So I guess I'm not very good at this blogging thing. Since I've been up and moving more I forget to slow down and take time to update everyone on how I'm doing. Mom and dad say I'm pretty much back to how I was before I went in for surgery. I'm just over 4 weeks past surgery and I'm pretty much using my leg all of the time. Sometimes when I get up in the morning its stiff and I don't use it but other than that I use it all the time. I've been spending a lot of time out on the deck keeping an eye on the neighborhood and I've been barking A LOT!!! Mom has had to put my no barking collar on....When I bark it sprays lemon smelling spray in my nose. It doesn't hurt or anything its just kind of annoying so when its on me I try not to bark...I just get bored not doing anything all the time.

I've gone for lots of walks and do a good job using my leg and Mom and dad have been letting me explore more in the backyard again. I like when Mom takes me out because she lets me go more than Dad does. Speaking of exploring...there is some kind of wild animal that runs in and out of my backyard at night. We haven't been able to figure out what it is yet though. I bark and Dad comes out with a spotlight but we haven't been able to figure out what it is yet. Mom laughs at us because we look like quite the pair of hunters on the deck at night :)

This weekend Mom and Dad took me to this place and I thought I was going to have to have surgery again. The put Mom and I in this room and there was a bed, and a window, and a tv. It was great I thought Mom and I were going to hang out in there all day. They called it the Paris Cabin but then Mom and Dad left me there. They said I was at Doggie Camp. It turned out to be pretty great though. My camp counselors came into my cabin and played with me and took me on lots of walks. The other dogs at camp got to go into a play room and play but since I have a sore leg I couldn't do that so I got extra walks and once on one play time. Mom and Dad went to a really cool bed and breakfast to celebrate Valentine's Day and when they came back the next day my counselors told them how "Cool" of a dog that I was and that they wanted me to come back and play soon! I even saw my friend Macy while I was there. Her mom and dad went to a bed and breakfast for the weekend too! Maybe after I get better I'll ask to go back there and play again!

We just played a really cool game! It was called run up and down my ramp and get treats while mom tries to take a picture of me. We had to do it several times because "This stupid camera is too slow and by the time it takes a picture Doc is off the ramp!" Thats what Mom kept saying but I didn't mind because I kept getting treats every time I went up or down the ramp!

Hope everyone out there is doing well and I'll try to write again soon!

Love, Doc


Very happy to be able to be on my couch!!!




What my leg looked like the day I came home from surgery


What my leg looks like now! If anyone didn't believe I was a winter dog before seeing how much fur I can grow in 4 weeks should prove that I am :)


The ramp that Dad built me so I can get on my couch...He's the BEST!!!!


Dad trying to get me to go down the ramp so mom can take a picture


Going off the couch

Still Truckin' along :)

Hi everyone!

It's been a really long time sine I updated everyone on how I'm doing because I keep telling my mom to upload new pictures of me so I can post them but she doesn't so I'll just have to update you without pictures. Maybe one of these days she'll upload pictures so you can see how I'm doing! :)

Lets see....since the last time I've updated you I've started feeling a lot better! I've had my pain patch off for about a week now. I am a lot more awake now that that thing is off but it was soo sticky that I still have some black stuff on my leg because of it. I've done a really good job of not licking my sutures and I haven't had to wear the collar of shame at all. My hair is really starting to grow back and my dad is concerned that they will have to shave my leg again to get the sutures out. I hope not. My leg gets cold when I go outside!

Speaking of outside I LOVE LOVE LOVE to go outside and lay in my back yard. Mom and Dad make me go out on a leash but I don't mind too much. The last couple days they have let me go out on my deck all by myself. They put the baby gate in front of the steps so I can't go in the back yard and also put my bed out on the deck. Now that it has warmed up a little bit I spend a lot of time laying out there! It makes me feel a lot better when I can go outside and relax.

I spent about the first 10 days mostly sleeping on my bed in my bedroom and really didn't show much intrest in getting up except to go outside or eating. The last few days I have spent most of my time in the living room laying in front of the door or trying to jump on the couch and the best news is I'M EATING AGAIN!!! Mom was feeding me this wet food and I really didn't like it very well but I didn't like my regular dry food either. She bought me the same kind of food my friend Bristol eats and I LOVE it!!! When Bristol came to stay with us I ate her food instead of my food and I still like it.

