Post ACL surgery - day 1

It has been about 4 years since my last post, and I was sitting here with our Willie post-ACL surgery, and thought that this would be the perfect time to start the Dog Blog back up.

Willie is now 6 years old, and still has the cutest puppy face ever. He has my heart wrapped around his furry little paws, so even when he is acting like a toddler I cannot help but love him with my whole being. With all that being said, we had a little set back about 6 weeks ago when Dr. Knox from Animal Clinic Northview confirmed that Willie had in fact torn not one, but both ACL's. My heart was broken, and immediately I did some research to find out what was the best course of action to take, and found that most recommended surgery, and some recommended to do conservative management. The Surgeon suggested that we have the surgery done on the right knee, and then play "wait, and see" for the left knee. After much consideration, and the cancellation of the first surgery date; we decided to go forward with the Surgeons recommendation. Surgery was scheduled for April 7th, and I had to drop him off in the morning (that was a very emotional morning for me,...although very relieved that Willie didn't seem to stressed on the ride in). I was also very relieved that the Surgeon met with me before I left to address any questions that I may have. ( I had quite a few!)



After quite a few hours the Surgeon finally called me to let me know that the surgery was successful, and there were no complications! I was so relieved. He advised that most likely we could pick Willie up on Friday at any time, and get started on recovery and physical therapy.
On Friday we headed out to pick up Willie, and we were both excited/nervous to see him. We arrived, and were taken back to a room to wait for him. The tech brought him in, and he was not even slightly happy to see us, and seemed to be ready to go back with the tech. (heart breaking). We broke him, and completely lost any trust that had been gained during the prior 5 years. After the tech gave us our list of instructions we headed out with Willie slowly in tow. He seemed to be walking okay, and made it to the door...with much hesitation he came outside with me. The ride home was pretty good...he was probably pretty doped up, and just ready to rest!








Getting him in and out of the car was a challenge, but manageable. Kevin carried him inside, and set him down. He immediately attempted to break out of his e-collar, and managed to get his paw stuck. This happened about 4 more times before bedtime..(he is stubborn, and will not give up!) He finally settled into his bed, and rested for a few hours.

I fell asleep on the floor next to his bed, and woke up at about 3 a.m. to Willie whining...(he had once again gotten his front paw caught in his e-collar.) He was laying on it, and would not let me help him. After about 10 minutes of him growling, and carrying on I was able to get it out by undoing the velcro...I walked away with a little blood on my finger (mine), and felt so defeated. Today went slightly better...he finally "allowed" me to put an ice pack on the surgery site, and wanted a small amount of chin rubs. Other than that he slept, and went out to potty a handful of times.

Willie has been a tough case since day one...with 5 years of hard work we had finally gained most of his trust and love. This surgery erased all of that, and we now have a lot of work ahead of us. I just hope that getting him to gain our trust again doesn't take too long....Any information on how to gain that trust back would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to chronicle the recovery with weekly updates, and photos of our little fur baby!

Willie Escapes!

Willie was on the run this evening after slipping his collar on our nice and peaceful walk with Pam and her dog Jojo. I tried everything from running the other way, to bribing him with treats, but Willie only had one thing on his mind..... running wild, and free. Thankfully this story does have a happy ending I was able to grab onto the other end of the toy he was carrying, and he followed me home. I realized that Willie's recall skills out on walks are lacking, and he has a lot of training in his future. My form of punishment when we got home was telling him he was a bad boy, and ignoring him till he fell asleep. I was so disappointed with myself, but at the same time I have to remind myself that Willie is still young, and that one day he will come to me when called! Until then I have made a mental note to make sure that his collar is tightly secure around his neck before we leave the house, and this is a good reminder for all of you puppy owners to make sure your pups collars are secure as well. I think this adventure has given me a few new gray hairs :)

Bow Wow Beach!

Yesterday We took Willie to Bow Wow Beach, and had a great time! Much to my surprise Willie actually jumped into the lake, and then quickly swam back out, but he really seemed to enjoy the water. And if you haven't read my other posts....Willie hates water! Not only did Willie get to experience swimming, but he also did some great socializing. He made friends with a pup named Lily. Lily was following Willie everywhere he went! Lily's owner was very excited to see Lily making friends with another pup. She told me that Lily usually does not like other dogs, and was happy that her pup had finally made a friend!

Unfortunately we did encounter a few roudy dogs. At one point three dogs had Willie pinned on his back, and seemed to be out for blood. Kevin had to go in and push the other dogs off of Willie while their owners were just standing back yelling at their pups to not do that. One of them kept yelling "get off of that dog" Sadly not one of them came over to remove their dog off of Willie. Fortunately Willie did not get hurt and/or agress back, but it could have become an all out brawl had Willie decided to fight. After Willie escaped he ran off and hid under a park bench, and was whimpering. I really gave the other owners a good scowl before heading over to where Willie was hiding out. Only one of the other owners came over to apologize. I am really hoping this experience does not cause Willie to fear other big dogs in the future. After all of that Willie wanted to run around the whole lake one more time, and then we headed out!

