Happy New Year, everyone!
Dieter is doing great! He has still been getting around well, and has a lot of spunk and joy. Next Tuesday is round #3 of chemo. I can’t believe he’ll be halfway through that. So happy. He’s taking it well. It seems to slow him down for the first week, then he slowly works his way back to the puppy he is. I wanted to share something important that I learned today.
What I learned today: Read, read, read, read, read. The surgeon who amputated Dieter’s leg told me that I would not need rehabilitation therapy, that Dieter would learn on his own, over time, how to do stuff. I did a little reading today and I learned that Dieter learning how to do stuff on his own does not mean that he will do stuff in the right way, to avoid injuries (either acute, or long term), especially since he is young and has not had a lot of hiking, swimming, etc to help him learn how his body works in a variety of physical situations. I took my bed off it’s frame to lower it in the hopes that Dieter would be able to get up on the bed more easily and sleep with me, as he’d done before surgery. The last three nights I’ve been working with him, with treats, to get him to see he can make it up. He gets up on the sofa all the time and the bed is now the same height as the sofa. All wrong. I did some reading today and discovered that the way he does these things now can cause him injury and long-term problems as well. He needs to learn how to do things in a way that will not hurt him, and I’m now starting to rethink how he does everything from walking, to getting into and out of the car (I basically lift him up, haha). I realized that I need help.
I’m a student, and don’t have a lot of money, but I’m going to look into getting some help with rehabilitation therapy. There are a couple of places in town with certified therapists and I’m hoping I can have one of them meet Dieter, and help me come up with a plan that I can do entirely at home on my own (I can’t afford to take him to therapy sessions).
It just makes sense. I had a shoulder impingement for *years* and finally had some PT for it a couple of years ago. No issues since then. Same with a bum knee I’ve had all my life – periodic PT has helped tremendously. I now realize this applies to Dieter, too, and am taking the idea very seriously. I think everyone should, for the long term health of their pet.
