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RALEIGH – One family pet has a new lease on life thanks to veterinarians and engineers at N.C. State.

Cassidy the dog is now walking on all four legs after getting the final piece of his state-of-the-art prosthetic leg. Tuesday, Cassidy walked up and down the halls of the College of Veterinary medicine, showing off the leg to owners Steve and Susan Posovsky.

"Just walking around, it makes such a difference," Susan Posovsky said. "He doesn't fatigue. It's wonderful!"

It was the last step in a long process. Last summer, the Posovsky's brought Cassidy all the way from their home in New York to NCSU for surgery to put in an implant. New technology allows Cassidy's bone and tissue to grow into the implant that holds the prosthetic leg. He's been wearing a temporary leg until now.

"Night and day with that other leg!" he said.

N.C. State is one of the only places in the world doing the experimental procedure to give pets custom prosthetics.

"It is great to see that the owners are happy and that the dog has more-or-less been given their life back. But it's also, that you're solving engineering problems together with the medical problems," Dr. Ola Harryson said. "For us, it's pushing the technology forward."

The Posovskys said despite the time involved, they wouldn't hesitate to make the decision to do the operation all over again.

"Worth every minute of it to see the way this dog has come from three-and-a-half years ago, and now he brings tears of joy," Steve said.

Doctors and engineers at N.C. State say they hope the progress made with animals like Cassidy will lead to better human prosthetics in the future.