I've been trying to jump up on the couches a lot and have made it up there several times. I also tried to jump up on Mom and Dad's bed too. They tell me that I shouldn't do that but I don't see why it matters. I'm not using my back leg anyway so its not like I'm hurting it. Dad built me a ramp though so I can walk up the ramp to get on the couches. I'm MUCH happier now that I can lay on my couch!!!

My mom called the doctor's office today because she was worried that I still wasn't using my leg. The lady at the doctor's office told her that I shoudl come back in for a visit on Thursday and my doctor will look at my leg and see if I need physical therapy. One of the things I can do in physical therapy is swim. Mom was pretty excited about that because she wants me to learn how to swim. I'm not so sure about that though. I also get to get my sutures out on Thursday when I go back to see the doctor too! That will be nice because they sure are itchy!!!

Well it's about bedtime for me. Hopefully mom will upload pictures of what I've been doing so I can share them with you! Talk to you all soon!

Doc :)

Better Already....but still a long way to go!

Well Saturday and Sunday have been a couple of LONG days!!! Being cooped up all day is NOT very much fun! I try to be good but I just get so bored laying around all day. By the time it's suppose to be time to go to bed I just can't sleep anymore so I toss and turn all night long. This makes Dad nervous because he's afraid that I'm going to lick my sutures. I've been really good and stayed away from them though. My leg is getting more bruised but Mom says it still looks ok. I go out several times each day to go to the restroom but Mom and Dad are getting a little nervous because I've only peed so far. Mom says she's going to call tomorrow and see if there is anything she can do to help me. I've also eaten a little bit but not much. I'm not a fan of dry dog food at all! Mom went and got me some expensive wet food that kinda looks like they took a can of Campbell's Chunky and put it in a dog food container. I ate two containers of it on Saturday and ate about half a container today. I know that I need to eat more but nothing really tastes good right now. :(

I do have lots of good treats that I've been eating on though! Bristol's family gave me a gift card to Petsmart for babysitting Bristol while they got settled into their new house a while back and Mom bought me lots of treats and toys with the gift card. She got me a Kong toy which will be lots of fun once I'm up and moving a little more but for right now I'm just eating the treats. I also got some Beggin' Treats and Beef Liver treats that I've been munching on. My Grandma Ann was down this weekend and she bought me some good chicken treats that are good for my joints that are SOOO Yummy. She also bought me a monkey stuffed animal that I like to sleep with. I love chomping on those! And My Grandma Stallbaumer, Hammes, and Koelzer sent me an AWESOME treat bouquet!!! Thanks soooo much to ALL my grandma's who sent me yummy treats!!!

Mom and Grandma went shopping yesterday and Dad was trying to get some sleep since he stayed up with me last night so Dad put my "collar of shame", as we call it, on to make sure I wouldn't lick my sutures while he was sleeping. I was a good boy with it on but didn't like it very much so I sure was happy when he took it off me!

Mom and Dad say that I'm WAAAY better than I was Friday night. Mom keeps saying I have a twinkle back in my eye! I'm awake more during the day and have spent the last two days looking out the front door and trying to keep everyone out of my yard. Squirrels aren't very intimidated by me when I'm behind a door though! My leg is still pretty sore but I'm starting to put it down just a little bit when I'm standing. I haven't tried putting any weight on it yet but it gives me a little better balance to put it down when I'm just standing up!

Dad has to go to work tomorrow and Mom is staying home with me so she gets to stay up with me tonight. She's not nearly as good at staying up all night as Dad is so we'll see how it goes! I'll try to let Mom get some sleep tonight! Talk to you all soon and thanks for checking up on me!

Love,
Doc


I try to be a good boy so I don't have to wear this thing! I DO NOT LIKE IT AT ALL!!!



My new monkey my Grandma Ann gave me :)




Thanks so much Grandma Stallbaumer, Grandma Hammes, and Grandma Koelzer....These were the first treats that I would try on Saturday!!! I'm one spoiled puppy!!!

I'M HOME!!!!

Hi everyone!
Sorry I didn't write yesterday but I was SOOO tired when I got home from the doctor. Yesterday the nurses came in and told me that my mom and dad were here to get me and that I would get to go home in about ten minutes. One of them had to give Mom and Dad directions about how to take care of me and you all know my mom...she had a thousand questions to ask so it took a little longer. Anyway, the nurse came to get me and I limped out, said a quick hi to Mom and Dad and headed to the door. I figured there would be plenty of time at home to get updated on all the last couple days happenings. I had to get out of that place before they decided to cut me open again!

