ACL Surgery Recovery Week 9

9 weeks have past which means we are on the last week of recovery! When we went in for surgery I was positive the next ten weeks would crawl. Boy was I wrong, I feel like they flew!

We have slowly started lifting restrictions with Lola. We got groomed this past weekend and have allowed her access to the stairs again. At first she acted like she no longer could go up and down, then only did it when we weren't watching, and now seems to go up and down with us. We are still keeping an eye on her to make sure she isn't over doing anything and I'm still sitting on the floor with her.

In Graham news, he has found a new toy to try and destroy. So far this one is holding up!

Graham the Destroyer

I'm not sure what's gotten into Graham lately. Maybe he's having a rough week. For some reason he decided to zero in on a toy and destroy it! Graham has a thing about trying to break squeakers in the dog toys. At first we just thought he was trying to destroy the squeaker but for some reason he zeroed in on his birthday cake toy and he was not going to let that one go.

We purchased Graham the birthday cake toy when we were in Galena, IL for our "not our honeymoon" honeymoon. Our trip was over his birthday so we thought we would bring him back a present. He loved it! It was the right size to fit in his mouth so he could easily carry it around. I think we had a few weeks where it even came to bed with us at night. Sometimes he would forget about the toy and then get all excited when he found it again. For some reason a couple weeks, he not only found it, but he had to destroy it! He was so obsessed with this toy that if we took it away and placed it somewhere he would cry until we gave it back! Josh put it on the table in the other room and he spent at least an hour circling the table crying! After he broke the squeaker we figured the obsession with the cake would be done but we were wrong! He just kept chewing and digging at the toy. At one point we did have it hidden but he had the reaction from his shots at the vet so I gave it back to make him feel better. That was a BAD idea. The toy made it to bed with us the next night and would not make it through the night.

We hadn't even fallen asleep for the night and the toy was done for. A hole had been chewed it in it and the squeaker was pulled out. Luckily most of the stuffing stayed inside! Josh quickly took it away and I hide it in my nightstand. I have a trash next to the bed but I knew if I put it in there he would see it from the bed and spend the night trying to get the trash can. He wasn't happy with us for taking it away! Well, Graham is smarter then your average bear. He knew the birthday cake was somewhere. My drawer to my nightstand  hadn't closed and he saw a small glimpse in it. I think Graham literally cried himself to sleep that night. He spent the night on my pillow crying. For the rest of the week anytime he was in the bed he wouldn't let his eyes off that night stand, even after I shut the drawer! During the day he pace around the nightstand crying. I'm not sure if he just finally gave up on the toy or decided to move on because a week later we had a new obsession.

At some point in time we acquired a purple squeaky dog. I think it came in a pack with a green and a orange one that are buried in the dog toy bin. I had pulled the purple dog out along with other toys when the birthday cake toy obsession started. I thought maybe I could distract him with other toys. Well it worked, but to late. After Graham gave up on the busted birthday cake he moved onto the purple dog. He zeroed in on his target, brought it to bed, and I awoke to piles of fluff littering our bed. Purple dog had died.

Not sure what got into Graham but after destroying the purple dog he has calmed back down. I think it something to do with his squeaker obsession. Both toys where destroyed and squeakers were removed. I think we grabbed the birthday cake squeaker away before any damage could be done but the purple dog squeaker got pretty chewed up. I even got Graham playing and throwing around a piece of the purple dog squeaker the next night while watching TV. 

On a sad note, it's sad that Graham has to destroy toys and I'm upset that he destroyed the birthday cake. Even Lola enjoyed the birthday cake toy. On a positive note, We have more then enough toys for the dogs so getting rid of two toys was probably something that needed to be done.

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 8

Everything is doing great! We've already climbed the toughest pat of the hill but there are still little rocks that we are climbing over. One of those little pebbles is the increasing use of her back leg.

I had started to believe that she wouldn't use her back leg when in softer situations, such as climbing around on the bed. I was shocked to roll over one morning and watch her walk along using both back feet. She even climbed over me using both her back legs.

It's the little things that make me happy with this recovery. Our next step is our grooming appointment on Saturday. I know everything will do fine but I can't shake the vet saying "one wrong move and everything you paid for, you'll have to do again". EEECK!!! I've noticed her sliding around on our small amount of hard wood floor and I decided that was a bigger risk then the groomer would be. I love were we take our dogs for grooming and I know they will treat her perfectly. Trying my best to have no worries.

