I did a ‘touch footie’, did ya see? BB, 21 wks old
Archive for May, 2008
BB’s First Step…by Auntie Lisa
BB cleans his plate, 21 weeks.
Yesterday was BB’s 4th day home. He’s not eating very well, a measly 3-4 cups per day. That’s not enough. So to encourage the former chow hound, I have started bringing his littermate, Kenai in the kitchen while he’s eating. The two are feircely competetive, so when Beebs left food in the bowl, I let his brother get a few bites… Little BB scarfed the remainder right down. The Brothers Grin–never dull.
BB’s been awfully stressed by our 2 year old neice, Emily, this past weekend. He really has a hard time with small children. But we’ll have a normal routine for the week, and we’ve made plans to reduce his weekend disruptions. Lesson learned, I believe.
He hasn’t been playing as much either, I think from the stress. He chews the devil out of his bones, but not alot of happy toy play. We’ll see about fixing that! A boy needs fun to keep up his spirits.
Yesterday morning’s physical therapy session was nondescript, getting only the same amount of movement in his knee as the day he came home. Mom was thoroughly discouraged. I was having a bad day myself, frustrated with my own pup, Kenai. But we let it all go, and gave a try at a soothing and peaceful approach to BB’s PT.
He just freaks out, the poor thing. It was much better when Mom was doing the manipulation. But he’s a long, long way to flexible, and absolutely not doing well with the directions from the vet. So I did some thinking…I know, that’s a dangerous thing!
He has three physical therapy sessions per day, morning, afternoon, and evening. Not getting the needed results with the directions given to us, we have “tweaked” the program. I never follow a recipe exactly, or knit a sweater according to directions… BB has a program tailored to him now.
For his afternoon session, we started with a long heating pad warm up, then took him for a very big walk first. That’s backwards from our directions. The idea was to tire him, because the more tired he is, the lower that hind leg hangs. Then it was up on the couch, with me holding his front end so he didn’t do the oochie pooch thing.
Mom began with the foot, pointed like a ballerina for so long it’s starting to freeze up. Then it’s moving the ankle around with the knee bent. The long tendon from the ankle to the hamstrings, the Achilles tendon, has plenty of stretch! The problem is in the hamstrings.
Then to move the knee, we bring the foot forward and back, down and up. That’s when he starts crawling. If we put a hand on the knee itself, BB goes into flight mode. So we are avoiding that. Once we’ve gotten the knee extended, we massage the hamstrings, waiting for them to relax enough to straighten the leg some more.
After about 10 minutes, we instituted a novel idea. I’m sure no one has ever heard of it, and it’s certainly on the eccentric end of creative. It’s called the “touch the footie” game. We stand BB up, with a hand under his belly so he can’t lay down, (silly boy!) and put a 6 inch box under the gimpy leg. I take his foot and touch the box, saying “touch the footie” and give a treat. Every time his foot touches, it’s a treat and praise.
This afternoon’s footie game was just to introduce the feeling of having his foot feel pressure from underneath. I didn’t expect to get a lot of cooperation the first time, and I didn’t. But the idea was planted.
This evening, BB got himself a very long walk, and the manual manipulation went much better. I kept him totally distracted by feeding pounds of treats. Then we tried the footie game again. He still needed my hand to bring it down, but bless all things holy, BB started to leave his foot on it. And push down…
BB put weight on that foot again. He was so tired, the other hind leg so exhausted, he had to. I’m hoping if we keep plugging away with the footie game, and tiring his other legs beforehand, we might just see him walking soon.
The whole affair was a very high excitement activity, deliberately making him scatterbrained enough not to remember to hike up the repaired leg. As he gets better with the footie game, we’ll be making a funny little one sided ramp with boxes, so he has one foot on the ground and the other touching the boxes as he walks. We can lower the height as he is able.
And Saturday, my physical therapist friend is coming to have a turn with BB. She’s worked with children, and horses, both of which don’t understand the principle of cooperating! She has this way of finding places on the muscles to press, and they almost magically release. I have high hopes for what she can show us.
The vets at U of Missouri gave us three weeks until we begin considering amputation. But if we can have BB bearing weight by then, the pool will be open and I’m prepared to battle out a little more time from them before giving up. For now, it’s one PT session at a time.
