The field in our neighborhood has waist-high grass for most of the summer, it's mostly pasture grass but there are a few patches of this or that where rodents like to hang out or build little tunnels to travel along from one patch to another. Winston is well enough for us to go back to using the Flexi-Giant leads which are nice for two reasons 1) they're like carrying hand-weights for me, and 2) when we're in the field, the dogs have 25 feet to use as they roam, trot, sniff and hunt.
The hunting part is new. Winston was raised as a suburban guy; before Josie came along he didn't know that catching things could be part of the fun of chasing things. He and Nala (our first Mastiff) used to chase bunnies out of the yard or squirrels up the tree, and pretty much ignored birds altogether. Since Josie came to live with us, she's teaching him some new things, though he has yet to actually catch anything. Josie on the other hand is pretty good or bad depending on your perspective. I DO NOT like the catching of birds or bunnies in my yard so I've tried my best to discourage it.
Out in the field, I'm gaining a different perspective. I was horrified the first time she caught something (a mouse? a vole?). She pounced, and I didn't think much of it. Then I noticed that she had something in her mouth and I tried marching her faster, thinking she would drop it. Instead she gave me an irritated look as though she was thinking if only I'd stop for a minute, we could all have a snack. Seeing that she wasn't about to drop it, I stopped. She set the little wet thing down on the ground so I hurried away thinking that she'd leave it. No such luck. She picked it back up and gave me dirty looks until I stopped again and waited long enough for her to crunch crunch swallow (EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW).
The next time she caught a snack, I didn't actually witness the catching. I saw that she had something in her mouth and since she's been known to eat poop (just lovely, eh?), I stopped and told her to drop it. She did and took a step back as though offering me the first bite of her tasty snack and once I got a better look at the poor little wet body, it was not poop afterall. It was also very dead already. I stepped away and told Josie that it was all hers. Now I try not to pay too close of attention until lately.
In the past couple of weeks there has been A LOT of pouncing going on, and even Winston has gotten in on the action. They look just like cats pouncing with their front paws. Surely the mice haven't started coming out to see us as we walk by?
Well, the field just got mowed and now I found out the reason for all of the pouncing. It's grasshoppers!
August 28, 2009
August 26, 2009
Week 12 post TPLO
Monday was Winston's 12 week anniversary of his last surgery and since he stopped swimming, he's been doing great. We've slowly increased the walks and since we want to build muscle in that leg, I've been alternating "light days" and "long days". On our long days we go for three 30-40 minute walks, and if we can squeeze it in, we go for a fourth 15 minute walk. The weather has gotten cooler so we haven't had to cut the afternoon walk short. On the light days, we're doing two to three 15 minute walks and one 25-30 minute walk.
In addition, he's gotten some limited off-leash time in the back yard. We live on a corner lot with wire fencing, so if I let him out into the "front" yard where he can see people/bikes/dogs as they walk by he will run along the fence barking at them, silly thing.
I can tell that he's feeling better because his energy has increased dramatically in the last couple of weeks. He's going through kind of a butt-head phase out on our walks where if a car or bike goes by he wants to chase it, and when we pass other dogs, he barks and pulls. Time for me to go back to some basic obedience again. I didn't want to hurt his leg by making him sit a lot, but I think he feels well enough that I'm going to have to push him a bit. He outweighs me and I don't feel like getting dragged down the street. He should be fine again after a couple of months of having to sit anytime "something interesting" goes by while we're on a walk. Unfortunately Josie barks and eggs him on.
Today as we passed our neighbor Betty who has two Shih-Tzus, Josie barked at them and that set off Winston who lunged around and barked and while he distracted me, Josie slipped her collar (which I thought I'd tightened up enough again... sigh). I was worried that she'd run across the street and scare poor Betty even more, but she stayed close and when I called her, she came right to me and I put her collar back on. Betty apologized to ME for some reason, and we both continued on with our walks. I feel bad; it's not good to be out in public with huge unruly dogs.
In addition, he's gotten some limited off-leash time in the back yard. We live on a corner lot with wire fencing, so if I let him out into the "front" yard where he can see people/bikes/dogs as they walk by he will run along the fence barking at them, silly thing.
I can tell that he's feeling better because his energy has increased dramatically in the last couple of weeks. He's going through kind of a butt-head phase out on our walks where if a car or bike goes by he wants to chase it, and when we pass other dogs, he barks and pulls. Time for me to go back to some basic obedience again. I didn't want to hurt his leg by making him sit a lot, but I think he feels well enough that I'm going to have to push him a bit. He outweighs me and I don't feel like getting dragged down the street. He should be fine again after a couple of months of having to sit anytime "something interesting" goes by while we're on a walk. Unfortunately Josie barks and eggs him on.
