Pfritz's Mom

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It was so scary bringing him home but we survived the first few days and he’s doing pretty good. What I wish someone had told me: #1. He will move really fast as he needs that momentum so let him set the pace. He was always such a great dog at heeling at my side – won obedience awards and so on but now he sets the pace. #2. Upstairs will be hard but eventually he’ll be able to do it with a sling. Buy a harness for assisting him. #3. He’s going to fall and fail at doing things he wants to do but be strong and don’t baby him. It’s such a balance between not pushing him and not babying him. I think I’m walking that line pretty good right now. It’s so hard when you don’t know anyone who’s done it before. So that brings me to #4. Find Tripawds right away. Here’s a picture during his early days of convalescence with his cousin cuddling him.

#5. His strength will vary and that doesn’t mean he’s regressing. He just has good days and bad days. Especially with the chemo which I’ll share about in another post.

Bathroom angst: At first we used the sling around his rear area a lot to help him go out to the bathroom but would pull it out when he peed. When he went #2 we used the sling to hold him up because he was so unsteady on his one back leg. He was still trying to squat on one leg only but didn’t have the strength. I have since learned from Tripawds that 60% of his strength is in the front and only 40% in the rear, so he really did not have the strength. Peeing is filled with angst for me because he’s missing the leg he used to lift and at first he kept trying to lift it and would lean so far to his left that he would fall. AND he still does that!! Why can’t he just pee standing up? He puts so much stress on his left leg that it looks like it’s going to pop the hip out of place. Sometimes I will go over and push on that side to support him.

We didn’t let him do stairs for at least 3 weeks. Even now we sometimes assist him going up stairs based on his energy level. We walked him to the corner after about the first week because he wouldn’t poop and that always helps. He literally would only go for a minute or two and then lie down for a few minutes and then get up and move again. Altogether it was only about a 5-7 minute trip. We eventually (about week 2.5 – 3) got to where he could walk to our nearby park and back with a few rest breaks. I always let him rest when he wants. At week 4 we went back to “packwalk”. That’s a walk we do with our friends with anywhere from 10 dogs to as many as 30 on our biggest days. He started with a very short period of walking – again maybe 5-7 minutes. He will then climb into the back of a cart that he rides in the rest of the 3 mile walk. This way he gets to “walk” with his friends still. He does in and out of the cart through the course of the walk and will willingly get in the cart when he’s tired.

Everyone calls him Prince Pfritz when he’s in his cart. He had no shame being in the cart. I truly think he feels what took you so long to do this for me!?! My sister’s dog used to ride in it when she was elderly and couldn’t do the 3 miles but had to be restrained in the cart. She was a yellow lab and felt it was beneath her to ride in it.

My biggest worry is about his left back leg and keeping it as healthy as possible. My brother’s going to build a balance board for us! Yay, we’re on our way to less anxiety and worry about all this. Today I downloaded Three Legs and a Spare and Loving Life on 3 Legs. They have already helped! More later on what we learn . . .

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