continued improvement!

Toby continues to get better and is even able to scratch his ear on the right side! His left foot still doesn't 'quite do it' however. He is working hard to master his 'SAD-eyed look" and doing very well. We have him out of his crate a LOT, so we are constantly watching after him with a short leash and a lot of calm words to keep him from over-exerting himself. He can only WALK...and still cannot climb into our laps, which is very difficult for him to understand.

We do the 'chiropractic stretch' on him but not as ofter or as many times as 'we' would like. He tends to turn to 'watch' what we are doing. He needs to be looking straight ahead.

He is eating and drinking, chewing bones and pooping....isn't that a dogs life? He is still a little weak on the left hind quarter, but it is obviously stronger. I don't know what to expect exactly after the one month anniversary, when he can be out of the crate (baring any unforeseen problems) I don't know if there may be some 'residual' weakness as in stroke patients...or if, once 'healed' he will be back as he was? At any rate, I just hope that we can be told that we no longer have to WORRY about his back...but I have basically taken one day at a time until now. NOW I can SEE that he is going to be OK....so..what do we expect AFTER this type of problem?

one NEW problem...

How does a dog get a GOOD chew on a bone when he is minus 8 teeth? Poor Toby!! Chew chew chew chew........but the bone is like....making CIRCLES in his mouth while he chews!! This poor little guy!! LOL...it's kinda cute to watch him though because he is so happy to have a bone...and yet this ONE BONE might just last him all WEEK!!

ALSO~ he is in a FULL Happy bouncy mood PLUS and the vet said "there is nothing we can give him to keep him calm but a tranquilizer which would knock him out all day!" we do NOT want that....so...our new sentence to Toby? "DOWN TOBY!! calm down....GOOOOD BOY...NO! DOWN!!!" Oh boy...what a difference a DAY makes!!


He is dancing while he walks. We can't make him stop! This is BICHON all over the place...TOBY'S BACK!! Now to get him to stop this.......we HAVE to the vet said!

DAY 11.....what an IMPROVEMENT!

My gosh! We woke up to a little HAPPY DOG this morning! He wants to BOUNCE, he wants to RUN...he want's to be the BICHON HE WAS BORN TO BE!!! Oh oh....this is GOOD...but this is is bad at the same time! We can't let him re-injure his back...but my GOSH! What an amazing difference. My husband said "Maybe we should ask the vet for something to calm him down"? Oh wow...this is a BITTERSWEET situation for sure!

I will be heading to the grocery store to get him some bones bcause I got THIS suggestion from a friend "in the Know":
One thing you could do (I do it for Bengy my dog every day) for Toby is buy BEEF ribs cut off all the meat you can then I nuck usually around 7 bones for 5 minutes, let cool (if you need one right away put in ice water for about a minute), then give Toby one in his crate and he will be rewarded in his crate. He will eventually want to go to his crate because he gets a bone. I give Bengy one everyday around 5 and about 4:30 he starts whining for his bone. I have done this for 2 years since choosing never to have his teeth cleaned again. It doesn't get rid of all bad breath but helps alot better then greenies which we have also used. It costs about 7 dollars aweek but what the heck. VERY GOOD ADVICE that I am about to put into action! Thanks Connie!

is he in pain?

I THINK maybe Toby's depressed because they took him off pain killers Friday. He is still on Prednisone...but I believe he hurts. The vet DID say that we could give him 1/4- 1/2 of an adult aspirin. BUT then I remembered what happened with my little dog that I had when I was first married- a Maltese mix. I did that and he went PARALYZED- couldn't walk a single step- until it wore off! The vet back THEN said "that's not uncommon, dogs shouldn't be given aspirins as that is a side effect that sometimes happens. When it wore off, he was fine. So, I'll ask for something a bit 'safer' that won't cause ME to panic!!!

Until then- I don't know what else I can do...has anyone any ideas for me?? Has aspirin ever done anything negative to YOUR dog??

