Well, it's now April--spring is creeping up on us up here in the north. Took Otis to the dog park today and he's really gaining confidence among his "peers". The past couple of visits he has been gregarious and independent--though he's still submissive when surrounded by more than one dog, especially dogs his own size. Funny thing--today there were about 5 other golden retrievers there, so we got a great chance to compare Otis physically to the other dogs.
Good news is that he's cuter than all the other dogs. (hehehe, mommy may be biased...) Bad news is that he's still got a smaller rear end and a shorter gait than the other goldens. Gotta keep on working on that. So that's our summer goal--keep up with the stretches. Keep up with the exercises. Keep up with the glucosamine supplements.
So now we just need the weather to cooperate with us and we'll get to it--I have to admit that we've been bringing him to the lake already to swim, even if we are in coats and gloves while we watch him! So we're ready, Otis is ready, and Butchie is ready to sit jealously by the door and watch our exercises commence. Let's get it on!
Read your blog from beginning to end. Enjoyed it very much. It was great to read of your experience with TPO. Our dog is 5 days into recovery now with her first hip. Hope we have a positive outcome like you did with Otis.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
Just found your blog. I am so glad! My golden is 9 mo and scheduled for her surgical consult for a TPO on the 25th. I was totally clueless as to what all that entailed and am so glad that you had this wonderful blog
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear that it's helpful! Otis is 4.5 years old today (it's also our daughter's second birthday) and he is doing amazingly well. It's so gratifying to see him running around like crazy, chasing deer and rabbits and jumping up into the car (finally!). We still get his hips manually checked annually and keep his weight low, and that works to keep him healthy. If he plays hard or runs hard, he'll limp a bit, but mostly just like we all do when we work our muscles. Best of luck!
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