Mom has really settled down about things. When her hands touch that leg, BB the baby pup goes away from her head, and it’s just working on the anatomy. She’s back in Army Nurse role, and the whole affair is far easier on her emotions. And it’s easier on BB, too. He knows her, he trusts her, he fights less.
I can’t tell you all how grateful I am for the faithful followers of BB’s journey! The prayers and best wishes do make a big difference. Please keep at it with us…love and wags from BB, Kenai, Mom and me.
Got Problems…by Auntie Lisa
The Brothers Grin paying attention, 20 weeks
Okay. The physical therapy is not going so well for the Beebs. He still refuses to use his fixed leg. And doing the manual manipulation… he resists it terribly. To the point that his muscles are so tense, so tight, I can barely move the joints. I tried “tricking” him, by just moving the leg enough to feel resistance, and holding it there until he relaxed and had some chew time on his bone. Then I moved it some more.
But he only let it go so far before the ooching and shoving started. It’s not far enough. I’ve just held him down and done it, but that worries me. If I try stretching a tense muscle too hard, there is the risk of tearing it more than stretching it. I’m wondering if walking first rather than last will tire him enough that he can’t resist as much.
On a hunch, I tried manipulating the other legs. Yep. What I thought: not that it hurts so much as he doesn’t want his parts messed with. If there are any physical therapists out there, PLEASE give us some advice? Would a muscle relaxant be strong enough to stone him and make it easier for him? Or would it reduce his bite inhibition too much?
I have a friend who used to do some PT with me. She doesn’t manipulate so much as do muscle releases. Instead of torqing my neck around, she turned it slightly, found a pressure point, and held it until the muscle relaxed. I’m calling her Tuesday!
You might have noticed that I did his pt last night. I discovered yesterday, that Mom sits on the couch crying while she’s got my brother doing it for her. Later, I gently reminded her she can’t do that. She can’t dump it on someone else. BB trusts her, he needs her, and being upset only makes him upset. He’s not in awful pain, though I’m sure it’s uncomfortable. BB just doesn’t want it done. He wants to be left alone, and he can’t be.
And BB’s personality is more timid than ever. That’s not unexpected, but he refuses to walk on anything but carpet. In a house with laminate floors, that’s not going to work. The most concerning thing though, is his reaction to my neice, Emily.
Em is 2, and loves the pups. But she is 2. She’s loud, sudden in her movements, and at eye level with him. Alot of timid dogs don’t handle kids well. We’ve dealt with that before. He will take treats from her, let her touch and play with him, then suddenly he doesn’t.
Yesterday, after about 4 hours of her running about and yelling and all the stuff small children do, Beebs was really really stressed. Mom had put him in the expen shortly before I came downstairs from a nap, hoping she’d leave him alone. She did for awhile, but while I made dinner, Mom and Mike went to sleep. Dammit, they should know better.
When I came in the living room to see what the carrying on was all about, she was throwing his toys at him. No telling how long that had been going on. He barked at her, he moved to the middle of the expen where she couldn’t reach him, and generally looked like he wanted to run away.
If Mike hadn’t planned to take his daughter downstairs, I was going to tell him to. Later, after Em was gone for awhile, she came back, and when she reached for his bone, he snapped. He had her fingers in his mouth growling. He left no marks, but all the same, it’s clear he doesn’t want her near him.
He gave no warning either. One moment he was calm. The next he wasn’t. All his previous warnings had been ignored, and no one was listening when I said he was being pushed too far.
So there’s gonna be a showdown about keeping Em away from BB. Not just in the same room, but AWAY. She can monkey about with Kenai, he handles it all gracefully. But BB can’t take it. He’s stressed, he’s in pain, and he shouldn’t be subjected to hours upon hours of something that frightens him. The timidity can be worked on, but not while he feels so vulnerable and afraid.
I’m a bit put out with Mom about it all. I understand how hard it is, really I do. I’ve watch my past loves struggle and hurt and I couldn’t make it go away for them. But her reaction to all this is doing BB harm. She needs to protect him from the carrying on, as sweet as her grandaughter is, and she needs to step up to provide the care he needs.
Sitting around crying because her baby’s got a bad leg doesn’t help him. That’s the important thing–helping BB. She’s a Vietnam Vet, an army nurse, and she’s got to find that inner strength and calm or he really won’t ever get well.
