Bionic Pooch: Rescue Dog Survives Amputation to Run Again...on Four Prosthetic Legs

A good dog can’t be kept down—even if he has no paws to stand on.

Naki’o, an 18-month old Red Heeler, has been fitted with four prosthetic legs after his feet and part of his tail were lost to frostbite.

When Naki’o was just five weeks old, he and his brothers and sisters were abandoned and left to die in the basement of a foreclosed Nebraska home.

Sometime during their ordeal, he became stuck in an icy puddle, which eventually froze over his limbs.

By the time officials from a local animal shelter rescued the forgotten litter, it was too late for Naki’o’s legs.

Each had to be amputated, forcing the hyperactive dog to have to hobble around on four rounded stumps.

But as he grew bigger and heavier, the hobbling gave way to a truly heartbreaking form of transportation: crawling on his belly at the Denver, Colorado, doggy daycare center where his newly adopted owner, Christie Pace, works.

Some days, Pace had no choice but to walk Naki’o in a baby stroller.

"I felt so bad for him as his condition worsened,” said Pace to The Sun. "He couldn't be a normal dog, he couldn't lead the life he wanted."

Wanting to give her dog the best life possible, Pace raised $1,300 to pay for prosthetics for his hind legs.

That’s when Naki’o’s second Good Samaritan stepped up to the plate.

Martin Kaufmann, owner of Ortho Pets, a Denver-based pet prosthetics organization, crafted two additional prosthetics for Naki’o’s front legs—free of charge.

"When we saw how good he was doing with his back leg prosthetics and how he was struggling to use his front legs, it was very simple to say, 'we gotta keep with him.' He could do much better with all four prosthetics on," said Kaufmann, to ABC News. Four prosthetic legs would have normally cost $4,500.