tripawd rottie rescue

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Miles here. My mom, Dawn, is moving slower than I did when I lost my leg, so I thought I’d better update all of you on how she’s doing. On Tuesday, she hooked up the truck and stock trailer and she invited ME! I was sooo happy to get to go for a ride with my face in the wind. As most of you know, I HATE being left behind. When she leaves me, I really think I’m going to die and she’ll never come back.

We got to her friend’s ranch and I saw them get Whiskey, our bull, and put a halter on him and walk him into the trailer. I was sooo excited to see him again that I squeeeeeezed out the cracked window and flew through the air to the ground so that I could go say hi! Mom scolded me and put me back in the truck. She said something about how lucky I am to not break my front leg when I do that. But sometimes I can’t help myself.

When Mom and I got back to our farm, Mom made me get out and put me in the yard with Gramma so that I’d be out of the way. I get excited around Whiskey and the cows. I like to bark at them when they get excited and she says they could hurt me, but I think I could take them. I watched out the window and Mom got the halter and went in the trailer and the next thing I heard was Mom screaming and Whiskey was ramming her like the cowboys in the rodeos. Only Mom didn’t have a clown to help! Gramma made a fast phone call while Mom was screaming in the trailer and a car pulled up that said S-H-E-R-I-F-F K-9 on the side. There was a dog inside! Dogs to the rescue-of course! But the men got out with a rifle and ran to my Mom and left the dog in the car, poor guy. He must have a problem like I do. Stupid humans just don’t realize that We Can Help! 🙁

When the men got to the trailer, Mom was outside of it and Whiskey was inside, but she looked Broken and Whiskey looked fine, thank goodness they didn’t shoot him. Then a LOT of vehicles showed up with pretty flashing lights on top. It was a Pawty! And they put Mom on a board and carried her around like Crowd Surfing or something, but there was no music? Then Mom left with the men and the dog. Thank goodness Gramma was with me, Mom forgot about ME!

She came home the next morning and isn’t moving so well. There’s been people here all day, every day, taking care of her. Just like when I got my leg cut off. I wish I could help her. I like all the company, everyone pets me and talks to me and I get to be with Mom 24 hours a day and she never leaves me now. They said that her chest was crushed and she needs another MRI, had a cat scan and xrays or something? And her knee has compression fractures, a torn ACL, and cracked ribs. She is on the same medications that I was on! And she has to have surgery. I know what that’s like. I feel badly for Mom but she’s in really good spirits. She tells me that I’m her inspiration. That I overcame much worse and I never complained, so she’s going to try to be like me.

If she hadn’t put me in the yard, I could have protected her from that bull Whiskey. If only she knew that. She said something about the cow being in “heat” and she didn’t know it, but it’s wasn’t even hot out that day, so I think she’s just confused….

So, don’t worry about Mom, I’ll take good care of her! 😀

Miles

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Angel Rugby (aka Cometdog/Monkeybutt!) sent Miles a package! And it still had Rugby hair on it, so we carefully picked some off and set aside for safekeeping with a little tearful thank you. It’s an Outward Hound backpack. Miles is a very hyper active tripawd and has an incredible work ethic. He wants a job. I put it on him and he wore it proudly. We can’t wait to go for a long hop hike (usually about a mile) and now Miles can carry my keys, his biscuits, and his 2nd leash (retractible when hopping, standard small one when around other dogs). That frees me up to carry the heavier stuff. Let me be clear, I don’t recommend that any tripawd, especially a new one due to cancer (Miles doesn’t have cancer and has developed muscles from being a tripawd for a long time) carry any extra weight. The pack, with what I will put in it, will only weigh about 1/2#. It really isn’t necessary on our hikes, but I’ve seen quadpawds with these and they truly seem to understand that they are “doing a job” and are useful in the pack. Miles needs a job. Besides, he’s so stylish with it on, it has a handle, and if I get tired of carrying stuff, I can take it off him and put everything in it and sling it like a backpack for ME! 😀

Modeling his new gear:

Video of trying it out with neighbor Cowgirl:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/24543799[/vimeo]

Miles’ roomie senior bulldog Betty… AKA Little Miss Betty Cuteface. AKA the Old Broad. She is having another bout with pneumonia. We tweak her meds and re-xray, but the fluid in her lungs is always still there so far. The good news is she doesn’t know it. She’s not having any trouble breathing (stumper for the vet) and seems to feel just fine. She’s the toughest dog I know. My cuddle bug.

Hoppy spring – summer’s almost here!

I have known Cemil’s mom since Raven got cancer a year and a half ago. But Miles and Cemil hadn’t met yet. They came to visit “the farm”, lots of hopping, sniffing, and peeing on things. 🙂
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/24025090[/vimeo]

And Cemil, technically a Livestock Guardian breed, meets his first cows:
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/24025138[/vimeo]

We drank wine and ate cheese, swapped some chickens (Mary and I have chickens), and a good time was had by all!