Anyway, we got home and after they finally figured out how to get me out of the car we went inside and I headed for the back door to go get those stupid squirrels out of my backyard. For some silly reason Dad wouldn't let me out there. I wasn't too happy but I was really tired so I went and laid down on my bed. They tried to get me to eat but I was just tired that I wasn't even interested in my cookie bones! I slept for a couple hours and Mom and Dad were really nice to scratch my ears and head while I was sleeping. At about 10:30 they made me get up and go outside and go to the bathroom. It was so nice out (30 degrees) that I just wanted to lay outside in the front yard but Dad made me go back inside. Then they took me in the guest bedroom to go to bed. They had taken the mattress of the bed and laid it on the floor so I'd have a soft bed to lay on. Dad slept with me all night long!

This morning mom got up with me and took me outside to go potty again. She still wouldn't let me stay out but she did move my dog bed to in front of the door so I could see out at least. I've spent most of the morning taking naps but thought I'd update you on what had been going on.

I'll put some pictures on here of what my leg looks like. It looks pretty good but if you have a weak stomach you may not want to look at the last few. Thanks again for thinking about me this week! I'm doing ok but sure hope I get better soon!!!

Love, Doc


Me headed home from the hospital


My leg


My leg again. You can see my sutures a little in this picture.


Close up of my sutures. I'm trying to be really good and not lick them because then I have to put the "collar of shame" on but man are they itchy!!!

Surgery was a success!!!

Hi everyone!
Steve took Doc into the vet's office at about 7:30 this morning. He said there were two other labs there to have the same procedure done. Doc's vet said yesterday that he did 2-3 of these procedures daily so I guess he wasn't lying. Steve said that Doc didn't really want to go with the vet tech but he gave her the bag of cookie bones I'd back for Doc and he went willingly with her. We got word about 9:40 that he was under anesthesia and getting prepped for surgery. Steve got the news we'd been waiting for at about noon. Doc was out of surgery, groggy but awake and surgery had been a complete success!!! The doctor said he was really pleased with the repair and the tear was only a partial tear rather than a full tear which should hopefully lead to less arthritis in the future. He said based on what he saw, that there was a low chance of having any troubles with that in the future. I called to check on him at about 5:30 this evening and the doctor said that he was up watching everything that was happening in the office and not very patiently waiting for dinner and any chance to go outside he would get. He also told us that we could come to visit tonight but we thought that would be pretty mean to come visit and then not take him home. Needless to say we're thrilled that surgery was a success!!!!

I thought I would try to explain what this surgery does for the dog. Basically, he tore his ACL just like a human would. Unlike humans, dog's ACL's tear a little bit over time rather than just having a blow out. This is why luckily we caught Doc's before it was a complete tear. We were presented with two options from our regular vet. The first, basically used heavy duty stiches to sew both pieces of the ligement back together. The vet's worry was with Doc's large size and young age that the sutures would fail and his ACL would tear again. The upside to this surgery was that our vet who we love and trust would be doing the operation.

In the TPLO surgery a specialist would replace the ACL with a metal plate and pins to give Doc a basically "new" knee. The plate actually goes in and corrects the angle that has changed in his knee to give him more support and movement in the knee. This surgery also comes with a shorter recovery and better long term result than the traditional suture surgery.

Our vet told us that he thought that the TPLO surgery would be the better option for Doc and was afraid that if we went with the suture procedure we would have to go back and do the TPLO procedure in the future.

Although this was the more "worrisome" part of this process I think the hard long haul is in front of us. Once we get him home we have to watch for infection and swelling and keep his movement to a minimum. We've moved furniture around in the house to help him and are extremly anxious to get him home. Please continue to keep him and us in your thoughts and prayers!




This is a picture off the internet of what the plate and screws look like that they put into the dog's leg. Strange that something that "clunky" can replace the bone and ligements in the dog's leg.