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 7

Recovery time is nearly over! The vet said on Saturday that in a couple weeks we could start lifting the restrictions on Lola. I know she's doing loads better and has already showed us that she can go up and down stairs and jump off the couch, but I'm still nervous!

Our vet visit, if you didn't read, went well on Saturday. Then it was followed by a weekend of coughing. The meds they put Lola on on Sunday seem to be doing the trick and the coughing has gone away. Although the cough is gone I'm going to follow all the way through with the meds they gave her since we are unsure of the cause of the cough.

In other news, a couple weeks of recovery time left means a few more weeks until a trip to the groomer! I'm pumped to get them in and get them trimmed up.

Our Vet Filled Weekend!!!

So I last left you off yesterday morning. I sat downstairs wrote my blog, got together a grocery list, drank my coffee, had the dogs sleeping around me, and Josh was still in bed.  Graham had has reaction to his shots the day before but was doing fine and Lola seemed to be doing a bit better since her coughing episodes. Josh came downstairs and I pointed out how well Lola seemed to be doing and I mentioned that if the coughing kept up today I would for sure be bringing her in on Monday to get looked at again. Although the Robitussin seemed to be helping I wasn't sure if it would help her like it helps you and I. Well, I must of jinxed things when I brought this up to Josh.

Lola woke up and.....cough. A minute or so later and another cough. I picked her up and did my best to calm her down but her one cough quickly turned into a couple coughs. I knew where this was going and lucky us Lola had decided to wait for office hours at our vet. So I gave them a call and they had the vet call me back.  At this point Lola's coughs had already had her irritated to the point of making herself sick again. Thank god I got to talk to our normal vet and not have to reexplain the situation. He was baffled on why she was still coughing! He said her lungs and stomach all checked out fine the day before and her temp was fine so he felt no rush in seeing her. He brought up the Robitussin and I said I had already tried that in the morning and he said to give Benadryl a shot.

I would like to say Lola normally likes the taste of her Baby Benadryl but after having Robitussin down her mouth she wasn't such a fan of getting more meds. I managed to get her to take some and luckily didn't get another pink beard. After a bit she calmed down, the coughing went away, and she cuddled up for a good ol Benadryl nap. After keeping on eye on her for a bit we felt fine with leaving her home alone and getting some groceries. I also sent a text to my manager letting her know I may or may not be running Lola to the vet the next day but I would keep her updated. I still wasn't feeling good about this cough.

We left and got our groceries and came home. We tend to the leave the dogs in their crates while we put things away and then take them outside. While we put things away we heard it.......cough.............cough.........cough. We let the dogs out to see if Lola could calm herself down but, I think we knew what the outcome was going to be. The only thing different was Lola seemed to still have a bit of her peppy attitude and was playing around a bit but still coughing pretty frequently. So, we called the vet office again not seeing the point in waiting for her to make herself sick again. Although the vet isn't in, the office is open noon to 5 on Sundays and since it was 3:30 we decided to call before it got to late. So we call and they call the vet who calls me back. He tells me he has called a prescription in for Lola and for us to pick it up. It's a pill to help with coughing. He still felt confident in not needing to see her again and said to give the pills a shot and if things don't clear up in a few days he would like to see her again.

We grabbed the pills, had some supper, and came home and gave Lola her pill. She took the pill and soon after had crashed for the night. I'm not sure if the pill made her tired or if it helped halt the coughing allowing her to get some good sleep. I think we had a couple coughs last night as we fell asleep but no coughing fits. As far as I know we have had no coughing at all today. I'm not sure why Lola seems to feel the need to be such a medical mystery all the time but I'm glad that she is once again feeling better.

Our Vet Filled Saturday!

So I already posted about our Saturday vet trip that started at 10am. Little did we know it would turn into a vet kind of day! To do a quick recap, our vet appointment was at 10. Graham had some shots and ending up throwing up a little while at the vet. Lola was there for her post surgery check up and passed with flying colors.

We got home and since Graham was moping around we decided to order pizza so we could stay home and keep an eye on him. After eating Josh played his video game, Graham slept on the couch, and Lola and I took a quick nap on the floor. I woke up to one of Josh's friends coming over and Graham puking a little bit again. We hung out with Josh's friend for a bit, Josh was planning to go to the store with him, but suddenly it turned into a bit of a circus at our house! We'll start with Graham.

