2 months post-surgery

We're at 2 months post-op and I can honestly say we're very happy with Romeo's progress.  We weren't too sure about consistently walking him after surgery, but we're getting in a better habit now of taking Mia and him for walks around the neighbourhood.  It allows Romeo to get used to different textures to walk on (asphalt, loose gravel, sand, grass) and we've found some small hills which he does very well on, both climbing up and down.  He can also step up and over street curbs without trouble.  

As you can see in the video, he loves to play!  Sometimes I have to yell, "That is enough!" because he and Mia get too riled up.  Oh, and he has his spinning back though it's not 100% perfect, we'll take that over paralysis any day.  

Romeo is getting better at standing up on his back legs with his front legs on something higher.  He can stand on a step for some time and he'll jump up to put his front legs on you as a greeting.  Just a moment ago, he stood up and put his front feet on the computer chair here.  I haven't seen him do that since before all this happened so that's great.  

Though he still has the occasional accident in the house, Romeo is getting much better at holding it 'til we go outside and is getting better at letting us know when he has to go.  For example, the other day he squatted a bit in the kitchen as I (Holly) wasn't paying attention to him.  I scooped him up and took him outside and he was able to hold it for awhile, realizing we were outside and, yes, that's where he's supposed to do his business.  Yesterday, Andrew was at the computer and Mia was whining at him and looking towards the door.  He got up and found Romeo was standing by the door, waiting to go outside to pee so it was doggie teamwork between Mia and Romeo to be like, "Hey, he's got to go and he doesn't want to have an accident!"  One thing though is that Romeo either doesn't realize he's not done peeing or he doesn't care because he'll start walking away while still peeing.  *lol*  It's like pee graffiti on the ground.

Update

Just a quick blog update for ya, folks.


Romeo's balance on loose gravel and sand is continuing to improve.  He's also successfully walking backwards for quite a few steps and he often just does this on his own.  Still having trouble getting him to walk in small circles and figure-8s.  I've used treats to get him to do figure-8s, but he thinks we're playing and he starts getting silly instead.  :)  He's getting better at 3-legged doggie pilates so maybe in a few weeks we can get him to do 2-legged doggie pilates (ex. left front leg and back right leg up at the same time).  


We're working on Romeo doing stairs.  He can go down steps no problem (we prevent him from doing that as much as possible unless we're doing exercises), but it's going up steps that's a challenge for him.  He can easily clear up and down a short step at the park on the loose gravel so that's good.  We'll work him back up to regular size steps, but for now this is where we're at.  


Hope you're all enjoying the sun and beautiful weather!

Update

Napping with Mia

Well, it's been about a week since the last update.  I've been meaning to upload and edit the video we took of Dr. Hamilton doing acupuncture on Romeo, but the lovely weather has been keeping me away from the computer.  ;)

Romeo is back to wanting to play with Mia all the time.  He chases her around the yard, herds her when I call for her to come to the house, and spins in circles.  Definitely have to get video of that.  It's so amazing to see/remember how he had completely no use of his legs at all.  Sure, he walks kind of funny now, but we'll take that over not walking at all.  

We've been taking the dogs to the park down the street as there is small loose gravel which is a challenge for Romeo to walk through to keep himself upright.  What we've been noticing is that he tries to put most of his weight just on his front legs, especially if he's tired of walking.  If he had his way, he'd probably just walk in a handstand position.  We've been putting his front legs on a step to shift all his weight onto his back legs.  That's difficult for him and he can't do it for long so that's something we're going to keep working on to build up more muscle.

As you may have read on our Facebook page, Romeo broke off one of his toenails on his back right leg from dragging his foot.  There was much blood and it looked like it hurt, but Romeo was his typical self:  Completely happy and walking around like nothing was going on.  We have taken a rest from walks so as to not damage his toenail(s).  We now have vet wrap though so I think we'll just wrap up his foot to protect it from any further damage.  

Update

I apologize for the lack of updating.  We, including Romeo, have been enjoying time out in the sun.  :)

Romeo had an acupuncture and physiotherapy session with Dr. Hamilton on Tuesday.  This was the first time I (Holly) got to be in one of the sessions.  It's pretty neat!  She did some physiotherapy with him and then did the acupuncture (traditional needles and laser acupuncture on his feet).  Romeo was very squirmy for it which is okay as it's better than what he was like before.  Dr. Hamilton said Romeo's leg and lower back muscles are redeveloping at a good pace and she's happy to see that.

Dr. Hamilton gave us more exercises to do and explained how we can try to get Romeo to do some of the exercises Dr. Su suggested, specifically figure-eights.  We do what I call doggie pilates with Romeo where he does 3-legged standing and eventually we'll get him to do 2-legged standing.  We're also to get him to walk backwards and introduce standing on stairs (meaning put his front feet up on a step with his back feet on the floor).  

On Monday night, Romeo used his back right leg to scratch at his ear for the first time which was super exciting to see.  Dr. Hamilton showed us how to tickle his ears to get him to reach and scratch so we're working on that, too.