Yup,  Toby managed to injure his one front leg. The nail was pointing up and he was walking tenderly on Monday so we got him to the vet on Tuesday. All the yummy smells distracted him for a while not to mention he was quite the conversation starter. Everyone was oohing and aahing over his speedy recovery, his fancy harness, his hyper-waggy stub tail and his “dangler.”

We did warn the vet that he’s a bit wimpy and, sure enough, we heard the yelping from the back room as they gave him a sedative. When we got him back about 30 minutes later, he was wobbly (which did give us some not-so-wonderful flashbacks to the last time we picked him up from the pet hospital), but he was also sporting a pedicure on all his remaining toe nails and a fancy bandage-boot that even matched his harness. He looked like Santa pup. They had to snip off the entire nail and the pulp underneath, but he’s good as new.

We took off the bandage on Wednesday and he seemed curious to figure out what’s different, but at least there was no e-collar involved! Whew!

So in many ways, this has been a very special Thanksgiving because we do have so much to be thankful for – we got Toby about this time last year and I remember thinking that he completed our family, but this year we have a greater appreciation for those little things – especially squirrels. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

I guess no news is good news! Toby has made an incredible recovery. He’s racing up and down our narrow spiral staircase (we’ll definitely try to catch some video), chasing Timmy and snuggling under the covers in the morning. Things are back to normal. Even his fur is growing back and it feels like his surgery was eons ago.

Then we came home today to find that one of his toe nails broke nearly completely off. He was crated and we didn’t see blood, but it’s clearly uncomfortable for him. The vet can’t see him until tomorrow afternoon, but they seemed pretty calm (which goes a long way to stop the mentally vomitting in my head when I see body parts that clearly are askew).

Anyway, imagine our distress in seeing an injury on Toby’s one front leg! Maybe this will slow down some of the squirrel drive?

Wish us luck at the vet!

It’s been one month since Toby’s amputation. Wow. That seems like eons ago. My husband D mentioned two or three nights ago that “Toby has his smile back.” And that’s truly apt. His spirit is really indomitable. He even has his prance back, which I wasn’t quite sure he’d manage without his spare front leg. He’s even thinking hard about how he can reach Timmy in the rafters (thankfully he couldn’t manage with 4 legs, so I’m hoping that Timmy’s refuge will remain a refuge with Toby on 3 legs!). He even got a toy from another neighbor – a monkey named Skunk with rope limbs and a squeaker. So naturally, he’s been trying to squeak the squeaker out.

Now if only that squirrel instinct would just temper itself a little bit…

I’m still getting the hang of this whole blogging thing – and just discovered the reply function! But in any case, thanks to all of you for your support and well wishes throughout this process. It’s definitely made things much easier knowing that others have made it through similarly tough times.

Toby continues to astound us with his rebound. He has mastered the spiral staircase in both directions. I think the temptation to chase Timmy was just too great and Mom is definitely too slow when it comes to carrying him down the stairs, so he figured it out on his own. Toby’s squirrel drive is also intact – or possibly stronger than before! I wish the other neighborhood dogs would pick up some of the slack since Toby’s radius has been a little more limited in the past 3 weeks! On our walks, he continues to bound forward with a lot of energy. It does make me nervous when he’s walking forward while looking off to the side somewhere else.

At this point, the biggest post-op issue we have is the licking – he has a little bump of skin at the end of his incision. Overall, everything is healing beautifully, but he likes to lick at it so he wears a shirt except at night when he’s supervised. Hopefully even that will fade away.

Finally, the ramp is just about done – it’s gigantic. I think it’ll have to serve as a nightstand and ramp… we’ll see how this goes!

• Toby figured out a way to get down our spiral staircase (faster seems easier than slower).
• Chewing more frequently on Timmy (his feline brother) even when Timmy tries to run away.
• Chasing the laser dot (though, cautious on those corners).
• Pulling on our walks, especially in the direction of *squirrels*

On a separate note, my parents came to visit Toby on Saturday (and see their daughter, son-in-law and granddaughters), we talked about how he’s getting around and how we’ve made some adjustments to accommodate his tripod status (e.g., runners on our hardwood floor). On Sunday, my dad called to say that he is building Toby a ramp so he can more easily get onto our high bed. I guess this is what retired engineers do!

Bingo lives around the corner – he has a very similar profile to Toby. They’re both about the same size, have ridiculously large, erect ears, a long nose and an intelligent face (I don’t care that I’m biased).