It’s been a long time since I updated Miles’ blog! All’s been well here, so just nothing much to report is my excuse…

Yesterday was Easter and beautiful weather. So, my Mom and her dog and Miles and I all went for a hike, which for Miles I call a Long Hop. As opposed to the Short Hops around the yard or in and out of the car… It was 3 miles round trip down switchbacks to a creek and back at Hidden Falls Park. Miles got to snif the flowers and the other dog’s pee spots along the way. He always seemed to migrate towards the poison oak…. Ahh, the tail was wagging, he got to pass lots of kids and dogs and families that oooohed and ahhhhed at him hopping along. Life is good and to Miles this was the Best Day On Earth!

All dressed up in Raven’s old harness, this is the first time he’s worn it. It worked great because on the Hop back out of the canyon, I picked him up a bit like a suitcase as I jogged alongside and took some pressure off. 😀

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij_7LqVhuek[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8nSW8YGItQ[/youtube]

And around the place here, “just me and us chickens”….

When Miles came the “1500 miles” on the Cannonpaw Run to get to me from the shelter in NM, Tripawd’s founder Jim put a pretty bandana on him for his “leg” of the Rescue Railroad. Well, they sent Miles a brand spanky new one since he’d worn his original out. Promoting tripawds.com is hard work you know…

Here’s his old one:

And today!

Life is good at the ranch!

Tripawd rescue Miles is doing really well. He’s coming along with his separation anxiety training. Last summer, it was a struggle and he could not be left alone without hurting himself or destroying the sheetrock, window glass, chain link in a panic attack. He thought that a crate was the Pits Of Hell and you couldn’t even begin to drag 70# of him within 10′ of a crate. Definitely some baggage from his past life before me, I still wish I knew his story…

But Better Living Through Pharmaceuticals… He’s been on Amitriptyline for 5 months and in constant training. And success: For the last 3 months he’s actually able to stay in my house alone when I leave for work, as long as One Eyed Betty is with him.

And, 3 weeks ago, I found him in her crate! Just sleeping there, on his own. AMAZING.

And he is not really a digger, this is the one and only time I’ve seen him do it, but I filmed him through the window or he’d have stopped. He must have been after a gopher and was really focused. Soooo, YES, tripawds can dig just as well with only one front foot!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weIJx09BMT0[/youtube]

Here is Betty and Miles’ high point of each day. I go out to feed the bobcat and the livestock and they get to share a hard boiled egg every morning.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmcSs4WXuG8[/youtube]

Here he is just hanging out in the pasture. Look at that little tail tip wag! Then he gets the whole thing going, but he starts with just the tip wagging. He’s a very happy boy and loves belly rubs and farm living.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJE4YAp9nqs[/youtube]

And this is what we bulldog people call a “Tippy” (with bulldogs their tongues sometimes don’t quite fit in their mouth…). It was a frosty morning and he decided he wanted to stay out in the pasture “on guard”–that’s the Rottie in him. 😉

Life is good! 🙂

Today we went to the bay area to visit with Karen (Maggie) and Mary (Cemil). Miles got to meet pugs Tani and Obie! And Mary brought along Miles’ travelin’ buddy Alle.

The gang’s all here.

Ahh, nice rest after a long drive in the pouring rain.

Obie is stinkin’ adorable, this is his imitation of Whack A Mole.

Miles and I went on from the visit to a memorial and I had to leave him in the truck for 3 hours. He barked like a maniac the entire time, never gave up. Thankfully, no destruction though. I finally went out and took him for a potty run and some water, then couldn’t dare put him back in the truck and LEAVE with the separation anxiety or I think he’d have lost it. So, he had to come into the memorial with me. People see his yellow bandana and his sweet calm demeanor (Jeckyl and Hyde I tell you) and they always think he’s a Therapy Dog! 🙂

Thank you Karen and mary for meeting up with us, we had a great day! 🙂

After several months, and a few setbacks to square one with the eating the chain link kennel/door frame/running around on the counter top/trying to hang himself in the blinds in the garden window episodes… We’d worked our way up to giving him his favorite treat and leaving him with Mom next door, to giving him his favorite treat and leaving him in our shared yard, to one day I gave him his treat and left him in the house. I walked away and didn’t look back. Scary moment! Mom checked on him, he was quiet as a mouse and sleeping when she came over to check 6 hours later. I have no idea if it is the medication, lavendar scented oil in the house and on his tripawd bandana, turkey treats (for the triptophan, which apparently is similar to the drug he’s on Amitriptylene), but probably a combination of them all and the stars were lined up that day. 🙂

We did this each day for 6 in a row. And on the 7th, Mom and I both went to an event together for the first time since Miles came to live here, with neither of us home. Woohoo! Yesterday, while I was at work, he was barking and she worried, but was careful to not run to let him out of the house and reward him, but he pushed through it, didn’t get “rescued” and went back to resting quietly alone in the house until she let him out later.

