Spring has sprung as has Bugsy

Ay-yay-ya
Last night Bugsy was very unhappy about being left downstairs for the night, so I assessed how he was moving and decided he was OK to do the flight of stairs and we would find a way to get him down in the morning.
He was SOOOO happy.
And I can't lie - I was too.
Best part is I suited him up with his harness this morning and he was fine going down. So from here on out he can sleep upstairs. Great.

I can't be sure but I am now wondering if he decided that if he could sleep upstairs this must mean that he is healed.
He has been a challenge all.  freaking.  day.

I knew it was going to be a long day when we went out for the paper - you know to the end of the drive - and somehow this took nearly 30 minutes.
Then he took Steve out and bolted to a spot on the lawn and uncovered an underground mouse nest. It was a mighty battle to get him back in.
See even with three legs he can make like a donkey and you can't move him.

Steve wound up taking him for a walk with the hopes that he'd settle as he did yesterday.
Nope.
Despite being setup in the sunroom with the window open and being able to watch me work in the yard, he whined and paced and sang.
I tried to tether him to the porch, no way he just pulled on the line, straining to be free.
I won't go into the details but it went on all day.
I thought I'd give him a frozen lamb shank to munch on for his dinner as it would take some time. As a guess it took about 5 minutes. More than kibble but not what I hoped.
He did enjoy it though

He saw people outside and flung himself against the back door. Oh and then he saw someone else and did it again.

He dashed around the area he was in over and over and over.
I took him for another walk.
He was tired and hot and working hard but he didn't want to go up the driveway.

Finally a bit ago - Steve went to watch a movie, I came upstairs to watch the basketball and he was left alone.
I honestly don't know if he's still pacing and whining but I do hope he's sleeping comfortably

Getting frustrating

Bugsy seemed another bit better today - he is completely obsessed with digging for moles - my guess he's dug up 10-12 holes today all while onleash and with either myself or Steve doing our best to keep him from digging!
If we get him away from the mole hunting he quickly shifts to diving into the rabbit den area.
I literally had back spasms after our morning wander.

This is how he looked on our second trip around the yard

He also was able to enjoy sitting outside for a bit with Steve

So why am I frustrated??
Well for some reason the range of motion exercises hurt him badly and he will do anything to not do them. Its awful and I can't understand why. I watch him use the leg in ways that put his leg into the same position and he does that without pain yet if either of us try to do the range of motion stuff he acts like we are killing him.
I figure I am going to have to go see someone to do them and get it off my back.
I really don't want him to lose range in his elbow and shoulder because we couldn't get these done

Celebrate we made it through week #1

Although he is still very wonky as he walks around, it is clear that he is feeling better and getting a bit rambunctious.
This morning our walk down the drive for the paper turned into a walk down the drive, around the cul-de-sac, up a neighbor's drive and a complete tour of his majesty's lands.
If there is one thing about Bugsy that I presume won't ever change it is that you nor I will ever 'make' him do anything. So you may hold the leash but beyond that he's in control.
What are your options?  Drag him by the collar? Yank on the leash? Stand still and be dragged or have your shredded rotator cuffs further damaged? I mean he is still a powerful dog so if he isn't going in, he isn't.

Anyway about an hour later he wanted to do the same, sigh.

Which brings me to our continuing struggle to do the passive range of motion (PROM) work. He is not complying. I've tried treats, massage, warm compresses, containment, surprise, doing it while he is standing, sitting, & lying down. I am pretty much out of ideas now. I keep trying and can get 2 in here or there but that isn't anything like the 20 three times a day, now is it??

He was still desperate to walk today so I took him up the road. I suppose it was a third of a mile in total or a bit less. But it was plenty. On its own he would have been OK but after the two long jaunts this morning (each was probably at least .25-.3 of a mile too) he was darn tired by the time he got back.
In a weak moment I was able to get the frozen peas on his elbow and he laid his head on my lap while I held it there.
I had five minutes of knowing what someone with a normal (affectionate) dog feels like. It felt great to hold him and to feel like I was comforting him. Then he popped up and dashed off as if he snapped to and was like YIKES I can't be seen doing this!!
Ah Bugsy I know it felt good. Hopefully you'll let me do it again sometime.

So that's week one.
I keep praying that the next day he's going to let me do the PROM and that he puts more and more weight on that side.

Keeping the journal

I like to keep track of Bugsy's progress on things and his recovery is no different so I'll keep it here.

Yesterday (Day 5) he seemed to have much better energy and less discomfort. He had a dream-filled sleep in the afternoon which is the first time I've heard him dreaming since before the op.
I chose to not even try to do the ROM exercises with the intent that we would start again today and it should be slightly less uncomfortable.
He is happy to walk around, or I should say limp around.
He gave me a stress test when he was crazy excited after I came home from a walk. There really isn't much like watching your dog - who has one surgically repaired knee, and now a surgically repaired elbow and shoulder- slide, slip, wiggle, hop, jump, repeat as he runs around the area he is contained in.  Add in that its a lot of weight he has flying around and he wound up getting yelled at LOL.

I feel terrible 'yelling' at him but he doesn't listen otherwise, heck he only just considers slowing down once yelled at :)

So that was yesterday.

