Tears as Disabled Rescue Dog Climbs Stairs for First Time Since Losing Leg

A dog climbing the stairs for the first time since losing its leg is warming hearts online.

The clip, shared by TikTok user Jennifer Milikowsky (@thetripawdtwins), documents rescue dog Daisy’s journey of learning to walk up the stairs again.

The 4-year-old Golden Pyrenees’ leg was amputated sometime in 2019 due to an infection. The emotional footage shows her overcoming her fear—from being confused by the bottom step to dashing to the top without a second thought.

Since being shared on December 1, the post has received 3.4 million views and more than 400,000 likes.

Why Do Disabled Dogs Struggle to Find Homes?

Tammie Fox is the CEO of Pumpkin and Friends, a charity for disabled animals based in the U.K. She said pets with additional needs often get overlooked, especially in shelters.

“Charities are struggling to find loving homes for these amazing animals,” she told Newsweek. “People want the perfect pet, but perfect doesn’t exist.”

Fox said that disabled animals can still live a full and happy life. The Pumpkin and Friends charity was inspired by her own pet, a paralyzed West Highland terrier, who now works as a therapy dog in Fox’s hometown of Lincoln.

“They give so much love back, and it’s really rewarding,” she said. “Please support your local animal charities, even just by liking social-media accounts or sharing their content.”

How Daisy Learned to Climb the Stairs Again

Daisy lives on a farm in Westhampton, Massachusetts, with her owner Jennifer Milikowsky, her husband, and fellow rescue-dog Ralph.

A Golden Pyrenees (half-golden retriever, half-Pyrenees), Daisy was a working livestock dog in the Midwest before losing her leg. Although Milikowsky does not know the full details of Daisy’s previous life, she knows her leg was amputated due to a severe infection that could not be resolved with antibiotics.

“During this process, she was put up for adoption,” Milikowsky told Newsweek.

“A New Chance Animal Rescue out of Bedford Hills, New York, stepped in to foster her while she waited to find her new home.”

Milikowsky and her husband had always wanted to open their home to a dog in need. They adopted Daisy’s brother Ralph, a golden retriever, in January 2019. Like Daisy, Ralph is also missing his right back leg.

“Ralph was a stray dog in Turkey that was found on the street in need of an amputation surgery, most likely due to being hit by a car,” Milikowsky said.

“A rescue organization in Turkey coordinated with Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue to provide the surgery to him and transfer him to the U.S. for adoption and ultimately made his way to our farm.”

Milikowsky said it was “love at first sight” with Daisy, with a photo of her “sweet face” winning her over before they’d even met. Daisy came to live with the couple in February 2020.

Although having two “tripawd” pups comes with additional challenges, Milikowsky and her husband have gone above and beyond to give Ralph and Daisy a good life.

“It turns out that the most important thing for a three-legged dog is to get a lot of exercise and to stay at a healthy weight not to put additional strain on the remaining legs. Our farm is a perfect place for Ralph and Daisy to do just that,” Milikowsky said.

Stairs was a particularly difficult task for Daisy to relearn, but Milikowsky is thrilled with her progress. In the viral video, she explains the feat took lots of treats, toys, comfort and encouragement.

“The main way we support them in overcoming these challenges is by encouraging them and helping them to slowly challenge themselves,” Milikowsky said.

“It’s important that they learn the coordination and build the muscles to do things on their own, so we don’t want to always carry them, but we also don’t want to make it too hard for them, especially not too quickly.”

‘Good Job’

In the clip, Daisy starts out looking confused about how to walk up the stairs without her back leg. After hopping up one step, a concerned Daisy looks back to Milikowsky for support.

However, in the next clip, a confident Daisy can be seen striding up the stairs, while Milikowsky cheers her on.

TikTokers couldn’t get enough of the dog’s can-do attitude, with user @adventuringwithnala commenting: “Good job.”

“She’s amazing!!” commented Bry, while, “THATTA GIRL DAISY,” wrote Jack.

“I’m so proud of her that I am crying,” posted StormRavenSteele.

Corey Beckmann commented: “It’s the simple things they do that we don’t think about that become the biggest accomplishments.”

Daisy isn’t the only rescue dog to break hearts online recently. An anxious rescue dog who takes his comfort blanket everywhere made TikTok users teary-eyed this December, while after spending 700 days in a shelter, Gumbo the coonhound finally found his forever home.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.