Please, if you’ve read this and are not offended, would you pray for BB and his situation? Prayer has worked miracles with him so far, and he needs some more. Mom needs some more too. Em is still here today, so I’m gonna be the heavy, but I’m really concerned that when I’m not around, she’s going to push him too far. He’s going to seriously bite her if his limits are not respected. It will not be his fault.
And PLEASE pray that he beings to want to use his leg. If he’s not walking by the time he goes back for his check up in three weeks, amputation will be imminent. Danes don’t do well as amputees–they are just too big to make up for the loss. Already his other three legs are being damaged, growing strangely, and the other hind knee is clicking and making noise. His life will be cut short if he doesn’t walk, and soon!
BB the Homeboy…by Auntie Lisa
The four-pack is back! BB came home yesterday evening. He got his pain meds, settled on the ex-pen enclosed twin mattress for an hour, then had his first supper at home in a long time. He’s been eating out, you see. Food critic of sorts, (who hasn’t ever written a bad report by the way).
We got the expected whining from the Brother’s Grin, having to see each other through the barrier for awhile. Settling the logistics of managing the two boys will take a couple of days, of course: who goes out when and such.
BB does have a problem, and it’s a big one—he won’t use the leg without the supportive bandages. If he isn’t putting weight and walking on that leg when he goes for his 3 week check up, he will likely have made an amputee of himself. He was sent home with directions for his physical therapy, but the will to walk on it is up to him.
The pool isn’t even started yet, which means walking and manually manipulating the leg are what we can provide right away. I remember how BB took off behind his brother, all four feet on the ground, last Monday.
But he had his bandage then. He felt supported by it, even as clumsy and awkward as it was. Maybe walking his brother ahead of him so he feels the urge to catch up will override the learned behavior of three legging it.
We are under the gun to get him walking, and fast. It would be heartbreaking if the sweet pup went through all of the pain and loneliness of the past weeks, only to lose the leg because he wouldn’t use it, not because he couldn’t.
Having only a couple hours with him before my bedtime didn’t give me much opportunity to observe him, but the next post will have a lot more detail of how BB spends his days, how his pt is done, etc. We’ll finally have some new Beeber stories! I’ve been trying to prepare Mom for how much more play time and attention he’s going to require than he used to.
She’s in for a shock, finding out I wasn’t kidding!
Lazy BB boy…by Auntie Lisa
BB got him a new bone, 20 weeks
BB is a Great Dane puppy. He looks, however, alot like a bloodhound. He even has this funny little braying bark like a bloodhound. But when he starts adding a lazy hound imitation, he’s carrying the look alike thing a bit too far! Our bony Beebster has decided he rather prefers being a tripod…
He has his bandage off, his quadricep muslces are building from the electrical stimulation, he’s ready to take off on all fours again. He was using all four last Monday when his pride couldn’t let him fall behind big brother Kenai. All of a sudden, BB just doesn’t feel like it.
He had his first experience with a the underwater treadmill, and didn’t use the leg at all. Hum. I wonders is the boys a bit too pampered and loved? Nah, he isn’t getting any love or affection. None at all. Nobody likes him. Not a friend in the world…HA! Kenai isn’t known as Kenai, he’s known as BB’s littermate! More than likely he was unhappy about the water.
I hate to tell ya this toots but we don’t have an underwater treadmill at home. If you have to go in the drink here, it’s three and half feet to the bottom of the shallow end. I’m no Cruella, so he’ll get a puppy life vest, but he’ll swim or stay in the heated water until he’s a pickle lipped sponge with soggy fur!
Maybe he does need the feeling of not having solid ground under him to set off the instinct to use his leg again regularly. The splashy paddle technique isn’t something he’s needed before, so there isn’t any three-legged habit in his repetoire. Silly Boy!
The vets were talking yesterday of sending him home tomorrow, but I’m sort of uncomfortable having him come home without all four legs functioning like they wanted. It’s not like Mom and I are physical therapists, and know how to design or adjust a program of PT puppy style. We can follow directions, but more than that might be asking a bit much of us.
Then again, he might need the littermate competition to inspire him, or have to swim to get things going again. I’m undecided. Not an unusual thing for me. All the same, Mom is going up to see her persnickity pooch tomorrow as she usually does on Fridays, and can have a conversation with his vets about it.
