Pup’s Injury Inspires Local ‘Dog Mom’ to Start Prosthetics Company

When her 4-year-old dog, Goose, tore a ligament in its knee joint after tripping on a tree root while chasing a rabbit, Danielle Robins had a lightbulb moment.

“I had to find a way to help my dog,” Robins says. “I started looking for options and realized that there’s a lot of junk out there, and companies prey on people who don’t know the difference between good and bad.”

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The Palm Harbor resident, who had been working with ‘human patients’ for five years, decided to use her master’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics to start a company to help other pet parents.

What was your goal when you started OrthoPaws?

Danielle Robins: Even though I did this for a living for humans, I was overwhelmed when my dog got hurt because all I wanted to do was help my dog, and I didn’t know how to do it. We can’t expect people to just know what’s best for their dogs and, of course, the manufacturers are always going to try to sell their own brand, so I saw a good opportunity to be that liaison. Let us see you, let us help you, let us take you through the entire process and get your dog back on its feet.

What exactly do you do for pets?

Danielle Robins: We do prosthetics for all animals, and we do a lot of bracing as well, so if they still have a limb but it’s injured (like Goose’s was) or not working right, we come up with a solution. We also do custom wheelchairs if they’re paralyzed. Really any dog that’s not up and moving, we try to figure a solution. But also, [we help] other animals like goats.

So, what other pet parents have reached out to you?

Danielle Robins: We get a lot of inquiries. We had an inquiry about a bearded dragon that’s missing a leg and a duck that needs a brace. The more people know that this is an option, the more creative we can be.

What’ s one of your most memorable patient stories?

Danielle Robins: Our first in-store patient was a really sweet, tiny dog. It was the smallest dog I’d ever worked with. For about six months before we opened, the owner had tried all these Amazon solutions. He tried to cast on his own, but the cast got rejected because he couldn’t do it because he’s not a professional. So once he came in, we helped him. When his dog, Maddie, took her first steps on the brace … she wasn’t holding her leg up, she started walking normal … he about burst into tears. It gave all of us a really great sense of ‘We accomplished something; we did something good. The dog knows it; the owners know it; we know it.’

How much does this improve the quality of life of animals?

Danielle Robins: With a wheelchair, it’s instant. Once you put them in a wheelchair, those paralyzed limbs are not on the ground anymore, they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can run. I can play.’ That’s a 10-fold improvement immediately. The prosthetics take a little while. It’s incremental, but the overall outcome is to aim for a better quality of life and so far, we have always accomplished that.

And all this started because of your own dog, Goose, who has no clue what she inspired.

Danielle Robins: I always loved animals and wanted to have a business of my own, but were it not for her, I would never have fought so hard to make something like this. It’s all because of what I felt when she got what was a relatively minor injury. My dog has been with me through thick and thin. She is the sweetest, biggest blessing I have in my life. She means everything to me.

Feature Image: Photo by OrthoPaws; Wheelchair by Eddie’s Wheels | Originally published in the September 2024 issue of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine.