Answering Your Questions: How's Dozer doing?

[trystinn]

He's doing great, we haven't had an accident at the house in days. That said, he had two accidents at the groomers yesterday - he doesn't know how to signal that he needs to go out. Here he just uses the dog door. We support this by escorting him outdoors when we get up at 4am, so it's the first thing he does every day and we escort him out before bed, so it's the last thing he does every day. And since the dogs are constantly going in and out, he's had ample opportunity to tinkle outdoors. Now, if I could just convince him not to pee on the porch! This was an issue with Tracker, some may recall, but it (pardon the pun) petered out. *WEG*

Flash has been much better behaved since we brought Dozer home. Instead of getting into mischief when he's bored, he has Dozer to play with. And curl up with at night, though Flash is under the covers doing so while Dozer is on top. Watching the two of them run through the yard together, shoulder to shoulder, you'd think they were harnessed together. Charge of the Light Brigade appears to be their theme song. I promise to get this on video once the temperature creeps up into the fifties again!

Gracie, well that's been a slightly different story. She can't seem to wrap it around her border collie brain that Dozer doesn't need herding. And she's none to pleased by the rather loud way Dozer & Flash play - so what often begins as her joining in the wrestling fray, ends in her attacking Dozer. Poor Dozer, for his part, thinks Gracie is trying to play with him even once things have gone south he's still darting in to play. Oy.

Libby is having a ball. She adores playing with Dozer, they've even groomed each other, etc. Nursing, however, she only does with Flash. Dozer is not the Mommy! As I speak, she's napping up on top of the scanner on the Watchtower where she can look disdainfully down at the dogs at her convenience.

Comments

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

What's the story with his leg? What's the longterm prognosis?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

His leg was x-rayed previously and declared "stable" and does not appear to cause him pain. At some point, it's likely to become arthritic and we'll have to choose what to do treatment-wise at that point.

Should the joint fail completely we'll either have to: a) surgically graft and pin the leg into a "straight" leg without a movable joint or b) amputate. I'm wondering if there's some supportive brace we can devise to help prolong it's health and we'll likely try something later.

He's just as ambulatory as Flash - jumping up on beds, sofas and chairs. He has to sort of "fling" it forward when he runs and it trembles a bit sometimes when he's standing on it especially on smooth floors. Otherwise, as long as you don't try to pick him up by his legs (and who'd do that?) or stick your hands in his armpit there's no pain issue.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a typical bagle -- being ambulatory on the furniture beats minor incoveniences like a bum leg every time!

Any theories as to how it got that way?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

The vet thinks it's a congenital birth defect, given how bowed his legs are - bad breeding.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Whew, at least it wasn't an injury inflicted by some awful person!

ETA: I didn't want to have to charge out there and kick someone's sorry ass.

[keastree.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of misshapen dogs, and many of them get through long lives in loving homes with malformed appendages like Dozer's. A particular chihuahua springs to mind, and Cody is just stiff all over because of age.

I'd not worry it too much. Sounds like he's got a lot of mobility that he'll probably keep as long as he is active.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Oh, Gods' yes! Happy babies come in all sorts of unique forms and while not quite to formula they are no less loved.

I'm not so much worrying as working to be prepared so we're not caught out with no backup. And you know how very active our dogs are. :)

[keastree.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. I get it.

FWIW, Cody is 17. :)