Graham started to just get weird after our nap. He seemed to keep trying to itch his head on things and bury it under blankets. He kept shaking his head and at first we thought something was bugging him but he kept doing it. He also would go into Lola's crate, spazz out a bit, then go to his and bury his head in his blankets and curl up. Even when he was rubbing his back on the floor he seemed to do an extra little twitch move to get a good head itch. We noticed the skin you can see around his eye had gotten BRIGHT red. So Josh got Graham to sit on his lap and I started to see if something was bugging his face. I checked his ears and both where BRIGHT red and where really warm when you touched them. At one point I held Graham and he was just dead weight when you held him. So because of Graham being weird and what Lola was doing, which we will get to next, Josh stayed home so we could figure things out. We decided the best thing to do was call the vet for Graham. We called the office and lucky for us, the vet called the office right after us so we simply had to be put on hold. He was pretty sure it was just a reaction to one of his shots and recommended Benadryl and giving it an hour to kick in. So that we did.

While all this is going on, Lola decided she hated the cardigan I was wearing and had put on the floor and puked all over it and the blanket we were laying on. At first we thought nothing of it and cleaned it up. She then developed this odd cough. It was just a cough then she laid there then another cough and then nothing then a cough and so on. So while dealing with Graham, Lola is coughing. Somewhere along the time of calling the vet and giving Graham some meds her cough turned into 3 or 4 coughs and then her getting sick and it wasn't stopping. We had puke on all areas of our floor, on my clothes, and on my leg. YUCK! So after trying all our tricks to calm her down and noticing this isn't her normal cough thing she does when she gets to excited or drinks water to fast we called the vet back. The lady in the office called the vet and called us back and said she may just be over stressed from the vet visit today but he would gladly come in and look  at her. We thought it over for a mere second and decided since both dogs where having issues we just bring them both in. It is now 3:30ish.

So we run our dogs into the vet for the second time for the day! Of course, Lola stops hacking and puking when we get in the car. When we get there he looks Graham over and decides to give him a steroid shot and they noted in his records that he would need that prior to shots in the future because of his reaction. He then looked Lola over. Temp was fine, nothing seemed painful to her when he poked around, and of course she quite doing. We laughed about her being a medical mystery and never wanting to show the vet what was bothering her. We also laughed because she was acting up when nothing had happened to her at the vet that day. He went ahead and gave her a shot to try and prevent her from getting sick anymore and said no more food for her for the night. We thanked the vet for coming in and we went back home. Josh sat on the floor playing his video game and Lola curled up by him and took a another nap and I curled up with Graham on the couch and we took a nap as well.

We woke up around 7. Lola suddenly started her coughing again! It was the same as before. One cough with a pause that quickly turned into a few coughs with a little puke. So we called the vet again, just wanting her to stop coughing. It was a different vet on-call for the night so we explained what had happened. He explained it could be her trachea but I explained that her cough for that was a totally different cough then this and that my tricks to calm those coughs down weren't working. He said we could bring her in if we wanted to or we could try giving her cough medicine and see how she did for the night. We opted for the cough medicine idea and to keep an eye on her since we didn't want to pay the after-hours fee and risk her being fine when we showed up again. The vet also explained that the vomiting may be due to her coughing to much and irritating her throat, just like humans. I had started to wonder if that was happening when the coughing started a second time.

The cough medicine seems to be working ok. She woke me up with two small cough attacks over night but nothing lead to getting sick and she was able to stop it herself and cuddle back up and get some sleep. The vet on the phone said we could give her the cough syrup two times a day so I went ahead and gave her some this morning and then sat her in the bathroom with me when I took a bath thinking the steam always made my throat feel better. Not really sure what our next move is from here but if the coughing doesn't stop soon I think another vet visit is in our future.

Lola wanted a pink beard instead of medicine in her mouth.

Our Trip to the Vet

Today was our first time taking both dogs to the vet at the same time. Graham was due for his yearly check up and loads of shots and Lola was there for a post surgery check up. Graham was up first and, like normal, took his shots like a champ. Then it was Lola's turn. We got a good laugh Graham kept standing on his back feet to try and see what they where doing to Lola on the table. The vet commented and got a chuckle about the interesting dynamic between our dogs.

