Black Dog Pupdate - Week 7 post-CUE surgery

Our black dog keeps improving, now more than 7 weeks after his CUE surgery. He still has a noticeable limp but every other sign is looking great. Moreover, he walks really fast and enthusiastically compared to just a few weeks ago.

It is astounding to me how much of my day seems to be spent either doing R's exercises with him, walking with him, stretching his elbow, or icing his elbow. I feel as if there aren't enough hours in the day! I need a rest day :)

Here's a video to show his gait and his exercises for Week 7. His exercises have become far more challenging. He still targets with each paw while standing on a squishy disk but now he must alternate paws so that he learns to catch his balance quickly with his left front leg. He also does "push-ups", although they are now with only one front leg (I hold the other one up). He also crawls forward and backward, walks backward, and plays tug. Obviously, the vet is now focusing on rebuilding the strength and coordination in that his left forelimb.

Here's a video to show you the "state of affairs". One thing that you cannot tell from the gait part of the video is how much faster he's walking. He's speeding up by the day. You can watch the video here or at Youtube.

One unexpected twist has been that Shyla seems to lose confidence when I spend a lot of time training R during his rehab. So, I've been making sure to spend plenty of time training and playing with her. She's a lucky dog to get to play in meadows full of flowers.

But she and I are excited for the day that R joins us too!

That's the goal - and that's why I've been running myself ragged trying to keep up with all his rehab!