with her husband, Bob, and their three children, was devastated.
They rushed their 5-year-old pet to Care Animal Hospital in Arlington Heights, where doctors eventually operated to repair her injury.
Her recovery has been slow, but sure, and along the way she has inspired everyone from neighbors and passing motorists, to disabled residents with her persistence and hard work.
One of the first places the family turned to after the surgery was TOPS Veterinary Rehab in Grayslake. Professionals there helped them learn how to care for Payton's injuries, and she continues to receive therapy once a week.
"Payton was almost completely immobile and she relied on us to help her move from place to place," Anne Grego says.
All of the family learned exercises to help her regain the strength in her back legs, which they worked on over the summer months.
Finally, last fall, when she was strong enough, Payton was fitted with a "doggie cart," similar to a wheelchair for dogs that attaches with a harness and has a sling that supported the dog's failing limbs.
"The doggie wheelchair allowed Payton to have the freedom and mobility to get up and move on her own," Grego says. "Now she could increase her muscle strength and run around like a young dog again. I could even take her on walks, almost like old times."
Though strapped into her wheelchair for walks, Payton draws a lot of people to stop and talk, and that's not to mention stopping traffic.
Neighbors have watched her progress and have begun dropping off donations to TOPS Veterinary Rehab, while others have thanked the family for saving the dog. The Gregos were particularly impressed to see the affect she had on a young man in a wheelchair who visited.
In fact, they have applied to have her participate in the pet therapy program at Northwest Community Hospital, where she hopes to pass the temperament class next week.
But Payton already visits other students with disabilities at a school in Chicago as part of a new program developed by TOPS and the Chicago Public Schools.
In the meantime, the Grego family reports that Payton has begun walking more on her own around the house, so they feel very positive about her recovery. However, for the time being, she continues to build up her overall strength using her doggie wheelchair.