I told him about Lola's progress so far. I mentioned there was still a slight limp but over all things where better. He was feeling her leg and taking a look at it and looked up at us and simply said "beautiful!". She is healing perfectly :). He said we may notice the limp when it's cool and damp weather like we have been having. He also said the limping on the other occasions I brought up where still normal and she is still strengthening the leg and learning to use it again.

We explained to him the great lengths we go to keep her from doing things he said she can't do. He jokingly asked if we could just hang out in his lobby so we could talk to other pet parents on how to properly handle there dogs after surgery since we are following instructions and she's healing so well. He said after the 10 weeks up we can lift restrictions on her if we don't notice anything else wrong. He also said since we pushed this appointment back a week and she's looking amazing right now that he won't need to see her again. I feel like Lola flew this recovery with an A+ and five gold stars!

While hanging out and talking to him Graham threw up a little. The vet put him back on the table and took his temp and asked us to just keep an eye on him today because of all the shots. He said it may have been something as simple as nerves. So we go back to the lobby to pay and as I'm pulling out my card I look over to Graham taking the BIGGEST pooh I have EVER seen him take! Worked out in the end, I forgot to bring a stool sample with us!

ACL Surgery Recover Week 6

Each week we are getting closer and closer to the end of Lola's recovery time. Not a whole lot new to report anymore. We got in for our next check up on Saturday so we will know more then. As of last week Lola was done with her pills that she's been taking since the surgery. Before the surgery she would get done with a pill they could give to help her "sore muscles" and she would instantly mope around withing a day or so. I haven't noticed that with her since she finished her pills this past time. That gives me lots of hope that things are going really well.

This will be one interesting trip to the vet. It's the first time we are taking both dogs! Graham is due for a yearly check up and some shots and Lola is just getting her 2nd post surgery check up. I feel like both our dogs aren't very big fan of the vet so this could either go horribly wrong or go really well since they will have each other there.

Fun in the Leaves

Leaves in our front yard

I got home from work on Friday to find that the tree in our front yard had decided to DUMP it's leaves on our yard. It was like it had snowed a bright yellow snow of leaves in our front yard. It's was pretty amazing at how many where on the ground and how many where still in the tree!! I took the dogs out to go potty and noticed that there seemed to be an extra amount of leaves blowing around in the slight wind that we had. They seemed to be pretty distracted from going potty and pretty playful with the leaves. I decided to take Lola out to the front yard to see what she would do. She got distracted on the way by the leaves that where here and there along the way. It was worth the slow walk to be able to watch this little white fur ball just plow through the leaves once we got to them. Josh even got Graham on his leash and joined us. It was fun watching them not sure what to do with so many leaves, get distract by destroying them, and be amazed and scared when we threw bunches in the air. Here are a few pics from our fun in the leaves Friday afternoon.

Lola a bit distracted with all the leaves

Graham was a bit worried when we tossed leaves in the air.

"So many leaves, so little time!"

It's hard to tell with all the leaves in the pics but there are a few stuck on Lola's face

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 5

I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel!!! I'm getting sad that our vet visit was pushed back a week because I'm anxious to see what he has to say about her process so far. also excited that in a few more weeks things might slowly be getting back to normal for us. She has already showed us she can go up and down stairs. She tried to jump off the couch the other day and that is still a worry of mine, even after she is back to normal. Boy-oh-boy is my butt sore from sitting on the floor for the past 5 weeks though.

We are still seeing some limping, but not to the degree that it was before. The plus side is even though there is a bit of a limp, her energy is back to normal. Another thing I have started to notice is her kicking her leg straight back when she lays down, or sometimes kicking it out when she sits. She was slightly doing these things prior to the surgery so I'm not sure if this is habit for her now, a sign of something, or just a weird nonrelated issue.

Kicking her leg out

I also feel bad for my poor little girl and her "nakie leg". Her fur has slightly grown out but compared to the rest of her, it's naked! We woke up this morning to snow!! Debating on cutting a sock up to put on her leg to help keep her warm since sweaters only cover her front half.

Nakie Leg

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Lola!!

 

 

5 years ago today Patrick Henry of Henry's Maltese replied to an email saying a litter of Maltese puppies had been born, 1 girl and 3 boys. That same day I put the deposit down on the little girl, my sweet little Lola. Patrick was wonderful and sent us puppy pics every few weeks so we were able to watch her grow from a little rat to a little fur ball. I love being able to say Lola was ours from the day she was born and being able to show off pictures of her only a week old!

