June 20, 2003/Week 3 Post-TPLO:
Now, Nixie is back to her goofy, puppy self. I hadn't realized how
much pain and discomfort she must have been in those few months
before we had the CCL tear diagnosed. She would play with our 2 year
old wiggle dog (Levi the German Shepherd mix), but then she would lay
around for hours, and come up lame afterwards. She would lay around
the house more than usual for her--not as much as our 11 year old
dog, but more than our 2 year old dog. We attributed it to her
finally maturing and starting to mellow out. She hadn't chewed up a
windowsill or a book in months (you should see the wood trim in our
house--not one is without Dane teeth marks). That ligament tear must
have sapped the energy out of her.
Well, if Jasmine is allowed up here, why can't I be? June 14, 2003
We are now at the three week mark--13+ weeks to go. Last night, she tried to get Jasmine, the old Queen dog, to play. She repeatedly tries to get up on the couch, and often succeeds (how can such a large dog be so sneaky?). She tries to spin and play while on potty walks. She's pulling hard on the leash, usually to go visit her neighborhood doggie friends. She is getting along pretty good on that leg now--some toe-touching, and some weight bearing. She lays on her back in the x-pen and chews on rawhides.
June 27, 2003/Week 4 Post-TPLO:
Nixie is driving me insane! Even though she has a plethora of dog
toys, rawhide chewies, and Kongs in her x-pen, she still decides it
is much more fun to tear a hole in her dog bed and pull all of the
stuffing out. She is sooo bored. She wakes me up at five, not
because she has to go potty, but because she wants to sleep on the
couch.
After work yesterday, I took her for her 5 minute walk (technically, those aren't supposed to start until Saturday). She pulled hard half of the time, and then she began to remember how to walk nice on a leash. Then we would approach a corner, and she would forget. She wanted to go go go! It got really bad when our neighbor brought out his dog, who is Nixie's best friend. I almost lost control of her.
Also, she *really* wants to go to the backyard--probably to play and run like she used to. Last night, I went out with Levi, our other young dog, to go pull radishes, and Nixie broke through the baby gate to get to the kitchen and the back door. I caught her just in time before she busted through the screen door.
She is eating more, which is good, except that must partially account for the increased energy levels. I'm curious to see if her weight has stabilized, or if she has gained back some of what she lost during the first two weeks of recovery.
At least the weather has improved. Earlier in the week, our high was 48. Now it is a more seasonable 72, and sunny. I'll try and drag her x-pen outside tonight so she can sniff things and bug-roll. That should make her a bit happier.
Looking perturbed that she is not
walking while she is outside.
June 28, 2003
Week 5 Post-TPLO:
Yeah! We can start doing the PT walks. Three times a day, for five minutes. She lives for these walks. We usually do half a block--down the alley, and around that portion of the block. Sometimes she behaves well on the leash, othertimes she pulls hard and tries to run. She also tries really hard to go visit her furry-friend, Ginger.
July 9, 2003/Week 6 Post-TPLO:
Nixie is doing fine, though she is still driving us nuts. We are
doing three 5 minute walks a day that she just loves going on.
Beginning this Saturday, we can start going on the three 10 minute
walks a day. Wow! Will I be in shape by the time this is over!
She has her follow-up x-rays on the 31st. She is doing so well, I'll be disappointed if she doesn't have a whole lot of bone growth (I can't bring myself to name a percentage). I've started her on supplements, but I can't get her to eat the liver flavored ones. I wonder if it is because she had such a bad experience after eating a month's supply of Rimadyl (the liver flavored chewables) when she was a puppy. My new mantra: child-proof caps are not puppy-proof. I said that for two months while we paid off the vet bills.
Sosopah, the Cricket Kachina,
July 8, 2003
My sister from California came to visit for an extended 4th of July weekend. Therefore, our routine got a little off--I tried sleeping in, Nixie wouldn't let me, that sort of thing. On Monday, I took her outside at 6:30 a.m. to go pee, and then I crawled back in bed because I wanted to sleep in until at least 8. Well, I heard a thump, and then a zipper open, and then more thumps. I thought it was my sister getting packed. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was a little after 7 a.m. and I wondered why on earth she is up that early (6 a.m. her time). I heard a crash, got up, looked at my sister, who was sound asleep on the sleeper sofa, and then realized it was Nixie making all of the racket. She had nibbled on the camera bag, unzipped it and pulled everything out (at least she didn't damage the telephoto lens), tore up a glass case one of our web clients must have left, and ate the feathers off my Kachina and nibbled on his head. I don't think Sosopah will be very happy with her, or me for that matter, since he wasn't hanging over a door like he should have been. I just hope he isn't a vengeful little cricket.
My husband thinks that Nixie wanted her morning constitutional, which happens sometime before 7:30 a.m. every day, and she thew a tantrum when it didn't happen on time. That dog has certainly has us trained! This was the first time she tried destroying stuff in a few months. Grrr. Bad attention is still attention, to children and dogs. She knew she was bad, but she still got the benefit of going for a walk. At least she is getting better on the leash, and isn't dragging me everywhere, or maybe I'm building up some upper body strength.
