Week 4 of rest

Poor Grey, such a bad dog mum am I that I forgot to give an update from last week! But seeing as it's groundhog day here at our house, I can say it's pretty much this:

wake up

snuggles

out for a wee on the lead

breakfast in tug-a-jug

rest while I make breakfasts for guests.

Out for 10 min stroll (walking on toes really switched on) walk round square on headcollar.

rest chewing pizzle

out for wee at mid morning.

Lunch cuddles and then another wee

Afternoon lounging.

Is it dinner time yet????

4pm dinner in tug-a-jug

another wee in back on lead

more cuddles

stroll round square on head collar if coast is clear and nothing too exciting.

Then bed.

And repeat...

He's been a bit more bouncy and switched on. Don't think the limp has totally gone. I'm afraid they'll not give us the all clear. We go back in two weeks time.

Week 2 of rest

Grey has officially stopped limping to my untrained eye. I'm sure someone more experienced can see something still, but to me, he's stopped limping. Which is really amazing. He's also completely off medication now. So no more Metacam. Rob the vet said he could come off it when we saw him a few days ago. He was taken off straightaway. And that he still hasn't limped is really really good. We've put him on Seraquin to support his joints at 3 tablets per day. He'll be on that dose for 4-6 weeks and then it drops down to half the dose.

He's still coping really well with the routine. Some good things have also come out of this situation. It's such a long road, that it's amazing there are some good things to come out of it along the way. He's now content to be left in our bedroom on his own for a wee while. Before this controlled rest period, he would sometimes howl and bark if we left him in the bedroom during our breakfast service at the B&B, which is when I have to go cook for guests. Now that we didn't have a choice but for him to live in the one room, he's now happy to be left unable to follow me from room to room. He's also much more into chews and the life saving treat dispensing tug-a-jug. Makes sense I suppose that while he's in a more restrictive environment that he gets pleasure from investigating things more.

But funnily enough he's really not that curious or clever in terms of his immediate environment compared to other slovaks I've heard about. I've got chews, primula cheese spread tube and tupperware boxes of his kibble and treats on top of the crate which is next to our bed. He hasn't tried to get them once, despite the bed being the same height as the crate. He doesn't really go in the crate except to eat. I've left it up because it enables him to play with the tug-a-jug and dog pyramid without them rolling under the bed or wardrobe. Mostly he's spends the whole day lounging on our bed with the odd trip out on the lead for a wee.

I'm still taking him out on the headcollar for the 2 x 15 min walks. He still hates it with a passion and shows no sign that he'll ever get over it. Still visibly shudders when the clip clips and runs and hides if he sees it come out, no matter how it is connected to the idea of going out. But everyday I'm reminded that without it I wouldn't be able to manage him. Whether it is a cat or a car that comes round a corner at a certain speed. Bam! There he can go, rearing up and on anything else I wouldn't be able to get him back under control.

He's being very cuddly and soppy. We're managing to have him almost not bark at guests as they come in and past the bedroom door.

So there goes another two weeks. We're now onto 2 months since Grey first got ill in April. It will soon feel like we've passed through the whole of the summer.

Here are some piccies of the slovak poodle sporting a lob sided shaving job:

Looking out

Poodle clipped Grey

Big headed Grey thanks to the iphone camera lens

skinny chested Grey from no exercise and the shaved bits

Week 1 of rest

Wow. Can't believe I've not posted updates on how Grey's doing. Especially since we've been enclosed in our little room for a week now. Grey got a diagnosis of damaged ligaments to his inside right shoulder. He had keyhole investigations last Weds and came home Thurs afternoon. His treatment plan is to have more or less complete rest. That means no stairs, running, jumping. He's to go to the loo on the lead and have two short 15 min gentle walks per day. He's also on 31KG dose of Metacam.

So we had to do some moving round. I moved his big crate and a desk into our bedroom so we could access the outside without stairs. Our basement where we spent all day has eight steps from every entrance. I decided to move myself in here too so he'd find the confinement easier.

He's settled really really well. He dozes lots and we break up the day with some clicker training on none movement things like eye contact and allowing me to touch his nails etc. He's been chewing pizzles and has his food in Kongs and the tug-a-jug. He's now on Orijen complete and is doing really well on it. We have to keep up this regime for another 5 weeks.

Grey's doing ok at the vets

Just heard that Grey is recovering well from his surgery. Hopefully can get the monkey back tomorrow. Vets now think that he has some kind of trauma to his shoulder that is causing instability. We'll know more tomorrow.

Night, night, monkey.