How hard can you tug?

I wish I would have gotten a clarification on 'how hard' I can tug on the leash...because Toby doesn't want to come back inside today! I take that as a very good sign. However, I have to go to work soon and I was beginning to get worried as to whether or not I'd get to come back inside with enough time to get ready to leave! LIES that worked before...don't work now! He's ON TO ME!! When I said "is that DADDY?!!? he actually GLARED at me...I am not imagining that , I swear it. He looked at me through eye slits.
Today he walks even steadier. He is losing the drunk sailor walk almost completely. He drinks a lot. Do dogs drink more when they are stressed or Nervous? Of course, THAT makes me worry...kidney trouble? Obsessive drinking was another one of our beloved dogs first sign of kidney disease. Toby hasn't reached THAT so I need to sit back and figure he is just thirsty.

Depression sets in...

SO, how do you explain to a little DOG how important it is for him to be in a crate 24/7? Today Toby is crying...today I have begun to as well. It is almost too much- like the proverbial 'frosting on the cake". I take him out, and let him walk a bit around the yard, then he plants his hiney and stays...I cannot bring myself to get FIRM enough to MAKE him MOVE, so I stand or sit and wait until my back begins to tire and my mood begins to slip...then I gently coax him in with lies. "is that Daddy?" come see daddy! No daddy......sorry Toby ...I had too....

I didn't want to FALL IN LOVE...

....not with another animal. I wanted only to love them and take care of them but not get so emotionally attached to them that I would FEEL like I feel now. I love this little guy almost as deeply as I see my husband love him. I was raised on a farm. I KNOW better then to get too attached...but it happened in a weak moment watching him stumble and try so hard to walk, or lift his leg to potty...or sit and cry in a crate with big eyes pleading to "PLEASE stop punishing me". That is what it FEELS like he is saying. It doesn't matter, it is how I feel he is thinking.
He seems to be a tiny bit better? I can't tell for sure. He did slip twice on the wood floor this morning in his excitement to go outside. My fault. I had put him on the "wanna WALK? leash"! He thought I was going to take him for a real walk...not just outside for a potty break. I let the leash be a bit longer then the 4 foot one we have been using...it made him happy... until his potty break was done, and he was back in his crate. That was the moment I KNEW I had fallin in love......and I cried.

The RAMP....

 
 
SO, Toby cannot walk up a single step or it COULD paralyze him...so what do we do? We treat him as we would ourselves, I guess-my husband built him a ramp! It is WIDE, so that he doesn't decide last minute to JUMP the edge, it is carpeted so that it isn't slippery. He likes it- and so does Meeka who runs up and down it over and over like a little kid. (She's a "deer Chihuahua"- so not too small- 15 pounds!) Really though, there is a very good reason for this "Handicapped" look. If we pick him up wrong, it could be the end of his life as he has known it. It is very difficult to pick up a dog, any dog- even small ones like him without causing an unbalanced feeling to them- and in response, they arch their back or 'squiggle'!! VERY scary. SO! This is for Toby ~ but it also gives US peace of mind.

Doggy Jail...

 
This has to be the worst thing for Toby. JAIL! But he is outside watchng 'daddy' build him a ramp. He will be livng in this BOX for 3-4 weeks (hopefully not LONGER!!!!) and a ramp will make it easier for all to get him up and down the steps. He cannot be bent 'whatsoever'... so try lifting a dog and NOT bending them to some degree! Pics to follow...with updates.

not the best morning....but not the worst.