Today as we passed our neighbor Betty who has two Shih-Tzus, Josie barked at them and that set off Winston who lunged around and barked and while he distracted me, Josie slipped her collar (which I thought I'd tightened up enough again... sigh). I was worried that she'd run across the street and scare poor Betty even more, but she stayed close and when I called her, she came right to me and I put her collar back on. Betty apologized to ME for some reason, and we both continued on with our walks. I feel bad; it's not good to be out in public with huge unruly dogs.
August 13, 2009
Walking in the field
Winston finally seems to have recovered from swimming. I still can't push him too much, but he's comfortable again. We walk for 25 minutes in the morning and that takes us through the field at the back of our neighborhood. Prior to this week it was waist-high grass and both dogs enjoyed trotting through the grass and searching for rodents. I'm using the flexi-leads again, so they've got 25 feet available for use, and in the field they're usually both out at the end of the leads. It's a nice mid-walk break for me too where I don't have to worry about cars or dogs or people or other distractions.
Our afternoon walk is usually around 4pm, and it's been hot, so we've only been able to go 10 minutes which keeps us in the shade.
Sometimes we get to go for another short walk at 6pm, but it depends on what else is going on. It's usually still hot, so we've kept the time down.
Our evening/night walk is at sunset and usually it's cooled down a lot. While Winston was sore from swimming I had to keep that to 10 minutes too, but now we're trying to extend that a bit. I'd like to do another 25 minutes, but that might be too much. Last night we went just over 15 minutes so maybe we'll try for 20 tonight and see how things go.
Speaking of walking, the dogs are hovering around me because it's that time and they're very hopeful!
Our afternoon walk is usually around 4pm, and it's been hot, so we've only been able to go 10 minutes which keeps us in the shade.
Sometimes we get to go for another short walk at 6pm, but it depends on what else is going on. It's usually still hot, so we've kept the time down.
Our evening/night walk is at sunset and usually it's cooled down a lot. While Winston was sore from swimming I had to keep that to 10 minutes too, but now we're trying to extend that a bit. I'd like to do another 25 minutes, but that might be too much. Last night we went just over 15 minutes so maybe we'll try for 20 tonight and see how things go.
Speaking of walking, the dogs are hovering around me because it's that time and they're very hopeful!
August 5, 2009
A little setback
Well, it seems as though things can never be easy can they?
Winston got more and more uncomfortable as yesterday went on and refused to go down the stairs to go potty a few times in the evening. He was panting and pacing and just wouldn't settle down. I gave him a Rimadyl at 8pm hoping that would help settle him. Finally at 10pm he decided that he needed to go bad enough and went down the stairs. He yelped as he went down them. I checked his knee -- no swelling. He definitely had a limp though. He went potty and came back upstairs. We put the baby gate up across the stairs so he didn't try the stairs without us. I tried to go to sleep, but he stood outside the bedroom door (there's another baby gate) panting and then paced down the hall and back. I ended up giving him some Trammadol. It didn't seem to make a difference.
After a few times of telling him to lie down, I headed back out to the living room. When I sat out there, he circled a few times and then sat down near me but wouldn't settle down to sleep. He got up and paced a few more times and finally around midnight he lay down on his bed. The construction crew overlaying concrete on the highway outside our neighborhood was still sawing the concrete at midnight; there was no way I could sleep in the living room, so I headed back to bed and hoped for the best. I woke up in the morning to find that he'd vomited overnight, and was still panting a bit but wasn't pacing anymore.
We went for a short walk this morning since some movement is better than no movement at all and he did ok once we got going. I wondered if I should call AMVS but decided to give it a little more time and see if he settled down. By 10am he was still panting so I gave him some more Trammadol. That seemed to settle him down and he slept for awhile. We did another very short walk at lunchtime and he did ok and he settled down again afterwards for another nap but would pant whenever he woke up. Time to call AMVS. They asked me to bring him right in so they could check him out.
His temperature is normal and his knee is a little warm but other than that it checks out much like it did last time (no bad changes from the swimming, and no sign of infection) so they think that something about the way he uses it as he swims is irritating the soft tissues (tendons/ligaments) so we're to stop swimming and come back for a re-check in 2-8 weeks depending on how he seems to be doing; bad=2 weeks, good=8 weeks.
Dr. Duerr asked how long we were walking, and I said that we're up to 20 minutes and even did a 25 minute walk on Sunday. He said that we should continue increasing the walking time as much as Winston can tolerate since it doesn't seem to bother him as much as the swimming does. We have a short "sledding hill" in the neighborhood next to us, so as soon as he can walk far enough to get there, we are to try walking up and down that as much as he can tolerate. Also once he's over the soreness we should continue with the sit-stands. He's been so sore getting up and lying down that I haven't done them since last Thursday.
