Ahhh, massage therapy!

I think I found a little bit of heaven this morning. I also got confirmation that I’ve trained my Woman really well. She gave me a massage. I think that’s what she called it. I don’t really care what it’s called, it was blissful. I was laying on the floor by the fire, all warm and cozy, and then she made things even better! She started rubbing my neck and shoulder, and it was delightful!

I tried to maintain my reputation as unconcerned and proud, but I don’t think I did a very good job. I accidentally made some yummy noises and had a little gas. That was kind of embarrassing.

I hope she does it again soon. I don’t want her to know that, but I really hopes she does. I hope some of you guys reading this get massages. If you don’t, you should come over here and let my Woman give you a massage. I’ve trained her really well.

Love, D.

A Tripawd’s Love Poem

 

My family’s kind, my family’s sweet;

They don’t care I have 3 feet.

I think today they love me more

than the time when I had 4.

They bought me lots of brand new stuff;

A pretty quilt with lots of fluff,

Some squishy food that tastes so good,

An ugly shirt that has a hood.

I try to walk and then they help,

and now I hardly ever yelp

unless my sore place gets bumped hard,

or I fall down in my yard.

I love my family ’cause they love me.

They even clap when I go pee!

I show love daily without fail;

I say it when I wag my tail.

Ruff, ruff day

Dakota isn’t feeling up to writing down his feelings today so I will try my best to do half as well as he does at this blogging business.

Yesterday Dakota had a hard day. He had a few times where his incision or his shoulder was bumped and he yelped. Evelyn was playing and got very exuberant and jumped at Dakota like she’s used to doing. She landed on that poor shoulder and Dakota yelped something awful and then tried to eat Evelyn. I rescued her and sat with Dakota trying to calm him. He was trembling and very shaky. I convinced him to  lay down and then sat beside him until he seemed to calm down.

Later in the day, D must have gotten bumped somehow when he was going outside. I’m not sure if he brushed against the door jamb or if he stepped over the threshold funny or what, but he went through the same yelping and trembling. I went out with him and he appeared to become distracted and able to check out the scenery.

Dakota did spend a lot of time worrying his incision site yesterday. He completely soaked the shirt I had on him. Even though he’s wearing a shirt, he can still irritate the wound with all the licking. I had to put him back in the pink fleece that he hates. It’s really thick, so he can lick all he wants but it doesn’t get wet. I made him sleep in it, too.

After the second yelping episode, I gave Dakota a single Tramadol. He’s been off all pain meds since day 11 or so, but I didn’t know what else to do. I also hoped it would sedate him enough to interrupt the constant licking.

This morning, Dakota did the yelping again when he went down the single step into the back of the house. He even tried to bail out and not do the step down, but hey, with one front leg there’s really no bailing out. I had to go out with him to encourage him to pee. He was convinced, I think, that only pain would come from moving around.

Also, the inside of the pink fleece is stained this morning with seepage. I guess Dakota has irritated this thing enough to where it is leaking. I think I’m going to paint some vinegar close to the incision line and see if that stops the licking. If not, I have Cholula and Tabasco!

Dakota has eaten well so I don’t think anything serious is going on. Still, it’s disturbing to hear him cry out so. These are not minor yelps like when you step on a tail; these are the “oh dear lord I’ve been hit by a bus!” kinds of cries.

So that’s the report for 2 1/2 weeks. Hopefully Dakota will feel better this afternoon. If he does, perhaps he can post an update himself.

All kinds of yummy goodness…and barf, too

So last night my Woman and my Boy had pizza. She said that because the day before was my 2-week ampuversary and we didn’t do anything special, we would have a pawty last night. I had gone to the v-e-t and found that I am losing weight on my diet, so it seemed the perfect time for pizza! Evelyn and I split a slice. It wasn’t enough and we told my Woman that, but she acted like she didn’t hear. In fact, when Evelyn got right up in her grille to tell her about it, my Woman pushed Evelyn away and told her “bugger off.” That’s not very nice.

I took over then and rammed my head into my Woman’s leg over and over, trying to get her attention. She said “you’re getting back to your obnoxious self, Dakota” and told me to lay down. That’s not very nice either.

Then today I remembered that it’s almost the end of February, but it’s still February. We all know what February is, right? Girl Scout Cookie Time! I found where they’d hidden the cookies, and Evelyn and I both tried to get it open, but then my Woman saw us and took the box. Turns out my Man bought them this year and he only bought what he likes, which are Thin Mints. Well, we can’t have those because of the chocolate. My stupid Woman got us some crunchies, like she thought that would be any kind of acceptable substitute. I ate mine, but I also made a rude gesture behind her back.

That's my attempt to get it open.
Evelyn was more aggressive but alas unsuccessful.

 

When I first had my leg stolen by stealth and extreme ninja skills, my Woman was putting yummy squishy food on top of the hard stuff. She started slowly taking that away last week. I noticed. I did. But without opposable thumbs, there’s not much I can do about it. Now Evelyn and I both get chicken broth on our hard stuff. And my Woman told my Man last week that when this hard stuff is gone, she isn’t going to buy any more of it. She said she’s going to start vomiting on us! I mean, oh my dog! This woman I trained so well to be my perfect Woman is going to hurl on me! So when she barfs on me the first time, I’m going to put out a bulletin here and ask for a new family. If anyone else out there is getting barfed on, please speak up before it’s too late! If we join together, we can stop this madness. She even said it with a smile on her face. I need a new Woman.

I went for a car ride and did not barf

My Woman took me in the car today, and I tried really hard to act like I wanted to go. When I saw the leash, I knew the drill. I decided to have a little fun, though, and I drug her down the driveway to the back of the car. She kept saying, “Dakota, wait!” She wanted to open the back of the car and then help me jump in, but I wanted to jump before she opened the car. That actually doesn’t work out very well, to be honest.

I went to the post office because there were 3 boxes waiting for us there. It was like Christmas! Three boxes! And 2 of them were for me. One was from Jim and Rene. It was the anxiety wrap that I’m going to test out and then review. My Woman and Jim and Rene are hoping that it will help me in the car. My Woman also hopes it will help when I lick everything  because I’m nervous. I don’t care about that. I like licking holes in the carpet.

The other package was from Spirit Indi, or maybe she’s Angel Indi. Her pawrent is Raina and when Indi was a tripawd, she had this pawsome red harness that helped her get around. Unfortunately, Indi didn’t get to use it very long because she got much sicker and then went to heaven. Raina said I could have it, and that is the most special thing ever. So Indi’s harness came and my Woman put it on me and took my picture and said it made her want to cry because it was such an honor to put Indi’s harness on me. I’m not sure what that was about, but the harness smelled really good. It smelled like Indi, and she was a girl dog so I liked it.

I also went to the v-e-t and got weighed. My Man and Woman have been giving me less food, which ticks me off, but they say it’s to help me get around better now that I am a tripawd. I refused to get on the scale so my Woman hauled me onto it and the v-e-t petted my head while I sulked. When I had my surgery, I weighed 86 pounds. Today I weighed 78 pounds. So how much did my leg weigh? That’s the magic question.

I wished I hadn’t lost any weight because my Woman said that she would quit my diet if it wasn’t working. She said if I hadn’t lost weight, she would let me have more food because I have been unhappy with less food. She didn’t think I understood what that meant, but I did. So I hoped I was still 86 pounds. But you know what? I’m kinda proud that I lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks.

After the v-e-t, we came home. I had a busy morning. I slobbered a lot in the car because it makes me nervous to go for rides. So there is my story of how I went for a car ride but I did not barf.

Love, D.

This is me wearing Indi's harness. It smells so nice...like Indi.