Toby had a bit of trouble getting up and out the door to go potty at 4:45 AM. (I'm glad it's light outside at that time!) He did his 'duty' and then sat down. My husband and I both tried to coax him to stand up and come back in the house on his own: "Want a treat? Come get your TREAT Toby!" "Want some CHICKEN? Yum! COME GET SOME chicken Toby! Come on!! Get some chicken! want some chicken???" Even offering some of HIS chicken to our other little dog, Meeka, didn't do the trick. He just sat there... This is NOT his 'normal way'...but after gently lifting his butt off the grass FOR him...he was able to walk to the house for his treat. Poor little guy. The hard part for us gets even harder because he doesn't understand WHY we keep putting him back into his crate. To him, this is punishment I think. He acts SAD. His job is to sit in our laps at ALL times...and to follow us everywhere, no matter what. This isn't what Toby DOES and it is making him depressed I think. That worries me too. He can't understand that this is just for 3-4 more weeks ....

The Chiropractors advice for my dog...

SO, I took Toby to MY Chiropractor this evening. She said that her little dog was even worse then Toby seems to be at the moment. (he was waaay worse this morning, and she said that that is even so with humans; morning stiffness kind of thing) Her little guy had a herniated disk seven YEARS ago, and has done really well ever since. She was taught a certain 'stretch' exercise for her dog by a vet/chiropractor. So, she taught it to us. Very simple to do...yea! She still advises us to have the steroid shots and the anti-inflammatory meds continued and to keep him in his kennel for 4 weeks, as advised by all the vets. Plus she said that if he takes a turn for the worse- to take him right in for surgery. Her response to this type of surgery's effectiveness was better then the vets seemed to give us (50% effectiveness) she has seen it have good results although she has a very SMALL group of dogs to use as an example since the other dogs all healed on their own. SO, our day started at 7AM with a very BIG scare...2 vet appts, lots of internet exploring on Chiropractic care in dogs,and ending with a trip at 5:45 to my personal chiropractor, Dr. Susan Barrett. WHICH by the way she did NOT do as a 'dog' appt. She just saw him for ME...and didn't charge us a dime. she simply loves dogs....

I feel so much more in control now. There is hope that he won't have to go into surgery...that we just might be able to help him heal himself. "This is a temporary thing"......

you can always smile...a little!

 
  Even when you think you can't smile...you find something that makes you anyway! These were posted on the Vets office wall. Click on the picture, it'll get big enough to read!

my Dog Toby...

 

My grand daughter Eliza is Toby's 'other mommy'....but Toby is hurting right now and she doesn't know about it.
A week ago tomorrow we had him in for a dental cleaning at which time the vet elected to remove 7 of his teeth. We brought him home later that afternoon after dropping him off at 7:30 am. When we got home we noticed that he seemed to be walking like a 'drunk sailor'. Thinking it was the effects of the anesthesia, we were not concerned. The next morning we were. He woke unable to use his back legs correctly. We rushed him into the vet who said that it was a pinched nerve caused by a preexisting problem. HUH? We never KNEW he had a problem with his back. NEVER an indication that we saw. She gave him a steroid shot, some muscle relaxants and something else and sent him home after telling us "Zero activity for one week". Today is day 6 and he seems to be a bit worse after seemingly being a tad bit better yesterday. SO, we called another vet for a second opinion. He then sent us to yet another vet for x-rays and a consultation. We aren't any closer to a decision then we were this morning. We 'did' make am appointment for tomorrow morning with a surgeon but I am thinking right now that we should wait and try more meds and a chiropractor. We have an appt this evening with one. She used it on her own dogs herniated disk and it worked. I am willing to try. The bad side? Toby can become paralyzed with ANY of the methods the vets prescribed. It is all risky yet hopeful..and yet...any of the decisions we are about to make can cause him to lose his ability to move his back legs forever.

And so...one more visit and then we add prayers....

lessons learned...the hard way.

My Dad once asked me, after I was rambling on about a mistake I had made, if I was "going to DO IT AGAIN"? I replied : "OF COURSE NOT DAD!" He said to me "Then, it's not a mistake, it's a Lesson". so, there is the reason for this blog title. All my lessons in life seem to come the hard way...my mistakes I have learned from.

This blog is for no other reason but to share. I hope that when I do someone else will share what they have experienced and then maybe through all of this we can all become wiser for it.