‘The day he figured out he could kick, was… a fun day lol. His tail goes like a helicopter when we put him on the cart, and all 4 legs technically work.’: Pawrent overjoyed by Maximus the dog’s road to recovery from paralysis back to playful pup

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Nov 24, 2025 3:00 PM EST

Dogs getting sick is probably a pawrent's worst nightmare. Just the thought that your sweet, innocent canine child would feel anything other than hope and joy in their life is simply terrifying. But what happens when one day, you once playful pupper suddenly cannot walk anymore? Well, that is the tale that we have lined up for you today, and without spoiling too much of it, we can tell you that it is one heck of a hard road to recovery that is surrounded by a whole lot of love, support and belief that the dog child will walk again.

It must have taken a whole load of heart to stay positive and put things in perspective as things slowly slowly started to get better for the darling doggo in question. And this story as a whole goes to show the good side of pupper pawrenthood. The kinds of situations where people never give up on their puppers, no matter how tough things get.

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    My dog, Maximus, went in for an abdominal ultrasound last week because he was having diarrhea. Wednesday. When he was picked back up that evening they brought him out on a stretcher and said
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    he was just still feeling the sedation. They tipped him off the stretcher and on to his back on the seat. A long dramatic night ensued, including needing the fire department to help get him out of the car (he weighs
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    120lbs), and a slumber party in the garage waiting for the sedation to "wear off." So after an ambulance ride the next morning, when I realized he couldn't feel his feet. An MRI
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  • Goodness gracious, this has to be one of the scariest things that you can go through as a dog pawrent. It is hard enough trying to help them when they are hurt due to the communication barrier. But to have to try and help a pupper who cannot fully communicate nor walk must be terrifying for all parties involved.

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    and emergency surgery to fix a ruptured disc in C5- 6, now I'm here. The surgeon/neurologist said he doesn't have disc disease, but IVDD information is the only thing that comes up when I
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    search his injury. He has deep pain sensations in all 4 feet I'm told, he can also kick all his legs. Everything I've read says it's not unusual that he's not trying to stand right now- but the neurologist and the techs keep
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    giving me updates that are making me panic. He keeps saying he's "unmotivated to get up," reminding me he's a giant dog, and questioning my ability to care for him when he comes home. They also told me after surgery he
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    could start PT about 2 weeks post op, but now they're saying he should go ASAP. Then I'm talking to PT places and they're telling me how strange it is that he wants him to start now and questioning if the neurologist really
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    did say that. Getting Maximus motivated to get up on even a good day before this, was a chore. He's ridiculously chill, he loves his naps, he likes to eat in bed, and he likes to chill in bed. He has the
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    personality of a 95 year old man. The only thing he loves is other dogs, so even if you're asking him if he wants to go to daycare, he still has to have a think about nap vs daycare. I told them to dangle another dog in his face and
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    see if he tries to get up. So with a personality like that + dopey d. gs = my dog Maximus just chillin? Is it actually important that he stands ASAP? I've been reluctant to
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  • Wow, our hearts truly go out to this poor pupper and their pawrent. What a trying time this must have been for all involved. Could you imagine having to keep faith alive that your randomly paralyzed pupper will find it within them to walk again one day?

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    Maximus came home on Thursday. He's doing really well. He was super doped on Gabapentin so the vet agreed we could lower his dose. His personality is 100% back. He can ask for and demand what he wants.
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    They had told us that he would just go potty in his bed, so I had it set up wrapped in plastic, and layered with potty pads and blankets. No, Maximus wants to be taken to the yard to potty. He won't go in his bed. I am
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    happy about that, but it's a lot of work since he cannot walk- yet. I'm staying positive. YET. I think even dogs are allowed their dignity, and since he doesn't want to soil his bed, I will do my best to make sure he never has to.
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    They also said he probably wouldn't poop that much, dogs with that type of injury apparently go less. The first night home, we weren't expecting him to go, so on the way back in the house he got his grandma pretty
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    good all over her jeans and shoes. He poops 2x a day like he did before. I prop him up against my legs to give him a little leverage, but other than that he needs no help going.
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    I am so exhausted, it feels like I have a walrus sized newborn baby. I can see him getting frustrated that he can't get up, YET- and I think he tries to help us pick him up. I bought a garden utility cart
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    that we transfer him to, to roll him to/from the grass and bed. He tries to fling himself off the cart when we get to our destination. The day he figured out he could kick, was... a fun day lol. His tail goes like a
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    helicopter when we put him on the cart, and all 4 legs technically work. His right side seems much better than the left, but we're getting there. We haven't tried to get him on his feet yet. Quite frankly I'm too tired atm. We do his
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    range of motion exercises, and he starts physical therapy on Wednesday. He's doing really well. I want to thank everyone that has commented or helped me to help Maximus walk again.
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    So here we are. Almost 6 months out from the day he was sent home completely paralyzed after an abdominal ultrasound. We're still in PT. Maximus swims with his emotional support golden retriever
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    reddit reddit u/Sw33tD333
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    now, and it has been night/day on how he feels about going. He still needs so much help, his legs still get extremely wobbly, he still has proprioceptive deficits, and he still crosses his back legs. He's also still eating and drinking
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    in bed, so it's always fun trying to figure out exactly what he's asking for. I swear he was more communicative when he couldn't move at all. I would go down a list and he would woof when I said what he wanted. Somewhere
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    reddit reddit u/Sw33tD333
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    along the line that stopped. Sorry it's been so long since our last update. He's had so many vet appointments recently.
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    All 4 of Maximus' legs technically work again, but he's not walking YET. Today was his first real PT session apart from his evaluation last week, and a quick pool session to see how and what he would do.
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    Apparently survival instincts kick in when they hit the water. The PT vet said that they normally have to tell people the opposite, but that they're so excited for his chances of walking again. They also said a surgeon assigning
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    90% (in his discharge paperwork it says greater than 90%) odds of walking again is unheard of. After the quick pool session last week, he started doing this army crawl thing to go potty (he doesn't want to lay down on
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    his side and go anymore), and also trying to crawl when we are picking him up. He can channel is inner kangaroo too. We have to wear pants now to pick him up, he kicks so much. He can pretty much push himself up on his
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    front legs now, into a sitting position on the grass, which helps us get him back on the cart. He's only about 2 weeks out from the emergency spinal surgery. Im excited. I think he'll be in physical therapy for a while, but I also
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    think he'll be up soon too. I hope anyway. I don't want to jinx it. It feels like I have a giant newborn baby, the sleep deprivation is the worst part at the moment. I'm hoping that changes now that he's being tapered off of the
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    stds, and he won't drink so much water. If you can zoom on the swimming video you can see his legs kicking. The left side is still worse than the right, but I have high hopes. Thank you again everyone for riding this ride
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    with me. The support I have found here is like fuel in my tank. Thank you for rooting Maximus on. We could not have gotten here without you. I will update again soon!
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dogs Joy paralyzed work tail reddit story helicopter figure pawrents dog story playful legs pup recovery
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