Two nights ago, Bingo’s dad came by with a care package. A squeaky cheeseburger (can never have enough of those), a bunch of awesome and fancy chews and some garden tomatoes for Toby’s human family. Toby knew immediately that the box was for him – it must’ve smelled of all sorts of goodness. After chasing and squeaking his cheeseburger and gobbling down one of his chews, he was out for the night.

He’s still sleeping a lot, but he’s tried to play with Timmy, his feline brother, and seems more sure of himself on our hardwood floor and linoleum.

On our walks around the block, he’s quite speedy and even tried to chase a squirrel up a tree (of course, the squirrel deserved it!). The neighbors have been very concerned and saddened, but we’re trying our best to change their pity to something more upbeat about the fact that Toby’s injuries were not worse, that he’s making such a good recovery, that he’s hopping around the neighborhood in a spiffy vest staring down the squirrels.

Toby is sporting the latest in harnesses. Healing up nicely!

This is literally minutes after Toby got back from the vet. Staples are out, time for a nap in the middle of the bed surrounded by pillows. This is the life!

Enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon with older sis on the front deck. Squirrels are staring him down during our walks around the block – they don’t know what to make of this hopping fashionista!

Just got back from a whirlwind conference that was booked months ago. In the meantime, Toby got a clean bill of health from the vet, and, more importantly, got that blasted e-collar off! The staples are out, the collar is off and he’s sporting a new Ruff Wear harness. His incision is healing nicely, his fur is starting to grow back in and his fox ears are more often erect than not.

He’s still adjusting to life on 3 limbs, but immediately found his way back onto our bed where he spent his first afternoon sans collar. He’s a bit wobbly and still napping a lot – maybe it’s the effects of the Rimadyl that he’s still taking?

I wish I knew what he was thinking since he’s not quite himself yet, but there are glimmers of the peppy Toby emerging again. When we took him out this afternoon, he looked happy to be back checking out the neighborhood. He doesn’t seem nervous with cars passing by,  but I noticed that I’m more anxious! We kept it short to keep from overtiring or overstimulating him (and to avoid seeing any neighborhood squirrels), which seemed to disappoint him greatly. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll do our normal loop around the block.

Here we go – easing back to our routine! And maybe, just maybe, there will be a squirrel report in the near future. (That’s way better than an ecollar report!).

Still getting the hang of this blogging business, so thanks for your patience. We’ve appreciated your thoughtful comments and helpful suggestions.

Here’s a quick recap of our conversation with the vet a couple days back about using a t-shirt in place of the e-collar:

“Well, officially, I would tell you that the e-collar has to stay on at all times.  <pause> But I will also tell you that you know your dog and if you think he’ll leave his incision and staples alone, then maybe it would be ok.”

“Hmm…so when’s the earliest we can get the staples out?”

So with that, Toby is going back on Friday to get the staples out. Hurrah!!! And then e-collars will suck a little bit less. Just a little. Not really.

I guess introductions are in order. Toby is a one-year old(ish), basenji(ish) rescue whose interests include squirrels, cats, squirrels, chewing his bones, squirrels, sleeping under the covers, squirrels, sleeping with his head on a pillow, chewing his nylabone, squirrels, destuffing things with stuffing (toys, dog beds, comforters, nothing is safe), jumping on people who are lying down on the couch or in bed, and squirrels. He’s a speedy pup who regularly grabbed the leash and dragged me along for 4-5 miles runs (and, yes, my speed and upper body strength increased as a result of our jaunts).

Exactly one week ago, he was hit by a car as we were coming back from our last walk. He was lucky – his injuries could have been much worse, but his front left leg was badly shattered and we were left with heartwrenching decisions. We’re still reeling from the doubt, guilt and sadness, but we’ve taken great comfort in the Tripawd community (which we’ve been lurking since his accident). Thanks to all of you!

Anyway, Toby went into surgery last Tuesday. He’s been home since Wednesday recuperating fairly well. It’s funny how we celebrate the small things when someone is recovering from an injury (e.g., yay, he peed and pooped). He’s been hopping around, but is tentative on non-carpeted areas and definitely seems hunched in his posture. There are moments where it seems like he might want to chase after Timmy or search for squirrels in our yard, but mostly, he’s been sleeping, moving to a different location and sleeping some more.

He’s a trooper, but he’s definitely not himself right now. It has gotten easier every day, I guess, but the emotional healing process for humans seems to take longer than the physical healing for dogs?

In any case, this has helped increase the items on Toby’s list of things that he does not like: e-collars, vacuum cleaners, sedatives, e-collars, nail clippers, e-collars, squirrels in trees, motorcycles, and, of course, e-collars because e-collars suck.