Hanging out in the yard unattended

This is Winston last night after enjoying some play time with a small Jolly Ball. I tried to get a video of him playing soccer with either a small ball or the big one, but he wouldn't cooperate. As soon as the camera came out, he'd pick it up and walk with it toward me. Finally after he decided he'd had enough I was able to get this shot.

Today is the first time in a LONG time that Winston got to spend as much time out in the yard as he wanted to. The weather is fantastic today and both dogs wanted to go outside this morning and didn't want to come back in until lunchtime. Right after lunch, they both wanted to go back outside, and now (2 hours later) they finally decided that the sun is a little bit hot and the house is a nice place to hang out in.

Good News at the Vet

We got good news at AMVS on Wednesday. Winston's leg has healed a lot since last time we were there. He is off of all restrictions now (hooray!), but we just need to watch him and take things slow. He still has muscle atrophy in the right leg, so it will take awhile to get that built back up, and we may experience some "bad days" where Winston gets stiff and sore after a good day of activity.

This is so great! We took the baby gates down so now he can have time on the bed. He didn't notice this Wednesday night but last night he got to sleep on the bed again. Yesterday I got out the big Jolly Ball (the horse-sized one) and let him have some play time with it. I'll have to take some pictures or video of him playing with that because it's pretty funny. He's a little too obsessed with it since it's been a year, so I had to take it away from him again after 15-20 minutes, but he'll get it back again soon.

He's a little stiff this morning, but not bad. I guess I just need to get used to the step forward step back pattern. It's such a relief to hear that his leg "felt good"!

16 week check set for next week

We have our next vet check scheduled for next Wednesday. To be honest, I'm scared to hear what they have to say. I expect that they'll tell me that there hasn't been significant change in Winston's leg from our last appointment, and I don't know what that means for our future. Will he have to stay on a leash for the rest of his life?

Today during his brief off leash time in the back yard, he decided to run. Not a nice easy step up from a trot, but a "get the bunny" full-on run. He seems to be fine with the nice slow "galumph" of a run that he has been doing up to this point, and that he'll stop when I call him, but today he ignored me totally.

He's been back on the leash since this morning and I cut back the walks today. He's not limping, but he's struggling a bit to stand up. At the same time, he's also bending his leg normally instead of keeping it straight out like he tended to do before all of his surgeries. It's so frustrating. I know that ligaments and tendons can be slow to heal, and that Winston is going to have more problems because of all the damage from the infection and the extra surgeries, but I wish I had some sort of timeline. Hopefully I'll get that next week?

Happy Dogs!

Winston seems to be feeling better and is back to his old self, chewing on chew bones and being goofy in the house. Any time I give him "free range" in the yard, he runs so his time is limited, but I haven't totally stopped it either. I'm hoping that a little running won't hurt him and will help build the muscles that he needs to re-build. Josie eggs him on. I had to take all the Jolly Balls out of the back yard, and keep the gate shut between the front and back yards to keep the fun down to a minimum.

I watch him stand up to gauge how he's doing. He never limps anymore, but sometimes he struggles slightly to stand up after lying down. It seems as though it's muscle soreness because the pattern is day 1, he runs and day 2, he is slow getting up, so I keep him on a leash, day 3 he gets up normally again and I keep him on a leash and day 4-6 we repeat the cycle.

We go back for another vet check in the next 2 weeks, so I hope it will be good news.

A little down these days?

Winston's been getting some limited off-leash time in the back yard, and since we started that I've noticed that he seems "quieter than usual" the rest of the day.

I keep watching for signs of any problem cropping up and so far I don't see anything. He seems just the same as always when we're out walking, and there's nothing else I can put my finger on.

I decided not to worry about it and that it must just be my imagination, but I had to go to the office on Friday and my mom babysat her grand-doggers. When I spoke to her next on Sunday she asked how Winston was doing. I said, "Fine, why do you ask?" and she said that he seemed much quieter than she was used to.

hmmmm

I've cut back a little bit on his walks and he's back on the leash in the yard to see if that makes a difference.