Published: June 21, 2007 07:17 pm      

VIDEO: Dashin' Around

When Suzanne Olka walks her two dogs, Darcy and Dash, down Niagara Street near her home, people passing by often stop and stare.

The attraction is Dash, an 8-year-old daschund, who walks happily down the street even though his back legs are paralyzed.

Dash walks with the assistance of a two-wheeled cart, attached to him with a harness.

“We walk down to the corner and back,” Olka said. “(The drivers) watch the dogs. Some of them even stop and get out of the car and come over and talk to him. They’ve never seen a dog in a cart.”

Dash was born with four healthy limbs on Nov. 23, 1999. In 2001, Olka bought him from a family who couldn’t take care of him anymore, and three years later, she started noticing something was wrong.

“All the sudden he couldn’t walk down the steps anymore,” she said. “He was crying.”

She took him to a veterinarian, who found he had a ruptured herniated disc in his back. One option was to put Dash down, but Olka said she couldn’t do it.

“I couldn’t help it. He was so cute sitting there in the hospital,” she said. “I thought, ‘Am I going to put him down?’ I couldn’t.”

Instead, she took him to a vet in Orchard Park for surgery. Dash was left with 14 stitches across his back and a loss of feeling in his back legs.

While he can wag his tail and stand on his own for very short periods, the feeling in his back legs hasn’t returned enough for him to walk.

“He never got the legs back,” Olka said. “The doctor said it would be possibly 25 percent.”

Olka bought the cart from K-9 Carts, a company that makes custom-made carts for dogs and cats. Dash took to the cart very quickly, she said, and has adjusted to the limitations of it.

When turning, his back leg will sometimes get caught in the back wheel, and he’s learned how to back up a bit and free it before he starts running again.

Neighbor Scott Grayson said Dash is a friendly and happy dog.

“He’s pretty exhilarating, actually,” he said. “He doesn’t even seem like it bothers him, like he doesn’t have any disability whatsoever. He doesn’t even notice it.”

At night, Olka puts him in a diaper to guard against accidents.

During the day, Dash plays around the yard and the garage, playing with Darcy, who is his daughter. He runs back and forth through the yard, chasing his ball and playing tug-of-war with Olka and anyone else who will play with him.

Dash goes to the vet often for treatment. He’s had acupuncture and water therapy and takes a special suppliment for arthritic animals.

The hope is that one day he’ll be able to walk without the cart.

“I’m not giving up,” Olka said, smiling.

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.