Molly the Golden Retriever doesn’t want to balance the Milk Bone dog treat on her nose.

She’d rather eat it.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Molly’s owner, Deb Wenzel, coaxes her 7-year-old furry companion.

And Molly, all golden fur so soft you just want to sink your hand into it and pet her forever, truly tries to wait. She sits as asked, her tail sweeping across the floor in front of the carpeted stairs that lead to the second-story of her Savannah, Mo., home. Her eyes are focused more on the treat in her owner’s hand rather than her owner.

“Wait...”

Three treats later, Molly still hasn’t demonstrated her skill at balancing dog treats on her nose. But she has gotten to eat them. Her waiting has paid off.

Molly’s treat jars are positioned throughout the home and, Deb says, Molly usually has her choice of which jar she wants a treat from.

But until recently, Molly hasn’t been able to choose treats from any jars upstairs. Because of an ACL injury to her knee on her right hind leg, Molly hasn’t been able to climb the stairs.

She has had to wait until her injury healed and her physical therapy ended.

The healing touch

Inside the Shoal Creek Animal Hospital in Kansas City, Molly is getting a massage.

Cheri Kollman, a canine and human physical therapist, starts Molly’s hour-long session by applying infrared heat to the dog’s right leg.

It’s not hard to spot the injured leg. After ACL surgery in St. Joseph in January, the hair on Molly’s hind leg still is growing back.

Just as in humans, an ACL (the anterior cruciate ligament in the front part of the knee) injury is common in dogs, Cheri says. Deb says her vet doesn’t really know what caused Molly’s injury, but both doctor and owner think it may have happened when Molly was out running.

It’s Molly’s second ACL injury. She injured another leg two years earlier and didn’t have therapy. To help Molly regain her strength, Deb sought out Cheri and her Sirius Therapeutics Canine Rehabilitation.

Deb has led Molly through physical therapy sessions twice a week since Feb. 25 — one session during the week and another on Saturdays. Sessions now cost $50 each, and an evaluation is $75, and Deb knows that there are people who won’t understand why she spends the money on a dog.

“A lot of people might laugh, but they give you so much in return,” she says.

Deb leads Molly over to the obstacle course, and with only a slight hesitation, Molly steps over the low hurdles, then balances on a dog bed and finally moves around a series of orange cones. She knows the routine and easily completes a few more circuits.

Cheri says that Molly is 75 percent recovered. The goal, of course, is 100 percent.

Cheri has more than 25 years of experience as a human physical therapist and graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinarian Medicine in 2004 as a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner. She sees most of her patients at Shoal Creek.

Soon, it’s time for Molly and Cheri to work in the inflatable therapy pool. Molly watches Deb as Cheri begins to knead and massage her leg in the warm water. She doesn’t flinch as Cheri lifts her left leg, making the dog balance on her right one. Molly looks at Deb, who pets her dog

“She just loves to be petted, she’ll let you pet her for 24 hours a day.”

As Cheri performs a series of glides, gentle moves with the knuckles of her fist, up and down Molly’s lower spine, Molly does glance back at her therapist, as if to ask if she’s almost done.

With the flick of a switch, the pool suddenly swirls with bubbles, a hydromassage to help relax tight muscles. If the bubbles are to help Molly relax, nobody told the dog. She’s ready to get out of the pool.

“Wait, wait, we’ve got to get you dry,” Cheri urges.

Recovery complete

With no more treats left, Molly walks to the front door and looks out. The sky is overcast, spitting rain once again.

“She loves to look out the windows,” Deb says.

In fact, when Deb had the home built, she made sure the windows were low enough so Molly could sit and look outside. Nose prints on the glass are a fact of life here.

Molly was released from therapy on April 12, 97 percent recovered. Deb will work on the last 3 percent of Molly’s recovery at home with exercise.

“She’s been running in the backyard like crazy,” Deb says.

And there’s no more waiting to climb those stairs.

Molly bounds up the carpeted steps with ease, pausing on the first landing to see if Deb is following. Up the next flight and down the hall to the master suite where there’s a bed with a tall wooden headboard. It’s covered with a blue comforter. No more sleeping on the living room sofa for Molly or Deb.

Outside, it’s started to rain again, and the wind has picked up. Inside, Molly will have to wait. It’s too early for bed.

Lifestyles reporter Cathy Woolridge can be reached at cathyw@npgco.com