There’s hope for Separation Anxiety sufferers!

Here’s a video of his happy tail. Thumping under the laundry I threw on top of him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT6kDXajkEw[/youtube]

His roomate senior Betty’s eye ulcer continues to improve. Awww, wonderful fall weather, leaves, life is good.

Does this qualify as “My Mom dresses me funny”?

Okay, honestly, I did not get that getup for Miles! My mom’s friend did. 😉

Betty is doing great. Her eye recheck went well, healing nicely, recheck in 2 weeks. The breathing issue is gone and was attributed to the Cone Of Shame.

The weather has turned from hot to cool and Betty and I were snuggling on the couch with a blanket. She’s back to her “old” self, watching me with that little eyeball.

Here’s Betty and Miles, my happy little family.

Does anyone else’s tripawd lay like this with their front leg? Looks broken! He’s a left leg amputee, and he takes that right front and folds it under his chin!

Hoppy Autumn everyone!

🙂

Boy, what a trip.

One eye’d senior bulldog Betty lost an eye to an ulcer a few years ago. Now the other one has been battling an ulcer. Betty’s eye needed a grid keratotomy before I left, so we got an emergency appt the day we were planning on leaving for Big Sur. *sigh* It went well, was done under a local, so no sedation, she’s such a good girl! But the Cone Of Shame was the bummer.

When I got home from work, minutes before leaving, she was panting and breathing heavily. She had pneumonia recently and that was the only symptom then, so I didn’t leave for Big Sur, but for the vet’s office instead. I was in my RV in their lot when they opened in the morning. Well, the vet’s sched was full and rather than spend all day waiting for an appt, they suggested I board her for my vacation so that they could keep an eye on her breathing and her eye. The nearest vet to the campground would be nearly two hours away. So, sadly that’s what happened. Betty was sitting in the seat of the truck, packed and ready to camp, and instead was carried to the vet’s office for 3 days. 🙁

And to top it off, there was NO cell service there either, so I had no idea if she was okay or not. My friend came with her collie. Laura’s father has cancer and she got a call just before we lost cell reception that he was going to the hospital. So, she spent the one night and headed to the hospital and left me and Miles to camp alone. I couldn’t stop thinking about Betty and Laura’s Dad and not having any way to contact anyone, I was happy to head home the next day.

It was beautiful. Miles had fun, I tried to relax, and did for a while. Betty was still the same when I got back, I took the dang cone off last night and she’s breathing fine now. UGH, stupid cone!! But at least I think that’s all it was, which is a relief. She’s soooo happy to be home and I am too!!

The ocean is past the trees, but it’s foggy when I took the pic:

Miles view from in front of the trailer, watching the neighbor’s dogs:

Sorry, no Betty pics from this trip. 🙁

All’s well on the Separation Anxiety Rescued Adorable Tripawd front.

Miles is a finicky eater. And when Raven was fighting his cancer and picky about food, I had to resort to a raw meat diet that I have on hand for Wild About Cats’ wild felines. It’s a commercial brand for zoo carnivores. I had to get some for the bobcat, so I went ahead and ordered a few cases for Miles of the Canine Diet. It comes in 5# logs of frozen raw meat and comes to about $1.10 a pound, about what I pay for premium kibble!

I’ve known zoo cats on this diet that routinely live into their late teens/early 20’s. Why do our domestic pets almost always get cancer, but the wild ones in captivity rarely do? I suspect, like our human diets, that it has something to do with the overprocessed, preservative laden factory made diets we’ve developed in recent generations. So, I figured, it certainly can’t hurt Miles, he loves it, and it’s not more expensive. 🙂

For more info:
http://www.nebraskabrand.com

His roommate, senior rescue Betty the bulldog has fully recovered from her bout with pneumonia, no small feat for her age. She’s a trooper! But now she’s developed an ulcer (scratch from Evil Cat Cowboy) on her remaining eye. We’ve debrided it 3 times, but it’s showing slow improvement over the last few weeks. She’s deaf due to age, and she’s slowly coming closer and closer to fitting my nickname for her “My Little Helen Keller”.

Sitting on the scale at the vet. I carry her in and she stays put whereever I plunk her down.

We are all going to Big Sur for a few days next week in the little vintage RV. Betty will have her stroller, Miles loves to go for hikes, and I am sooo looking forward to a little down time. 🙂