Anyone who has ever undergone physical therapy to regain the use of a limb knows how incredibly difficult it can be. It’s even harder for dogs, as we can’t adequately explain to them that there will be a payoff at the end of all their hard work.

Meet Sammi, Springer Spaniel who underwent surgery back in 2008 to try to remove a bone growth that was pressed up against his spinal cord. Sadly, the surgery went wrong and this 8 year-old dog was left a quadriplegic. His owner decided right away that she wanted to do whatever she could to help Sammi walk again, so she took him to the California Animal Rehabilitation Center in Santa Monica, California, for an initial consultation. There, therapists used clothing straps to hold Sammi upright, and they found that the dog was completely unable to hold his own weight.

The therapists put Sammi on a physical therapy regime that was meant to strengthen his muscles in the hopes of making them strong enough to support his body.

Sammi worked tirelessly for months, and his hard work quickly started to pay off. He managed to go from being totally immobile to being able to get into a sitting position, to being able to use a canine wheelchair that gives him a non-weight-bearing way to whip his limbs back into shape.

As the months went by, Sammi was finally able to hold himself up again! After nine grueling months of work, Sammi’s owner came to see him again for the first time. She could not help but burst into tears when she saw her formerly paralyzed dog run right up to her!

Check out their emotional reunion in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!