April 30, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged great dane growth problems, great dane puppy, puppies, puppy play, veterinary care
”He’s havin fun and I’m not…” BB’s turn to wait for play, 17 wks old.
The sweet Beebster isn’t an only child, and is a bit too fragile to horse around with his hard playing brother, Kenai. So play time is actually 2 play times: one for Kenai, one for BB.
While big brother plays, BB watches, unwillingly. Unlike brother, he isn’t daring enough to bulldoze his way over a barrier to get into the fun. So he waits his turn.
But his turn does come, and he gets to hop about and shake his toy, squeak the squeakers, and squawk the squawkers. He plays tease, tiny tugs, and swats around a flashing red ball. That’s his favorite ball. It flashes and is just the right size to pick up and carry. If puppies could giggle, BB would.
BB had his evaluation for puppy class yesterday. He got all the attention, all to himself, and had a smashing good time. He smelled everything, and checked out every nook and cranny. His magic personality even got the trainer’s observer to crawl down on the floor and just play with him for fun.
That’s BB. He has a way with people. BB is a people whisperer. With adults at least. Kids are scary–too loud, too quick, too grabby-touchy. But adults can’t escape his clutches. No one yet has met him, and not been reduced to drooling and baby talk. It’s the eyes: so vulnerable, trusting, expressive. He wants only to love and be loved.
And love he gets! Buckets of it, and then some. He whispers his way into your heart and gets his love, every time. He is going to be terribly missed for the 2-3 weeks the vets at U. of Missouri have to keep him. Big brother Kenai isn’t going to be the only one having great crying jags.
BB is going to Columbia MO this Sunday, for some heavy duty surgery on that leg. He will have his bones, muscles, cartilage, and connective tissue surgically modified, and an external fixitor attatched to hold it all in place. The fixitor will have adjustments made to allow for his growth 2-3 times a day, for 2-3 weeks. There may be a second surgery at the end of those weeks before he can come home. And the chances of sucess are 50/50.
I’m really amazed at how much work the vet is willing to do for him. He’s had surgical instruments specially designed and made for BB, he’s involved the entire orthopedic department experts, all the heads of other departments like anesthesia, and internal medicine to advise and help…The whisperer strikes again.
We can visit anytime, though the four hour drive each way will be a limiting factor. He can have his own food, and will have 24/7 care. But still, he won’t be with us. He won’t be in his own bed, with his people. I don’t want to think about how hard it is going to be having our little four-pack seperated that long.
So if you have a healthy, happy little pup, love him good and hard today. And if you like to pray, mention the sweet little Beebster when ya think of it. He’s one of God’s little creations too, and he is so very loved.
April 28, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged bones, great dane puppy, great danes, littermates, puppy socialization, puppy stores, timid puppy, walks in the woods
“Would you go into the woods first? I’ve never been there before…” BB at 16 weeks.
Young master BB has had himself a very long day. He began with a fun little romp in the field, and I decided to take him to a wooded area he hadn’t been in before.
These are the eyes he gave me just were the grass gives way to leaves and shade. Everything new has to introduced gently so he doesn’t get scared. So with happy sounds and lots of kisses for encouragement, BB followed me into the woods.
I stomped down the path for him, making sure to knock the wild blackberries and dog roses (ironic?) away from the path. His brother plows through them, but BB doesn’t get around so easy. We went a little ways, and I sat on a stump so he would sniff around some.
The upside to a place as scary as the woods is LOTS OF STICKS! Once he realized there were more sticks than he could carry, and no grass to hide them if they dropped, he was in puppy heaven…He bounced around, shaking his stick and playing tease with me. Then he laid down, and it was time to go inside. He was hurting.
He got the royal treatment, being carried halfway to the door, and getting his pain rub massaged in while he rested on the couch. A nice long nap ensued while his big brother Kenai went on a car ride. But the day was only beginning.
Since I have some trouble getting around myself, and wore out halfway through my errands, Kenai and I came home for some help. So my Mom, my cane, and an excited little BB joined us in the car. Kenai needed his ears retaped, (I’ll sit with you: that’s what brothers are for), and we had to go the best place on earth: the PUPPY STORE!
Now the puppy store really is the best place on earth as far as BB is concerned. It is a small place, and everyone there loves him. It is quiet, too. He doesn’t show any timidity at all, and big brother is there for security purposes, just in case. BB can go off leash, pick out his new chew, test-rest the beds, and ride home with the food bag right next to him. What more could a pup ask for?
So BB is home on the couch now, gnawing away at a bone so stinky and messy, only a boy could love it. (Good thing somebody came up with couch covers…) Dinner time is an hour and half away, and all is peaceful for a boy. Tired, sore, but happy. Happy is how a pup is supposed to be…
April 27, 2008
· Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged great dane puppy, littermates, puppy orthopedic problems
How could anyone not fall in love with those eyes? This is BB, a Great Dane puppy who began his life healthy and sound. Then at 3 weeks old, BB underwent surgery to repair the life threatening hernias. He stopped breathing 3 times. But his heart was strong, and never quit.
He survived his surgery, and everyone thought that exercise and time would straighten out his leg. So at 9 weeks old, BB came home with us and his brother, Kenai.
It didn’t straighten out. The injury that gave him the hernias also severely damaged the growth plates of his leg. So as he grew, the bones deformed. And Great Danes seriously grow: an inch a week and a pound a day during growth spurts.
At 16 weeks old, we took him to the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri in Columbia. He was in obvious pain, and could barely use the leg at all. Something had to be done.The vets there said it was the worst angular limb deformity they had ever seen in a puppy his age. Uh-oh.
BB has multiple deformities of the tibia, femur, and pelvis. He was x-rayed, CT scanned, and plastic models of his leg were made. All the while, his sweet temperment, and beautiful eyes won everyone’s heart. The students stayed after shift to play with him, and not a soul could walk by his crate without stopping to pet him.
Three surgeons are trying to come up with techniques that will straighten his leg. For now. Because his growth plates are the cause of the deformities, and he is a Great Dane puppy, every growth spurt will twist and bend the bones again. He is looking at surgery after surgery until he stops growing a year and half from now.
The sweet Beebster will spend his entire puppyhood in an ex-pen, not running, not playing with his brother Kenai, not getting to be a puppy. But his heart is still strong. When we take him outside to play, he lights up like a Christmas tree!
He is timid now, afraid of things a people alot. He feels vulnerable, unable to run away. Big Brother Kenai is his security blanket. Everything’s fine if big, muscular Kenai is there with him. But Kenai can’t always be there, so we have to work on socializing the little tot. BB is all about approach: happy, bright, and encouraging.
He was terrified of a rake, and I turned it into a game: rake moves and BB grabs the twigs it left behind. Then the rake is a fun thing. The same with trash bags. BB needs alot of positive training, lots of love and cuddling. If we stand over him like his mother would, and he can hear a heartbeat, feel a body next to him, he grows bolder.
So this blog is his story, from this day on. There are links on the blogroll to his brother’s blog, with baby pics and pics of the Brother’s Grin being littermates! There aren’t pages here, since BB’s brother’s blog has tons of info about Danes. But BB gets a blog too, a record of his trials and triumphs!
Careful, or he’ll win your heart too…
