"LEMME OUTA HERE!"

"Lemme outa here!"

Duke is feeling better, but can't walk yet, of course. We got a small playpen to keep him in (Graco "Pack and Play") per the UGA vet's orders. We take him out to do his business (but we carry him outside and set him down carefully, then pick him up and carry him back inside). He has maybe 25% function in his back legs now, and he does stand some.

We are to move his back legs, stretching them to engage the hips and then push them back slowly, to keep his joints flexible. Today is terrible weather in Georgia (hail, thunderstorms, heavy rain, tornado watches, etc.), so it's not a good day to help him walk a few feet with a sling on his back. Oh, we could do it inside, but he just isn't cooperating with that just yet.

He is eating and drinking, and doesn't seem to hurt, even with pressure on his incision--he doesn't mind lying on his side at all. Those staples, and I can attest to after two knee replacements, aren't all that comfy!

I have to admit that I am afraid for his back in the future. I'll never be comfortable that it won't happen to him again, and I will be a helicopter doxie parent from now on. I pray he'll recover enough to be happy, healthy, and mobile, but we were cautioned that he might not be 100%. That's something we can live with, and we'll do our part to help him achieve his maximum. 

He's not a puppy anymore, but he sometimes forgot that himself. He's a playful, happy, and sweet doxie--I want him to be so again.

Dachshunds . . . you can't help but love them.