 

1 week old Lola

 

 We waited patiently until we could bring the tiniest little ball of fluff home. I don't think our lives where ever the same again! She was a little diva from day one.

 

Josh holding puppy Lola



5 years later and it's hard to picture a day without her. We've had our ups and downs with her. From depression after bringing Graham home to being our flower girl in our wedding. I can't  believe how fast time has gone and that my little baby girl is now 5 years old. I can't wait for her to heal form her ACL surgery so we can go on more adventures.

 

Happy Birthday Lola!

Bath Time

 

I finally got the guts on Thursday and gave Lola a bath. She was getting a bit stinky and had some massive eye boogers that were building up. She did WONDERFUL! My first worry was her slipping in the tub. She walked around in the water and had no issues with slipping. My second worry was how she was going to act after the bath. I made sure to have a stack of towels right next to me so I was ready. As soon as I pulled her out I used one towel to do a quick dry and then another one to wrap her up. I basically swaddled her like a little baby and that's how she stayed until she was dry. She even got comfy enough to fall asleep. I know this because she snored the whole hour I was watching Parenthood. So glad I have a clean fluffy butt now :). Next step is to start working up the courage to get her groomed!

 

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 4

Well folks, we hitting the half way mark with Lola's ACL surgery. Thank Goodness!!!! She is getting to be a handful! Sunday night I ran into the trunk we had set up to block her from going down the stairs. It's turning into a lovely bruise. This morning she managed to sneak around the trunk, make her way down the stairs, and take a morning nap at the bottom of the stairs while I got ready for work.

Although she is feeling better and seems to have loads of energy again we are still noticing a limp. I think it's just getting stiff when she falls asleep and I also feel like this cold weather may have something to do with. I'm keeping an eye on it to make sure we don't need to see the vet.

I am ready to get her groomed. I know we are nearing the time period that the vet said it would be ok but I'm still feeling uneasy. She's starting to get a bit stinky but I'm to worried to even give her a bath. It's not so much the bath that worries me but the risk of crazy wet dog at the bath. There are two post bath Lola's. Post bath Lola 1  will let me carry her and cuddle her like a newborn baby swaddled up in her towel. Post bath Lola 2 turns into crazy wet dogs and freaks out around the house. I'm worried she'll turn into Post bath Lola 2 and hurt herself while freaking out around the house. I feel like this is one of t hose things where I'm going to have to suck it up and do it sooner then later. She is also getting some good eye buggies and isn't letting me fix them for her.

This seems like such a short updated but as the weeks go by I have less and less to report on. I feel like within the first few weeks we jumped over most of the hurdles and now we are just waiting for the vet to say all is good and healed.

Lil Paw Prints Boutique

You may, or may not, know that I have recently been thinking about making dog collars. A handful of weeks ago I made my first collar and haven't done much since. I decided to try and get myself motivated again. This is something I think I can do and want to give it a try. Why not!? Here are photos of my first try and Lola being a great model.

It was the first try for both of us lol. We'll get better as we go along, I'm sure of it.

To help keep myself motivated I've created my etsy shop and also set up a Facebook page! Click here to visit the Facebook page, it's not exciting yet. I'm hoping to expand from dog collars to leashes, maybe harnesses, dog beds, clothes.....the sky's the limit! Lola's recent surgery has me pondering how to make leg warmers for dogs who have just had surgery lol. Poor thing, it just keeps getting colder and colder for the morning and bedtime potty times. Her fluffy fur just isn't growing in fast enough!

Fall

It's that time of year again. It grows darker faster, the air has a crisp chill to it (some days!), and the leaves are turning into the lovely shades of autumn. Fall has got to be, paws down, Lola's favorite season. She watches the leaves, she chases the leaves, she chews and destroys the leaves, and sometimes a leaf or two somehow makes it into the house......and then gets ripped to shreds. Graham also enjoys these activities but not the extent that Lola does.

 

I feel like Fall is also a great time for photos! The long shadows, the colors, and fluffy fall fur on the pups. Ok so my pups fluffy fur isn't so much a weather related thing as other pups.