He seems OK walking up stairs but going down is something else and we only navigate 3 steps on our way outdoors. This doesn't deter him from desperately wanting to come upstairs to be with us in the evening. Watching him descend the 3 steps from the porch its clear he can't do an entire flight so he won't get his wish but I find it the toughest part so far. He looks confused and upset that he can't go upstairs so I spent time with him  downstairs until he was ready to sleep for the night.

One thing he is fairly pleased about is having loads of beds to relax on - I keep trying to keep him on something soft so I put a bed in one of his favorite spots

OK I admit it, I hate orthopedic surgery/recovery

Poor Bugsy. He is clearly feeling very rough, he just wants to do his 'normal stuff' which we of course have to prevent him from doing.
After the TPLO it was easy to understand how limited he was and needed to be. But with this you don't see the wound. I've read the notes. It seems like in many ways he should feel better than pre-op, but he doesn't.

Yesterday he pooped for the first time since Monday night - in fact he pooped 4x. Today? None.

We keep trying to do the passive range of motion exercises but he gives you an obvious 'this freaking hurts' message. He will do everything he can to avoid it including keeping a distance from me or Steve just in case we consider doing it to him.
So he's in a ton of pain, on loads of meds and has this foggy look about him.
I so desperately want to help him but there isn't anything I can do.
I keep hoping that tomorrow is better than today but so far each day is just horrible.

Keep him in your prayers, he needs it. I fear we have a long road ahead

surgery take 2 - a success

Well we finally had the surgery that we wanted to have back in early February. Actually we were asking about it in September, not that anyone was listening.
We decided to use the Virginia Veterinary Specialists who have offices in Charlottesville, VA and Lynchburg, VA and whole-heartedly recommend them.

Anyway I digress, once they got in there they found the biceps tendon nearly fully torn, soft and mushy aka it had been torn and tearing for quite some time.
They also found a partial tear in another ligament medial glenohumeral ligament) that should resolve with the rest and leash restrained activity.
And the biggest part of the surgery involved his elbow. Something we were totally unprepared for, he had a fragmented coronoid process. Unlike the majority of these problems his was a traumatic injury not one due to excessive growth.
So here we are 3 days post op and its so hard watch him struggle again. This time we don't have this huge wound to look at to remind us that this was a heck of a lot of orthopedic work.
He was very doped on Wednesday, his breath was like sniffing high-intensity cough syrup.
Then Thursday he was so very, very sore. But glad to be home and trying to walk around like usual.This led to him being a very sore and sad boy. Which led to me being very, very sad doggie mom.

But as he always seems to do, he woke up this morning ready to take the day on. On his terms. He did his morning flop like-a-seal and roll around in joy thing. He went out with me to get the paper and tried as hard as he could to do his whole "I have the newspaper and its a very important job" prance. It gave me a huge smile and some relief to see him more himself.
But just as he did yesterday, he wore himself out. So by late afternoon he was pretty darn sore and still wouldn't rest.

He won't let me do the range of motion exercises after a few. We are supposed to be doing 20 at a time, 3x a day and so far we can't get past 10 in a day. :(
I don't worry too much about him walking to exhaustion but I am concerned about his reluctance to do the range of motion stuff. I am going to try warming the joint up before trying it and then using some frozen peas afterward and see if we can move forward with it. It is essential that we get these in and keep the full range of motion but boy oh boy I can only gather it hurts an awful lot.

On a less serious note he was shaved again. His previous shaved area had just started to have some peach fuzz. Poor guy although in typical Bugsy style he doesn't seem to notice.
And that's all I've got tonight. I look forward to the soreness and pain subsiding to the point of having to hold him back. He's already provided a few ridiculous moments, I look to enjoy many more!

why I think he's part GSP

We'll never know his heritage and we don't really care, he's our boy and we love him just the way he is. But every owner of a mutt must look for traits other than physical ones to help identify what their mutt's genetics have to do with their behavior/traits.
I have a zillion reasons I think GSP or pointer in him, too many to list.
The other day I was reading an article in Field & Stream magazine written by Rick Bass, "Callie's Home"
He wrote this about GSP's:
"As a young man, I owned males, was delighted by their tirelessness- their perverse indefatigability, the way they dived through barbwire fences and tried to keep hunting even when large squares of skin flapped on them like roof tin in a wind; and the way they ignored skunk spray, porcupine quills, snakebite, anything, to keep hunting; the way they literally chewed their way out of kennels and trucks if left behind for even a single run; the way they kept running, charging, hunting hard, even when pierced by a branch, the stob of wood still protruding from the chest."

I laughed thinking about some things Bugsy has withstood in order to keep after what he wanted to keep after. Rick Bass's paragraph rang true in my ears.
I've seen Bugsy run through rusty old barbwire, fortunately with the power to blow through it (size has its advantages) and I've had to pull zillions of thorns & twigs from his legs and feet and chest. He never indicated anything was wrong.
I think of the broken collars, leashes, my hands, and the intensity of the e-collar. The screaming and yipping of frustration.

Bass also wrote this:
"They were instinctive geniuses more so than self-made - and strong and powerful and sweet, sweet, sweet."

Yes my boy is sweet. Very sweet. But I don't think that's a breed trait :)