Chi Chi doesn’t let her lack of paws stop her – vets thought she may not walk again, but she does more than just walk; she has an important job.
A recent episode of “Comeback Kids: Animal Edition,” which is posted on Facebook, starred Chi Chi and included interviews with her family. Right from the start, it is clear that this golden retriever always has a smile on her face.
Chi Chi’s dad, Richard, explained how they found her:
“We first saw Chi Chi’s story on Facebook video, and I remember Elizabeth was watching this and she yelled from across the room ‘You need to come watch this video. This is going to be our next dog.’”
Elizabeth was right, as she and Richard are now Chi Chi’s parents, and the golden retriever couldn’t be happier about it.
The video that first led Richard and Elizabeth to Chi Chi was of the day after her amputations and showed her sad story.
When Chi Chi was first found, she was in a trash bag and her legs were tied together. In fact, she was so badly injured that the clip included in the video from “Comeback Kids: Animal Edition” blurs out her injuries.
Richard described that in that first video they saw of Chi Chi:
“She was in her kennel in South Korea, but she was wagging her tail. […] Her eyes just said ‘I’m a happy dog and I want to live.’”
As Richard said, with a smile from both him and Elizabeth, once they saw the video, “it was over.” They knew they needed to adopt Chi Chi.
Richard and Elizabeth immediately contacted the rescue group to let them know they were interested.
The rescue group was hesitant at first. They made sure that the couple knew there was no guarantee that Chi Chi would even be able to walk. According to Richard:
“It didn’t matter to us. We were going to figure it out.”
Elizabeth added that later when they saw a video of Chi Chi walking, they “knew she wasn’t giving up.”
Chi Chi got to the United States in March 2016 and didn’t have prosthetics at first. This meant it was painful for her to walk and “she was vulnerable.”
“It took a while for her to not be stressed.”
Chi Chi got some help adjusting from her fellow rescue siblings: Harry, Kipper, and Maggie.
After meeting Chi Chi, Elizabeth and Richard had a hope that maybe she could become a therapy dog in the future.
They were realistic, however, and knew they would have to wait and see how she adjusted to her new life. To help her out, Richard slept downstairs with Chi Chi the first night.
Right away, her new parents worked on figuring out how to make her comfortable. They tried to keep her bandages on with baseball socks that were tied together over her shoulders. In the video, Elizabeth shows us some of the prosthetics Chi Chi has had.
Now, Chi Chi’s mornings begin with Richard carrying her downstairs, where they put on her prosthetics.
Then, she is finally able to move. He is more than willing to do this for Chi Chi.
“It’s a small thing that I have to do for her, but it gives her freedom.”
According to her parents, “she’s a toy hoarder.”
But she was also on her way to becoming a therapy dog as of the video. She was working on completing the obedience courses necessary to pass the test. Part of the training involves making sure she’s calm by other dogs, wheelchairs, people, crutches, and more.
During training, Chi Chi got treated just like the other dogs. Near the end of the video, we see where Chi Chi planned on volunteering once she becomes a certified therapy dog, Ability360. Chi Chi even got an introduction to what she’ll do, courtesy of Mollie, a current therapy dog.
Today, Chi Chi is a successful therapy dog and has an active Facebook account.
Richard and Elizabeth regularly post updates on Chi Chi’s Facebook page, which is filled with pictures and more about this energetic and helpful golden retriever. She regularly visits schools, hospitals, and more to help people of all ages.
Dog Who Lost Her Legs Was Determined To Walk Again
No one knew if this golden retriever would walk again – but when one family refused to give up on her, she surprised everyone. Today she’s training for a very important new job.
Posted by Comeback Kids: Animal Edition on Friday, September 1, 2017
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