The only downfall....we had one wet and stinky dog!

After Bow Wow Beach we headed over to Kevin's Dads house for a Father's Day cookout. We had a good time! Willie did get over tired, and after a few hours was ready to go home. All in all it was a great day, and we will definitely have to go back to Bow Wow Beach again before the Summer ends!

On another note Willie went to the Groomer's this morning, and did great! The girl said that he was only nervous while getting bathed (again fear of the water), but did great with the clipping of the nails, and also with the trimming of the fur! I was so proud :) After all of the excitement Willie is one pooped out pup, and will probably sleep till tomorrow!

Puppy Play Time!

Willie is now 5 months old (as of today!), and he is still full of energy, and spunk. I quickly learned that Willie needs at least 3 walks per day! Now I'm sure every puppy is different, but Willie is far from being an A+ walker. Somedays are better than others! First thing to do is get that pesky leash on! Willie still fights me when I try to put on the leash, and the only thing that works is giving him a treat first, and then putting on the leash. I don't know when this will change, but I'm sure in due time :) On this mornings walk we left the house at 6:30. I make sure to always walk the same route otherwise I have a feeling we will be gone for hours, and unfortunately I do have to get to work! The walk started out great, Willie picked up his stick (he will carry it for most of the walk!), and off we went. Now our route isn't very long...If I were to walk it by myself it would probably take 8 minutes or so with Willie it can take up to 1/2 hour! We got about halfway, and Willie started the sniffin....he lost all interest in the stick he had been carrying, and began to sniff almost every leaf that was laying on the sidewalk. This lasted the rest of our walk. We finally got back home at 7:09, and that was only because there was a thunderstorm coming. I personally do not know how to change this behavior. A treat will work temporarily, but I do not just want to give him 10 treats to get him to walk around the block! I try to act excited, and say "Come On Boy!", throwing the stick works, but it only gets Willie to where the stick lands, and then he's back to sniffing the leaves. I will admit that I have let him just sniff around on the weekends, hoping this will curb his interest a little, and that short walk took us 1 hour. I am not sure what else to do, and switching up the route has not helped at all! I'm sure this will change with age, but for now I am just trying to be patient!

When we aren't walking Willie is in constant play, and i've tried the time out in the pen hoping he may fall asleep; which he never does, but the pen has come in handy, and Willie doesn't make a fuss when we put him in it! The pen is actually an excersise pen that Kevin and I picked up at Pet Supplies Plus for like $30. It's approx 4x6, and can be folded down to any size that you want. It has been perfect for when Willie starts to Nip hard we can give him a quick time out..(no longer than 5-10 minutes), and it does stop the nipping for about an hour, but I am sure in time it will help stop the nipping all together! Willie has also put himself in there for timeout! hehe! The pen can also be used as a gate! It was just a great buy! I would recommed every puppy owner have one :)

When it's nice out I love to let Willie play outside....the down fall was our backyard is not fenced, so the next best thing is a tie-out! Kevin actually made one out of rope, and some clips! One end ties around a tree and the other end clips onto Willies harness, and voila...Willie loves it! He loves to run after the frisbee, roll around on the ball, and chew on sticks, and the greatest thing is that I am not constantly holding onto his leash! And unlike going on a walk Willie seems to get more tuckered out and is usually ready to come back in after about 15 minutes or so! We haven't had any temper tantrums after playing outside on the tie-out, but we have had many temper tantrums when it's time to go back inside after a walk!

Just keep in mind that a puppy requires lots of attention and play time....I'm sure you know this, but be sure to have chewies, bones, and lots of toys to keep your puppy pre-occupied! Most of your free time is spent walking, playing, and training! You will have me time when your puppy takes a 20 minute nap! Don't just stick your puppy in his crate because you want some time to yourself! Kevin has been awesome we do take turns taking Willie out, and he will even play with him in the evenings when I have to get the coffee ready, and the dishes done! But if you are single then you will have to work out a schedule! Just know what time each day your pup naps, and be ready to get those everyday tasks done while the pup is napping! Willie tends to nap (based on Sat. and Sun), at 10:30, 1:30, 4:00, and then again at 7, and he will then go to sleep around 11pm. The naps last anywhere from a 1/2 hour to 2 hours! And on the weekends that is the time to get cleaning done, and catch up on our shows that we DVR'd! Puppies will not be puppies forever, and I can already tell that I will probably miss these puppy days, but I know that I still have quite some time left to enjoy it! :)