I have to say the neatest part of this whole new adventure in Buddy’s life is getting used to the new “normal”. The new “normal” changes everyday though! And thats ok. Each day brings on a new adventure. The adventure usually entails a lot of laying around in his backyard kingdom and going for small walks but for him its an adventure just the same. His endurance gets a wee bit stronger every week as we go for walks. Its pretty cool to see how much farther he will go each time we are out. We have to make him turn around sometimes because we can see when he starts to tire. Oh and he is so stubborn when he knows we are making him turn around! This dog has always been all about his walks. Rain, sleet or snow never stops him! It bugs him a bit (Especially when rock salt hits the street. Nasty, painful stuff that rock salt.) but it never stops him. Buddy the unstoppable. He is an inspiration. Life is good.
Its been a great Saturday! Sunny and cool out. Beautiful! I was just mentioning to my son that I thought Buddy lost his bark during surgery. I haven’t heard him use it in a long time. I am happy to report that he found his bark. It was somewhere out back in his kingdom. I was in the kitchen when I heard an old familiar tone. Oh my goodness! He’s barking and galloping out back. It was great to hear his voice again! All is well.
The weather has been fabulous! And Buddy has been one happy guy! He’s loving his walk’s and working on his endurance. Yesterday we decided to drive down the street to one of the walking paths that he loves so much. He recognized where he was immediately and started to hurriedly gallop up the path. His face was priceless! He was SO HAPPY!! He will gallop a little then rest a bit. Then he’ll get a sprint going and then stop and rest. Then he’ll nose around and sniff the grass. Walks are twice as long as they used to be and much shorter but thats ok! We made him sit down on the basketball courts with us after a little bit so he could take a rest. He wasn’t going to argue with that! Life is good.
It’s been 3 weeks since amputation and I am here to tell you, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel. And, the light is so much brighter than what I had envisioned when we first brought Buddy home after surgery.
His fur is coming back and the scar is healing. He’s going for walks again although they are shorter for now. He’s sun bathing. (because the rain finally stopped) And he’s happy. And that’s the most important thing of all.
Thursday was another rainy day and more moping around the house. He’s still eating a wee bit less BUT he is eating. Thanks to everyone for your advice! I finally wizened up and stopped hiding Tramadol in his food. That seems to help. Sometime before dinner my son and I thought we should try and take him out to do a potty break since he hadn’t gone all day. Buddy decided he should go for a walk. (Shaking my head.) This dog!! So we trudged down the street a bit in the sloppy rain. After a bit of exploring and finding a perfect spot to do his business, we trudged back. (I sometimes wonder what goes through a dogs head when they are scoping out places to poop… Nope. That smells weird. Nope. Not enough leaves and stuff. Nope. Sniff…sniff… ARG!!!! Oh the agony of finding the perfect spot to poop!) We dried him off when we got back inside and off he went to chew on his bone. Sometime later that night I heard the jingle of his dog collar and a thump. The basement. Oh my God. Someone left the basement door open! I ran down the steps and there he was. Unharmed (THANK GOD) but spilled out all over the place and shaking. (This dog!!) We didn’t fuss at him and tried to not act worried. We checked him over him out and helped him back up the stairs. If there wasn’t such a sharp curve at the end of the first set of stairs, he’d have made it all the way down there all by himself. He was probably going down so fast that he tumbled head on into the wall at the bottom and couldn’t turn to go down the rest of the stairs. Turning and curves are not his strength. He is getting better at pivoting but not at a high rates of speed! Oh my goodness. (This dog!)
Friday, Steve and I took him out for a mini walk again before dinner. He thinks he can go for the walks that he used to go on but when we make him turn around to go back he starts to tire. So we limit him. Maybe longer walks will be in his future. We’ll see. Honestly, I didn’t know if walks would ever happen again. I’m amazed that he can even get out the door at almost 3 weeks! He kept nosing around the basement door again. He loves the basement. Its quiet and fully carpeted. He and Alex (my youngest) will hang out down there while Alex is playing video games. Theres also a stinky old couch down there that Buddy claimed for himself a long time ago. We put his harness on him and decided to let him try the stairs with Steve hanging on to him and me at the back. As soon as we reached the bottom he trotted straight over and onto his couch. The look on his face! Oh my goodness! Priceless! He was so happy that we decide to let him spend the night down there. We gated the stairs off though so that he wouldn’t try and go up them by himself. This dog!
He’s been having such great days with some roughness but mostly they are good. Sometimes there is a darkness of guilt/doubt that will haunt me. Was this the right thing to do? We wanted so badly to do the right thing. What if we were wrong? I will not lie. The first week was wicked hard. But you get through it because you have to and because we choose this for him. The second week was hard but it did get easier. I hold my breath everyday but as each day passes my breathing gets a little easier. Buddy’s will power and strength are the very reason we thought he could handle amputation despite his age. And each day that goes by I ease into thinking, maybe we were right. He’s pretty darn awesome.
