Dog with robotic legs walks again after pioneering treatment

A vet has transformed a dog's life by giving him futuristic robotic legs so he can walk again.

Robbie, an 11-year-old Shetland sheepdog, had been a regular patient at the vets for five years, suffering from problems including paw injuries, skin tumours and orthopaedic issues.

After painkillers, surgery, antibiotics and hormone replacement failed to give Robbie a sufficient quality of life, owner Sharman Steel, 63, was at her wit's end.

But now Robbie is Britain's first official bionic hound, after having his back legs strengthened with a state-of-the-art exoskeleton.

Pete van Dongen, clinical director of Pennard Vets in Sevenoaks, Kent, came to the rescue, by suggesting that Robbie had 'orthotics', or orthopaedic braces, fitted.

Now, Robbie the 'Robo-Dog' has a new lease of life and can walk safely without causing any damage to his hind legs.

The dog had to have casts of his legs taken in order to manufacture the precisely fitting orthotics.

Owner, Sharman Steel, a retired teacher from Chislehurst, south east London, said: