Strong and Getting Stronger…

Well, we are just over 6 weeks post-amputation and Tyson seems to be getting his strength. He spends the days outside with me laying around with his buddy, Gus (who is naturally lazy) while I do gardening and other spring clean-up work. We live on an acreage and the hills are very vast, but he manages them better and better every day. He seems to have figured out that he cant just run around like a maniac the way he used to…he gives himself breaks and rests and then we go for little walks around the property to get him stretched out and exercised. Occasionally he pushes it and I have to put him inside to enforce a break, but on the whole he is adapting well to his three-leggedness. Man, he is stubborn, determined and strong. Stronger and stronger every day.

For those of you who are struggling right now with the amputation question or amputation recovery: hang in there. It will get better. And you will be amazed at what your Tripawd can accomplish!!

5 Weeks Post Op

Well, Tyson is doing great. I took a hiatus from the blog posts for a while because one of my kids also had to have surgery (tonsils and adenoids) and we had to deal with another hospitalization and recovery….what a month?!

Right now, my biggest challenges with Tyson have to do with helping with stairs and reminding him to use the traction mats. We’ve had a couple of slips and he tried to come upstairs to the bedrooms one evening when I was putting the kids to bed….that didn’t end well. I heard a clamour and rounded the corner to see him splayed out, halfway up the stairs with his trusty stuffed raccoon in his mouth. 🙄. No real damage, but I could tell he was sore. He hasn’t tried it since. Are there any methods for helping him learn to use the stairs safely? Down seems to be fine because he’s a rear amputee, but up is a real challenge.

On the whole, he has adapted really well. He desperately wanted to figure out how to “fetch” outside (where he is SO HAPPY). So, I determined that throwing the ball a bit of a distance is better than short stints, which is harder on that rear leg. I have also come to find that throwing in the direction that he is facing is better than throwing behind him. Any unnecessary twisting on that back leg is hard, so no abrupt direction changes are best. But there was no way that this dog was going to sit by and watch his buddy play fetch….he’s truly an inspiration. I smile every day when I think of him. Such a tough character…and so HAPPY despite all he has been through. So much love for this handsome, stubborn guy: