After losing his leg last August to prolonged health complications, 2-year-old Bowie had to relearn how to do just about everything. With the help of his family, he found new, slightly modified ways of doing everyday things, including going up and down stairs.
Since losing one of his hind legs, Bowie has been leaning against the wall and doing a little hop down the stairs, in order to make his job a little easier – and as he repeats this process over and over again, apparently her little sister is watching her.
When Zeppelin joined his family in January, Bowie was already doing well on his three legs and of course immediately became his new little sister’s best friend and role model. They were inseparable from the start, so it’s no surprise that Zeppelin took a cue from his big brother when learning how to be a dog.
“They’re always snuggling or playing together, even when there are other dogs around,” said Karisa Maxwell, mother of Bowie and Zeppelin. “We were nervous that Bowie was afraid to play with her because she’s grown taller than him, but she’s so gentle with him and playing at his pace while protecting him.”
As Zeppelin got older, he seemed to want to look more and more like his big brother – and one day his parents noticed something absolutely adorable about the way he walked down the stairs.
“Zeppy always jumped up stairs, but when she was little we just thought it was because her legs weren’t long enough,” Maxwell said. “But when she got older, we noticed that she leans against the wall like Bowie and keeps her hind legs together.”
As Zeppelin takes all her cues from Bowie, she now descends the stairs as if she only had three legs, just like her favorite big brother.
Although her parents have tried to show her that she doesn’t have to go down the stairs this way, Zeppelin doesn’t seem to care and continues to go down the stairs just like Bowie, because no matter what, she always wants to be like him.
“It’s the only way she knows how to do it,” Karisa Maxwell said. “We tried to get her to walk one foot in front of the other, but she just looks at us confused and continues to hop.”
Zeppelin loves its big brother Bowie more than anything. For her, the fact that he only has three legs will never matter.
