Two-legged dog called Lieutenant Dan plays fetch and dashes into the water on his first trip to the beach
- One-year-old Treeing Walker coonhound was on Pensacola Beach in Florida
- He was born with severe defect; hind limbs and tail were deformed and unusable
- His back legs were amputated when he was six months old, as was tail soon after
A dog with only two legs was determined to have fun with his canine friends at the beach despite his disability.
Heartwarming footage shows one-year-old Lieutenant Dan frolicking in the surf, swimming in the sea and fetching a frisbee on Pensacola Beach in Florida last Monday.
The Treeing Walker coonhound was born with a severe defect, leaving both his hind limbs and tail deformed and unusable.
But that didn’t stop him messing around in the water with several able-bodied dog buddies.
One-year-old Lieutenant Dan has fun on Pensacola Beach, Florida, last Monday, despite having only two legs
The Treeing Walker coonhound happily frolics in the surf. He was born with a severe defect which left both his hind limbs and tail deformed and unusable
Lt Dan is clearly excited on his first trip to the beach, as he mucks around with a group of able-bodied dogs
Lt Dan had been walking around on his front legs since he was eight weeks old, and tried to carry the weight on his hind limbs.
However, after being adopted by a family from Ohio, his back legs were amputated when he was aged six months, after veterinary surgeons determined they could not be corrected.
Soon afterwards, his tail also had to be amputated. But in spite of this, he is thriving, as this video shows.
The determined hound even wades into the sea at one point to retrieve a frisbee while a canine pal watches on
After a refreshing dip, Lt Dan heads back to shore. He was adopted by a family from Ohio and had his hind legs amputated when he was six months old
It was his first visit to the beach and he was clearly keen to make the most of it – merrily barking and retrieving the frisbee from the ocean.
When he’s not on the coast, he likes to go hiking with his owners, which does require him to use a specially adapted doggy wheelchair.
Lt Dan’s name is a reference to a character in the film Forrest Gump – a soldier in the US military, played by Gary Sinise, whose legs are amputated.
The Treeing Walker breed is descended from American and English foxhounds, and takes its name from the Walker family, of Kentucky, which helped to develop it.
The treeing part of its name refers to a hunting dog practice which sees the hound force a climbing animal up a tree, whereupon it can be shot by hunters.
Lt Dan does his own version of doggy paddle. He is named after a character from the Forrest Gump movie – a soldier played by Gary Sinise who has his legs amputated