Today we mark 6 weeks since amputation. WOW! 6 weeks! When we were at the one week mark I could not wait to get to this point. It is incredible how fast time goes by. Its also pretty darn incredible the great strides Buddy has made. The fur is ever so slowly coming back. I wish that would hurry up! On colder days I will throw a t-shirt on him just to keep him warm.
He is finally content to eat from his raised food bowl. The raised water dish is another story. He doesn’t trust it. His back legs will still shake a bit when he looks at it. It’s as if he thinks it’s the evil bath tub getting ready to make him take a bath. Maybe he see’s his reflection in there? Who knows what he’s thinking. The water dish creeps him out and I am still really not sure why. We have to encourage him to go over and drink from it. He’ll do it but he’s not happy about it.
His walks are pretty strong. Some days he is happy to go longer and others he is happy to cut it short. He is still stubborn as heck in having to turn around! On his longer walks he likes to trot along at a quick pace then he’ll stop to sniff around a bit. He’ll tire after awhile and will look up at Steve as if to say, “A little help here?” So Steve will lift him slightly with his harness and off they go! I don’t think he really needs the help. I just think he really loves when Steve runs with him like that. His face is priceless. He’ll give Steve a sign to let him know he’s done with the run then they will stop and he will always look back to make sure I’m coming.
Life is pretty awesome. 6 weeks strong.
Just so there is no confusion as to who this fire hydrant belongs to…I’ll mark it. I’m helpful like that.
Oh my…IS THAT A CAT?!! I got my eyes on you CAT! I’m gonna flex my muscles and trot past you so you know who rules this neighborhood.
Dad taking me for a run. I can do this all by myself but SHHHH..don’t tell dad! I love it when he runs next to me!
Heeeeere I come!!
I’m like lightening!
I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!
My human is pretty awesome. I think I’ll keep him. 🙂
YAYYYYY!! What a fantastic update! Go Buddy!!!
We are also around 5 weeks or so out, and every step (hop) forward is such a cause for celebration! Love the pictures and comments – so much of this reminds me of Maggie, loving her short walks and being oh so stubborn about turning around. How far is he able to go now? We have only ventured around the block once (long city block) and it took over an hour with lots of rests and sniffing stops. Maggie is 12 and took slower walks the last couple of years anyway, so we’re not pushing it but I also don’t want to hold her back as she’s getting back in the swing of things.
Also curious, how is Buddy he on your stairs? That’s what Maggie is slow to adjust to so far. So funny about the water dish, but he’ll get the hang of it soon enough!
Keep on hoppin’ Buddy! You are doing great!!!
Cindy and Maggie
HI Cindy! And YAY for Maggie!!
He can go all the way around a small path that leads around the neighborhood to the back of our house. That used to be his short walk when he was walking well with 4. It would take about 12 minutes at a good clip. It probably takes twice as long now with his rests. He has another walk that used to take about 20 minutes. He can go about 1/2 that walk and tires out. We are hoping that he might be able to get back to that one at some point with rests. We don’t want to push him to hard either. Dogs and routines! They can be so stubborn!! Glad to hear that we aren’t the only ones! He does pretty well with steps. I let him go by himself down the steps leading to our back yard . Its about 6 or 7 steps. He’s very careful about how he goes down because he’s face planted several times going down them. I’ll have to take a video of that sometime! (not the face planting though!)I won’t let him go down basement stairs by himself. I am to scared of him breaking or hurting the remaining front leg. He has been surprisingly bold about taking stairs on! That happened almost right away once he started gaining his independence. Maggie will get those stairs eventually. She just needs to practice!
So happy to hear that Maggie is doing so well! Older tripawds rock!!
Tracie
These photos and descriptions of Buddy’s life are priceless guys! Thank you for sharing a day-in-the-life just after amputation, it really does show the reality for most dogs. You have such a great attitude that is realistic yet hopeful, accepting yet embracing. It makes our hearts hoppy!!
GO BUDDY!!!