MISSOULA, Mont. - To watch Pearl run, you would never guess that a year ago, this beagle could barely walk.
“She weighed 50 pounds,” explained Jessie Maclay of the Humane Society of Western Montana. “She was unable to walk more than four or five steps before her legs would give out. She had a dislocated hip that prevented her from being able to walk well.”
When Maclay first saw Pearl, she thought she knew how to help and brought her to Montana Water Dogs to try water therapy.
“Her first swimming lesson, she swam for a minute and 45 seconds, so not very long, many breaks in between,” Maclay said. “I think she swam for ten seconds at a time then we would take a break. And then swim a few more seconds and then she was exhausted. She couldn’t stand, she couldn’t walk for the rest of the day.”
Pearl built up her endurance and was able to swim for up to 15 minutes after doing 54 sessions, six days a week.
Maclay said, “In the time that we were swimming, she lost easily 20 or 25 pounds.
After dropping those first few pounds, Pearl’s true personality began to shine through.
“She’s amazing,” Maclay said. “She runs, she swims, and she plays with other dogs. She has the biggest personality that I never would have expected when I first met her.”
But, she’s not out of the dog house yet.
Pearl has Cushing’s disease and in order to keep that weight off, she needs to follow a strict diet.
But that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy a treat every now and then.
“We finally said, ‘Can she have anything?’ And the vet said she could have green beans,” Maclay said. “And it took a long time to convince her that green beans are pretty good. Now she loves them.”
Pearl also loves her new “leash” on life.