In the meantime, all you faithful prayer folks might fire up the engines again, and see if he listens to Jesus better than Dr. Fox?
What a funny goof, our crookedy bottomed BB. He’s going to be quite the handful when he does get home, I’m sure. He’s got all this play energy, four legs instead of three, and never had to be told to lay down and be quiet! Oh my, it’s coming!
It’ll be kinda fun, in a rotten way, to wind BB up really good and excited, then leave him for Mom to exercise! Paybacks for all the dogs whose outside run time was up to me…Ha, ha, your turn! The thing about doing that to a Mom is that they always get even. She’ll probably feed my boy beans before bedtime or something. Kenai doesn’t need help peeling paint…biowarfare kinda thing.
It would be great to have BB home again, though. It’s a holiday weekend, so BB will add to the chaos at the charcoal grill! And keeping his bro from crawling all over him will be a full time job. Still, that happy face in the house will be a very good thing. Our four pack is a bit of tripod itself without him: it stands, but don’t run so fast.
The Boy’s Back to Being BB…by Lisa Harmon
BB getting excited to see his brother, 19 weeks old.
This was the face I got when I told BB I was going to go get Kenai out of the car! Oh my, when they set eyes on each other…Beebs actually got up and tried to run to him. BB’s all back to his old self, and then some. He’s got that great big bandage off now, and his leg is his own to use. And he’s certainly starting to use it!
The two brothers had a long, 2 hour visit, suddenly being scolded again for getting snarly with each other over toys. They’re back!! Back to normal…what a pair, those two. BB is GAINING WEIGHT, and getting so much stronger. He’ll be dropped in the drink tomorrow, getting all soaking wet on the underwater treadmill. Oh he’s not gonna like that. Tough, little love, you gotta get strong.
BB crawled head first into the shopping bag of bones and treats, the stink pot! He sampled all the treats, squeaked all the squeaks, and test chewed every bone. The puppy excitement! He wiggled all over. Then he lost his first baby tooth. I brought it home to Mom. Is there a puppy tooth fairy? I think there should be, leaving liver treats instead of coins.
We all hung out in the sunshine for awile with Jessica, BB’s student. It was nice and warm, and there was more than enough furry happiness to go around. BB’s gotten so attached to Jessica, that he watched and whined when she had to go inside to get some work done. I wonder is 4 hours is too long a communte for her and her boyfriend, since BB’ll want them to come home with him?
It’s such a long drive, but worth it, watching BB come alive and trying to keep up with his bro again. The last time they saw each other, BB growled at him for sniffing. Whole different story this time, thank God. Little boy’s been through an awful lot, and come through with his personality intact. He’s still our wiggly, giggly, love ya bunches little pup.
Life is good again, puppy tails are wagging. the-brother_s-grin-again (the powerpoint, give it a click)
The BB boy is doing GREAT…by Lisa Harmon
Check out the power point of Mom’s visit:
bb-in-hospital-19-wks
Jessica, BB’s buddy in the hospital, put this power point together for us. Hope the link works: never tried uploading a power point before.
It’s pics of our boy’s visit with Mom yesterday. He’s just a miracle pup, our Beebster. His fixator is off now, rods out! X-rays show there was no infection in the bones, and the screws are tight. His infection is gone, no drainage from the incision, and his temp is normal.
But most wonderful of all, BB now has a condyle on his femur where there was none before. A femur has 2 condyles, which is where muscles attach. He only had one before the surgery, and now there are two. Dr. Fox didn’t add one… ask me, it is all the prayers and thoughts of people who care. THANK YOU! And keep up the good work…
To strengthen the muscles of his leg, BB is getting electrical stimulation of the muscles, much like a human TENS unit. This uses a mild current to contract a muscle, making it stronger. It doesn’t hurt: I’ve used one myself. Kinda tickles though, which might explain the Beeb’s big grin!
If his last suture line is healed Monday, BB will begin using an underwater treadmill to help him use that leg again. I wonder if I can stick around and watch how they actually get a Great Dane in a tub of water! That could be exciting, since most Danes despise getting wet.