Another visit to another doctor

Today was an interesting day...
I've been having a really hard time getting up in the mornings because last week mom and I had lots of snow days. This week mom's gone back to school which means I have to get up early. I haven't been too happy about it but it hasn't been too bad because as soon as Mom and Dad go to work, I go back to bed :) Don't tell them though....they tell me I need to stay awake during the day so I'm not crazy at night when it is bedtime!
Today when mom woke me up I thought it was going to be another normal school day. Well it wasn't. Dad took me to see another doctor. I was really excited when we got there because there were lots of other dogs to play with but for some reason they acted like they didn't feel good and didn't want to play. I barked at them and tried to talk to them but they just ignored me. The ladies in the waiting room all talked about how cute I was and I pranced in front of them so they'd think I was cool! Then Dad and I went in another room to talk to a new doctor friend. He seemed really nice although I still like my doctor better. He felt around on my knees and watched me walk around and then started talking to Dad about "my surgery". He told my Dad that I would come in and they'd give me some medicine that would make me take a long nap and then they'd start to fix my leg. Now Mom and Dad have talked about this surgery thing but this doctor actually showed Dad and me the plates and pins that he was going to put in my leg. I didn't like the sound or look of this so I started walking around the best I could without limping so they could see that I DID NOT need the surgery but they didn't believe me. The doctor gave me a scratch and shook Dad's hand and said he'd see me tomorrow. We left the doctor's office and Dad gave me a love and told me that I'd be just fine and that the doctor and nurses would take good care of me. I sure hope so!!! I've spent my evening playing outside and lounging around with Mom and Dad. I'm a little nervous about my surgery tomorrow but if it makes my leg stop hurting it will be alright. Mom and Dad told me tonight that I'd have to spend the night at the hospital. I sure hope they have good food and soft blankets to sleep on. Since I'll be at the hospital and they won't let me take mom's laptop I'll have to have them update tomorrow night! :)

Oh and while I'm writing to you, my friend willie is going to the doctor tomorrow to to have his teeth cleaned and has to take a nap while he's there. Can you keep him in your thoughts while he's there? My friend Macey is also having surgery tomorrow. She has a sore on her paw that she has to get removed and she has to go see the doctor and take a nap. Can you keep her in your thoughts as well?

Man there are a lot of dogs taking long naps like me tomorrow!!! At least I'm not alone :)

Talk to you all on Friday!!!!!
Doc


Me playing in my old favorite bed. I dug and dug in it until I got it just the way I wanted it but then Mom and Dad threw it away....I still don't know why?!


Me with my friend Bo and my Dad playing at Bo's house


Me with my hunting vest on in St. James during hunting season. Dad made me wear this silly thing because he was afraid a silly hunter would think I was a deer. I thought it was kinda silly but it was better than being chained up all weekend!

Why does my leg hurt so much???

So my leg has been a little sore for quite some time after I've taken naps or after I spend weekends running free at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I didn't think too much about it but after running all weekend over Thanksgiving, my leg was really sore and I couldn't really use it. Mom and dad were really concerned and when we got back to Kansas City took me to see my vet. The doctor said that he was concerned that I had torn my acl because when he moved my knees they kind of "jiggled" instead of being stiff like they should. He took x-rays of my legs and watched me walk around. I didn't act too nice when he was trying to take x-rays but that was because he tried to roll me onto my back and I was scared. I didn't bite him because he is my friend but I kicked at him really hard even with my back foot! He told my mom though and she said that I shouldn't do that! He put me on two different types of medicine and said that he wanted to see me again in two weeks to see how I was. The medicine he gave me was Rimadyl and Tramadol. He also told my mom to watch me very carefully because the Rimadyl can make dog's tummies sick and if that happened that I would have to stop taking them. Well, we went home and took them (which I didn't mind because I got to eat icecream when I took them!) and they didn't make my tummy hurt so we were good to go. Well after the two weeks my mom and dad decided that the medicine was helping but that I wasn't my "normal" self so they would take me back to the vet. My vet looked me over and said that he thought that I should go see a specialist and possibly have the TPLO surgery done. I don't know what that is but it doesn't really sound good!!! Mom says that the surgeon will put a metal plate and pins in my leg to make it so it doesn't hurt anymore which sounds good to me. Mom asked the vet lots of questions about how much pain I would have and how long it would be before I could go outside and play. I heard my vet say something about 8 weeks!!!! YIKES!!! There will be lots of squirrels, rabbits, and birds in my yard in eight weeks! We'll see what the specialist says though. Dad will take me to visit him on Wednesday of next week and if he says I have to have surgery it will be on Thursday. Mom and Dad say I will have to stay at the hospital for one night and that they will come get me on Friday after they get off work. That makes me sad but I'll be brave and will try to be a really good dog so maybe I'll get a cookie when I get home. Well I'm off to go bark at those silly Christmas decorations that are STILL up down the street! Talk to you soon....Love, Doc!


Me with my "summer do" It sure is nice to not have all that hair when it's hot out!!!


I spend a lot of my time now sleeping on the loveseat because my leg hurts. Mom caught me this way sound asleep the other day!