Handsome Graham

The only down fall to the lovely weather, colorful leaves, and playful puppies is that potty time takes a bit longer. It's a more comfortable temperature for them to want to be outside and when a good gust of wind gets those leaves a blowin, oh boy! I think Lola would swim in a pile of leaves if given the chance.

Mom I'm to busy eating a leaf to get my pic taken!

Destroyed Leaf

The other hard part is Lola's recovery. I know she's feeling better but I'm worried if I let her get to crazy with the leaves she'll hurt herself. So I limit play time with the leaves. By time she is given the thumbs up on recovery I think it'll be to cold to enjoy all this outside time. I do sit outside with her and let her enjoy it though. I'm excited for next year already when we can sit out side for longer amounts of time watching the leaves.

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 3

I'm not sure how many weekly updates I'll have to be doing! Lola seems to be getting better and better each day and becoming more and more like her old self, a handful! She is one fluffy ball of energy.

This week we have had to try harder to keep her from doing things she shouldn't. Telling her and Graham to not play happens nearly daily, blocking the stairs is an every day thing, and not placing to many pillows by the couch is a biggie!

Two things happened this week that have proven just how much better she is feeling. The first thing was stealing one of Josh's dirty socks. She hasn't done this since before her surgery. The second thing was jumping on the back of the couch. She isn't allowed on the couch because we are afraid of her jumping off of it if we aren't paying 110% to her. Instead the opposite happened. We had her on the couch and making sure she stayed on when suddenly she turned around and jumped up the back of the couch! Although I know this was a bit of a no-no it was something nice to see. Before her surgery she had began to struggle getting up the back of the couch. It was one of those small signs that you saw and knew "something is wrong with my dog, this isn't in my head".

Below is a video of Lola walking a week before the surgery and Lola walking today. The first clip in the video isn't the best limping video but it shows how she was beginning to struggle walking around. The second clip in the video was taken today. I think it's pretty amazing how well she is walking only three weeks after surgery! (Hopefully this video works, I'm struggling getting it to upload on here and on YouTube).

Our next vet visit was scheduled for Sept 28th. Due to our vet being out of town we had to push it back one week. I was pumped to take her in last time to show off how well she was doing. I'm even MORE pumped to show off her recovery now!

Getting Better Each Day

Watching Lola heal has been an amazing process. It was sad to see her in pain when she first came home but I'm loving having my hyper Maltese back. Besides the limping, Lola was also moping around a bit prior to her surgery. When she would go on pain pills to help her "sore muscle" she would get so hyper again and after the pills mope around and limp. Seeing her get hyper the second time she was on the pills was what really made me think "this isn't in my head, something is wrong!". This past week I have watched Lola turn more and more into her old self. This past week she has:

1.) She has been able to crawl on my lap. I'm enjoying her sleeping in my legs as I sit on my computer and have even enjoyed some cuddle time with her on my lap.

2.) Going up and down stairs like nothing was ever wrong with her! This is a big no-no and Josh improvised and we now have a road block set up.

 

 

3.) And the biggest sign that she is feeling well came today. The first time since surgery she stole one of Josh's dirty sock!

 



A Little Graham Time

Lola has been getting a lot of attention lately, both online and offline. I thought because of this Graham deserved a blog post all about him. He's been doing super good with Lola. Even before Lola's surgery he seemed to know when she wasn't up to playing with him and would leave her alone. Since her surgery he has done a good job with letting her heal and not wrestling around. The last few days you can tell he's been itching to play with her and it's hard to keep both of them from trying to race around the house! I hate saying no when they play, I don't want them to think playing is bad. But sadly, I must say no for a few weeks still. The last few times I've said no graham has done a good job of backing off but it's Lola that's starting to try and pick the fight. But enough about Lola!!

To try and wear Graham out I've been trying to go on walks with him. We have a route we take that goes around our neighborhood. We've even added a little bit of running into our walks lately. I'm super careful and we only run a block before taking some time out to walk. I make sure to keep my eye on him during and after the walks/runs to make sure nothing is wrong, don't want two doggies to have surgery! If we run in our walks I make sure to give Graham a day or two to rest.....just in case!