I am just over the moon about BB’s recovery: I was expecting the worst and hoping for the best. The College isn’t charging us for practically anything except his board, and I’m immensly grateful. All the high-end care he’s getting is practically free. We’d be in big financial trouble if we had to pay for all of it.
His case is a groundbreaker, just about the worst angular limb deformity they’ve seen, so everything they’re doing for him is rather new territory. No one knew how it would go for the little guy. BB’s likely to become one of the best learning experiences around for the vet students. He’s also the best puppy in my opinion!
His spirits are still good, being his bright and playful puppy self. He’s growing and being BB. What a lover, that boy. We couldn’t be happier to see him grinning, and enjoying the sunshine. I’m going up to see him again Monday morning. Maybe he’ll get a smooch or two, what ya think?
Good News for BB…by Lisa Harmon
BB, didn’t anyone teach you not to talk with your mouth full?! 18 weeks old, in the vet hospital.
This is one of the pics from our visit Monday, when he was too busy chowing down the liver treats to smile for the camera! Today is good news: BB’s temp in down, the twice daily irrigations of the infection are looking clean, and the boy is eating a full 8 cups of food a day.
Our little boy is back to being bright and playful. Such a RELIEF to us, and welcome news since today he is 19 weeks old exactly. He’s doing so well, Dr. Fox will be taking off one ring of his contraption, and starting his physical therapy today. And Mom is still going up to visit him Friday.
Just to clarify, I’m BB’s “auntie” of sorts. Mom is his “mom”, and Kenai his littermate is my boy. Doesn’t really matter to them, who’s whose, since we all make up a happy little four-pack! Lord, I’m so chipper I can’t stand myself–our boy is perking up and getting better.
Keep praying, and checking in? He’s got a long way to go, but knowing BB, the road will be strewn with more than surgeries, infections, and setbacks. There’ll be summer wildflowers and patches of sunny grass, like today.
He’s gotten his cheery demeanor back, and that’s what he needs. That’s what I like to hear! I’d like to see it even more, but he’s in far better hands than mine right now, so wait we must. The best I can do is relate what I’m told by his caregivers for right now. Soon, little boy, soon…
Baby Boy Got His Own Stuff…by Lisa Harmon
BB at the hospital in Columbia MO, 18 weeks old
That’s a happier boy! He wobbled in the room with his head down, his eyes and his heart flat. Then he set eyes on us… and we came with all kinds of good things!
He’s laying on his blankie here, that his brother liberally laid on, slobbered on, and generally stunk up for him, so he could smell us even when we’re gone. He’s got his chickie baby next to him, and the boy who wouldn’t eat couldn’t get his head out of the goodie bag!
Once the initial excitement was over, and pictures were taken, I got on the floor too. BB leaned on me, and gave Mom kisses. Neither one of us had a trace of makeup left after 30 seconds. He leaned, sighed, belched, then decided to take a doze on me.
Sweet boy, these 7 days have been such an ordeal for him. It’s not over yet, either. Thursday he gets the uppper ring off of the fixator and his pt starts. So Friday Mom is going up to see him again. I’ll go on Mondays, and Mom goes on Fridays. That way he doesn’t go more than 3 days without a visit.
The infection has been identified as a resistant staph, so he’s got two new antibiotics to tear up his tummy. But I made 3 meals per day for him, all with a good dose of probiotics and digestive enzymes. Hopefully that will protect his digestive system.
He wore out pretty quick, of course, being so very ill. He had to be carried back to his little home away from home. But all his toys and treats went with him, as well as our hearts. It’s against policy for him to have his own stuff, but the vets decided that keeping his spirits up is more important than policy. A lost blanket can be replaced, but BB can’t.
If the drive was shorter, we could stay more than an hour or so. But if Mom can handle Kenai on Mondays, I’ll be able to stay longer. And Mom will also since we don’t have to worry about getting Kenai home to eat. A nice bed, and a place to lay in the sunshine with one of us would do his little furry heart a world of good.
Smell is so powerful a sense for dogs, I hope and pray that his own blanket, with all our smells will give him comfort. Each visit BB will have a new blanket, made properly stinky for him by me, Mom, and Kenai. Perhaps he won’t feel so alone there in the hospital. Lord knows, we feel so lonely without him.
Skinny Boy Got a Cootie
BB’s still giving kisses, 18 wks old, in the hospital at Univeristy of Missouri.
