A golden retriever named Dottie was training to be part of Boulder County’s search and rescue dog program when she broke her neck in a freak accident.

The fracture happened when she was about five months old and off the job. Dottie underwent an emergency spinal surgery, and after a few months, started visiting Walking Paws Rehab in Boulder. The energetic and friendly dog has since fully recovered after an injury that could’ve left her unable to walk.

“Miracle. I don’t know what other way to say it,” Boulder County Ranger Kevin Grady said. “Miracle recovery, miracle patient.”

Now, Dottie is 13 months old and looks and acts like a normal golden retriever. She’s eager to please, loves people and her tail never stops wagging.

Grady said Dottie is one of the best dogs in the group in terms of being trained, and she’s still working toward becoming certified in trailing lost people and finding human remains for Boulder County.

Dottie continues to work on balance, strengthening her neck and other muscles and working out stiffness. He credits her successful recovery to the doctors at Walking Paws Rehab.

“The progress she’s made under the care of these individuals here has been just truly amazing, and she is still on track to become a search dog,” Grady said.

Walking Paws Rehab is a specialty veterinary practice in Boulder that focuses on physical therapy for pets with injuries and mobility ailments. The team of 12 full-time doctors work with dogs and cats primarily, but have also seen other animals, including bunnies, goats and pigs.

Danyel Wynn, veterinarian and owner of the practice, said workers there see a wide variety of ailments including arthritis, orthopedic conditions, neurological conditions, soft tissue problems and other injuries. The clinic can help a paralyzed dog who needs a wheelchair or a dog that needs a prosthetic limb, for example. Walking Paws also works with animal rescues and helps the dog that was run over by a car, for example. The clinic does a lot of pro bono work, Wynn said.

Each pet has a specialized training plan created by the doctors that can include an underwater treadmill, exercises with ramps and balance balls, laser therapy and massages. The clinic has clients from throughout Boulder County and beyond. Some clients have flown or driven from out of state for the unique services Walking Paws offers, including from Montana, Hawaii, New Mexico and Wyoming.

“It feels good to be in a practice where you come to work and you have this patient in front of you that’s in need and a client that’s in need and get to have that happy ending and be able to help them and work with them,” Wynn said.

Cricket is an eight-year-old West Highland white terrier that’s been visiting Walking Paws for about five years.

Cricket originally came to Walking Paws to rehab a torn ligament in her front left leg. After she rehabbed it, she tore the same ligament in her right leg. The tear worsened, so Cricket had surgery and started rehab again.

Ever since, Cricket has come to Walking Paws twice a week from Longmont for strength training with her owner, Terri Simon. When asked about her experience with the clinic, Simon gushed about how much she loves the clinic and the doctors there.

“Everybody here is extremely knowledgeable, and (Cricket) loves coming here. Loves it,” Simon said. “I highly recommend them.”

Lena is a 5-year-old golden retriever who’s been going to Walking Paws for three years. Lena has elbow dysplasia in both of her front legs, a chronic condition that causes inflammation and pain.

“Rehab helps her a lot and helps her maintain her active lifestyle,” her owner Ghia Zalewa said. “She’s a crazy golden … and she needs to burn off energy. If we weren’t doing (physical therapy), she’d be a lot more sore, significantly changing her quality of life.”

Zalewa takes Lena once a week to Walking Paws from their home in Boulder. Lena thinks the visit is just full-on playtime, her owner said. The dog has since built muscle mass, and the movement keeps her muscles and joints working well, so her hikes and walks are less painful.

“Boulder is a great place, people are pretty committed to the care of their animals here, but a lot of people don’t realize just how much (physical therapy) can help their dogs,” Zalewa said. “Just arthritic dogs, old dogs. They don’t have to come here for an injury. Old dogs that are moving stiffer could really benefit from this, and I don’t think people are realizing it.”

Wynn opened Walking Paws after spending time working in a standard veterinary practice. She said she would have tough days where she’d go home crying after a euthanasia or when people didn’t have money to help their pets.

“Here, if we have tears, they’re happy tears,” Wynn said. “It was because we got that paralyzed dog walking again, or that dog that couldn’t walk in years, and now they’re taking their first steps.”