Page 31 - BusinessWest January 8, 2024

Gone to the Dogs
It’s About Quality of Life at Power Paws Canine Rehabilitation
BY JOSEPH BEDNAR
[email protected]
“I was booked
up for a month solid before I even opened the doors. And I have never not been booked less than two or three weeks out since then. So it’s been really busy.”
Melinda Harris has always wanted to work with animals. “That was never a question in my mind,” she said. “My grandfather had dogs and birds and everything else. My
mom always joked that I got it from him because he was the animal lover. I had dogs and cats growing up, and as soon as I was in high school and I had the option of taking physics or doing an internship at a veterinary hospital, well, guess which one I picked?”
She’s had a winding path in animal care since then, all of which led her to the culmination of a dream: opening Power Paws Canine Rehabilitation in Granby last spring.
“I was booked up for a month solid before I even opened the doors,” she told BusinessWest. “And I have never not been booked less than two or three weeks out since then. So it’s been really busy.”
Harris’s canine patients have ranged in age from 6 months to 18 years, and they’re brought in for a variety of reasons.
“It’s definitely a mix. There are different kinds of knee surgeries out there, and I’ll see dogs that have had any one of them. I have dogs that come in that are trying to avoid knee surgery, so we’re try- ing to build up and strengthen that leg so they don’t need to go for- ward with surgery. I’ve had hip surgeries, and I’ve had geriatric dogs that come in for conditioning and to keep their strength up. I’ve had neurologic cases like strokes.
“And I’ve had a few agility dogs and working dogs that want to keep their strength up so that they can compete at a high level,” she continued. “I have a couple of FEMA dogs, search and rescue, that come in, and they’re very strong. So they go in the underwater treadmill and run for 20 minutes, and it helps keep them strong.”
Melinda Harris demonstrates the use of a balancing pad with her own puppy, Orbit.
Staff Photo
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Wishing a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year, from our family to yours.
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