NEW YORK (AP) — Less than three years ago, Mary Ann and David Giordano were taking turns lying on the living room floor with their Afghan hound Frankie, hand-feeding the desperately ill dog anything she would eat.

She had developed severe kidney problems after contracting Lyme disease, despite being on medications meant to repel the ticks that carry the bacteria that cause it. Veterinarians weren’t sure she would survive.

Yet on Monday, Frankie was at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, healthy and ready to compete. She would face off against over a dozen other Afghan hounds — including Zaida, the winner of last month’s World Dog Show in Croatia — for a chance to advance to the next round of the United States’ most prestigious canine event.

“It was really tough,” Mary Ann Giordano said, her voice halting as she described Frankie’s eight-monthlong ordeal. “But she made it.”