Dr. Duerr also suggested that I call CRCG (the physical therapists) and see if they have any other ideas on what we can do to build the muscle without swimming.
The good news (I think!?) is that he was so stressed out by going to AMVS that he came home and went right to sleep without pacing or panting.
Winston got more and more uncomfortable as yesterday went on and refused to go down the stairs to go potty a few times in the evening. He was panting and pacing and just wouldn't settle down. I gave him a Rimadyl at 8pm hoping that would help settle him. Finally at 10pm he decided that he needed to go bad enough and went down the stairs. He yelped as he went down them. I checked his knee -- no swelling. He definitely had a limp though. He went potty and came back upstairs. We put the baby gate up across the stairs so he didn't try the stairs without us. I tried to go to sleep, but he stood outside the bedroom door (there's another baby gate) panting and then paced down the hall and back. I ended up giving him some Trammadol. It didn't seem to make a difference.
After a few times of telling him to lie down, I headed back out to the living room. When I sat out there, he circled a few times and then sat down near me but wouldn't settle down to sleep. He got up and paced a few more times and finally around midnight he lay down on his bed. The construction crew overlaying concrete on the highway outside our neighborhood was still sawing the concrete at midnight; there was no way I could sleep in the living room, so I headed back to bed and hoped for the best. I woke up in the morning to find that he'd vomited overnight, and was still panting a bit but wasn't pacing anymore.
We went for a short walk this morning since some movement is better than no movement at all and he did ok once we got going. I wondered if I should call AMVS but decided to give it a little more time and see if he settled down. By 10am he was still panting so I gave him some more Trammadol. That seemed to settle him down and he slept for awhile. We did another very short walk at lunchtime and he did ok and he settled down again afterwards for another nap but would pant whenever he woke up. Time to call AMVS. They asked me to bring him right in so they could check him out.
His temperature is normal and his knee is a little warm but other than that it checks out much like it did last time (no bad changes from the swimming, and no sign of infection) so they think that something about the way he uses it as he swims is irritating the soft tissues (tendons/ligaments) so we're to stop swimming and come back for a re-check in 2-8 weeks depending on how he seems to be doing; bad=2 weeks, good=8 weeks.
Dr. Duerr asked how long we were walking, and I said that we're up to 20 minutes and even did a 25 minute walk on Sunday. He said that we should continue increasing the walking time as much as Winston can tolerate since it doesn't seem to bother him as much as the swimming does. We have a short "sledding hill" in the neighborhood next to us, so as soon as he can walk far enough to get there, we are to try walking up and down that as much as he can tolerate. Also once he's over the soreness we should continue with the sit-stands. He's been so sore getting up and lying down that I haven't done them since last Thursday.
Dr. Duerr also suggested that I call CRCG (the physical therapists) and see if they have any other ideas on what we can do to build the muscle without swimming.
The good news (I think!?) is that he was so stressed out by going to AMVS that he came home and went right to sleep without pacing or panting.
August 2, 2009
Walking outside the neighborhood
Now that I know it's ok for Winston to load and unload on the ramp (we were trying to avoid it as much as possible until we heard the bone had healed), we're starting to venture out of the neighborhood for some of our walks. Mostly it's working out great, the dogs love getting away, we get to practice loading and unloading (that's important since it's only me, and I have to control both dogs while I get the ramp set up and taken down), and we get to practice manners in different surroundings.
Winston had his second swimming session yesterday, and it was better than the first time. I took Josie with me which seemed to make it easier for Winston; he was perfectly willing to follow her through the building out into the pool area. They just let Josie wander around that area while they got him into the pool. I was worried that she'd go over to the fence where the doggie daycare is and bark at them through the fence, but she just ignored them (good girl!).
Winston didn't want to get into the pool, so they had to help him along into it, but once he was in the water, he swam normally without the panick that he had the first time. He made it to four minutes this time, so 30 seconds more than last time. He was pretty exhausted when he got out, and is a little limpy today, so again we've shortened some of our walks, but not all.
Winston had his second swimming session yesterday, and it was better than the first time. I took Josie with me which seemed to make it easier for Winston; he was perfectly willing to follow her through the building out into the pool area. They just let Josie wander around that area while they got him into the pool. I was worried that she'd go over to the fence where the doggie daycare is and bark at them through the fence, but she just ignored them (good girl!).
Winston didn't want to get into the pool, so they had to help him along into it, but once he was in the water, he swam normally without the panick that he had the first time. He made it to four minutes this time, so 30 seconds more than last time. He was pretty exhausted when he got out, and is a little limpy today, so again we've shortened some of our walks, but not all.
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