Graham does really well on walks. It's something he's just naturally good at. I remember taking him to puppy class and when we were learning to loose leash walk he was already walking by my side keeping eye contact with me the whole time! The few times he pulls is when we first come out of the house and he's excited to get either in a car or to the sidewalk, and when we get on the sidewalk outside our house. Other then that it's rare to get a pull from him. He doesn't stop to mark things on walks, occasionally barks at things, and one only a walk or two he's gone goofy and had to sniff every pinecone we walked past and be silly in people's yard! He also dislikes walking on anything but the sidewalk. If the sidewalk is busted up and gravel like he will walk around it or jump over it.

Their is one yard that gives me trouble with Graham anytime we go buy it. It's tough to get him not to bark. If he isn't barking he's super alert  and no longer paying attention to me. Graham's arch-nemesis lives in this yard. His arch-nemesis is white with many black spots, a red collar, and never barks or moves. The enemy of all enemies is a statue of a Dalmatian! I don't know how Graham can't tell that this dog doesn't have  a scent and isn't real. Boy-oh-boy does this Dalmatian drive Graham NUTS! Some days I'm laughing so hard I want to go knock on their door so they can see just what there fake dog does to my real dog!

Enemy #1

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 2

As the vet said on Saturday, 2 weeks down 6 more to go. After our amazing vet visit this weekend I have been feeling loads of relief that Lola is doing better. And he wasn't wrong about her wanting to be back to normal making the recovery process harder! She has escaped upstairs again and is itching to play with Graham. I feel awful telling them no when they start to play.

Preventing Lola from sneaking upstairs

After sneaking up stairs during breakfast the other day I had to figure out a way to keep her downstairs while I ate my breakfast. I started by putting the leash around my ankle but quickly found it hard to maneuver in any direction Lola didn't want to go. After a few days of the leash on my ankle I decided to tie the leash onto the oven door handle. It's been working pretty good so far and Lola and I have enjoyed eating our breakfasts together.

Not really much more to update on with Lola since her recovery is doing so well. She is no longer wearing the cone of shame since all the stitches are gone and her incision is nearly healed. Monday marked Lola's last day on pain pills but she is still taking a daily anti-inflammatory. Each day I feel like she is using her bad leg a little more. She's been able to sit on my lap a couple times and is back to laying in bed, sharing my pillow with me for a portion of the night. I enjoy having my lap dog back.

2 weeks since surgery and hardly any sign of it.

Lola's First Check-up

Today was Lola's 10 day check up, her first check up since her ACL surgery. I'm proud to say my little Lola Bear would of received a gold start had stickers been handed out. Maybe even two or three stars!

Upon entering the room the vet asked how things where going. I explained to him that Lola had become quite the handful the last few days and shared the example of her sneaking way and climbing upstairs when I was eating breakfast. He gave me an odd look so I quickly explained how we have been sitting on the floor with her and trapping her in area's when we think she'll sneak away. He said we were doing good.

He took Lola from my arms (she hates standing on the vet table) and mentioned something about this might hurt her a bit and before doing anything asked if she was using her leg. I explained that while walking she uses it but if its anything faced pace she's still limping or not using it. He put her on the floor and watched her walk around. Lola was a CHAMP and showed off how she is able to use her leg. He was impressed!

He put Lola back on the table and told me not only is Lola doing good and right on track but she's doing better then expected and is further ahead then he expected her to be today! It was so nice to FINALY get some good news from the vet. He said there will be no rehab for us to do with her. Partly because he doesn't like letting people do rehab on their own dogs and partly because of how well she is already doing. He also explained how hard it is to get little dogs to start using the bad leg again since they learn how easy it to get along with only have three legs. I laughed and said Lola was an awful three legged dog and how I thought she was happy to have the 4th leg back.

He sent us home with smiles and said to come back in for another check up in a month. If all goes well we are looking at two more check ups total within the next two months before he gives her the all clear. In the meantime we are to do exactly what we are doing now, limiting her activity. He said the hard part now will be trying to make sure she doesn't do things such as racing up stairs and playing rough with Graham since she is now feeling better. That is also going to mean more floor time since I know she will jump off the couch if we put her up there. As the vet said "2 weeks down, 6 to go!"

Just a Few Things

I've taken a few pics over the past few days and just wanted to share them with everyone.

 

1.) Is this not the BEST picture of Lola EVER!!

 

2.) Just to confirm Lola is fluffy, not fat.

 

3.) I love the smile Lola has on her face again. She also seems to enjoy the cone of shame. She lays down and lets me put it on her in the mornings and doesn't growl or nip at me at all!

 

4.) I just looked at her incision today and HOLY CRAP! I know we still have a bit of a healing process to go through but each day she uses her leg a little more and I can't believe how much the incision isn't t her anymore! Lola is now walking on the leg and only limping when its a fast walk. She seems full of energy when I get home and soon gets tired but I blame the pain pill for that.

 

 

 

ACL Surgery Recovery Week 1

Lola recovering from surgery.

One week ago Lola had surgery on her torn ACL. This week has helped show me just how strong my little fur baby is. The first day home I was for sure we were in for a long next few months dealing with her recovery. This week she has shown me just how much life she has inside of her.

Within a few nights of being home she went from sleeping curled up in a ball to sprawling out taking up the whole bed! Both Josh and I are a bit scared of moving her when she's sleeping so she gets to rule the bed more so then normal. Last night she laid between Josh and I and rolled onto her back. My face got a few paw punches from her back legs kicking in the air in her sleep.

Getting comfy in bed

After bringing Lola home I was carrying her everywhere. If I left the room without her I would return to find her a few feet from where I left her staring at me, trying to figure out how to get to the other room with me. This morning Lola decided to sneak out of my site while I ate breakfast and take herself upstairs! I was shocked to look up and see her waiting for me to come back to bed! I figured the way she acted the first few days the "no stairs, 3 step maximum" rule wouldn't be an issue for the first ten days, boy oh boy did Lola surprise me!

 

Trapping Lola upstairs

Lola is still wearing her cone when she is in her crate and my fear of her jumping off the couch is keeping me sitting on the floor until the further notice. Lola gets a little silly when putting the cone on her in the mornings and Graham thinks its play time. I hate having to tell Graham "no" when he tries to play and am ready to let them get back to their daily wrestling matches.

 

Graham enjoying the food and water that was placed in the living room

I am surprised with how well Graham is doing. I've been on a few walks with him and do my best to try and wear him out. He's getting anxious to play with Lola again and a few times he's done his best to get my attention. I can't wait until I can stop telling Graham he can't play with his sister yet.

 

Graham getting some attention

Lola's leg is also looking tons better! Her first day or so home her leg was a big swollen but it quickly went away. As of today it just looks like a giant cut going down her leg. I also would like to give props to our vet. The incision is lined up nicely down her leg so I don't think a scar will be to noticeable. I'm not vain about my dogs appearance but it does make me very appreciative that he took time and care to do so. I saw some pictures of dogs where the incision wasn't as straight as they could be.

Day after surgery

One week after surgery

 



 

ACL Fall Fashion

Having ACL surgery has turned into quite a fashionable event for Lola.

Lola sporting some ACL Surgery Fashion

Most of Lola's back right leg is shaved and a portion of her right front leg as well. This has caused for some pretty cute looking little furry boats on her right feet.


Lola rocking her furry boot on her front paw.

Lola's back leg.

 

Lola's back leg also greatly resembles a raw piece of chicken meat.

 

Lola's chicken leg

Due to licking, Lola got to add the wonderful Cone of Shame to her ACL Surgery Fashion wardrobe.

 

The Cone of Shame

 The good news is Lola only needs to wear the cone of shame when we aren't home to supervisor her. She's not a fan of the cone but is a pretty good sport when it comes to putting it on and wearing it.

 









 

On the recovery side of things Lola just keeps acting better and better. Last night and today she is showing signs of wanting to use her leg. She'll place it lightly down when standing still. She's been getting hyper and excited when she see's her leash, more so then she did the other day. It's amazing to think she had her ACL surgery on Tuesday and today, Saturday, she's already doing this much better!! Now our biggest problem is her thinking she is feeling better then she is. We've had a couple issues of her trying to do a few things she can't which ended in some yelps and me getting a few bites. One of which was her trying to figure out how to climb up me to get onto the couch so she could join Graham in looking out the window. The end result was her jumping and landing a bit on her bad leg. I got bit on a few fingers and my arm because she thought I was the one who had caused the pain and she wobbled over to Josh for comfort. Poor Graham even almost got a few nips. Our instructions said no stairs for Lola and at the most she could only do three stairs. We are doing our best to discourage all stairs so she doesn't try to go up our flight of stairs but we have seen her go up and down the one stair that we have that goes from our back door into our kitchen.