As always coming to Sage Dublin, Leo was welcomed very warmly by the staff and I had the chance to meet Dr Malte Schultz, the neurologist in Dublin. He was, like me, born and raised in Germany. Last week when Leo had trouble releasing himself, Shawn had the chance to meet him, and he was the one teaching us how to motivate Leo to pee. So Dr Schultz already knew Leo and took some time to talk to me about Leo and his recovery and the future of it. He was very pleased to see how well Leo can already stand up and regulate himself. His guess is that Leo only has 2 more weeks of strict crate rest ahead of him. Of course, he won't be the same as before, but he won't need to be crated anymore when we are home. That is very good news as some dogs take many months until they are at this point. But not our Leo. He seems pretty happy and even got to sniff another very friendly dog, something he had to miss out on since his accident.
We then proceeded to go get Leo's staples removed from his back, which took about a minute and he didn't seem to mind. I asked to be there when they do it because I am really curious and enjoy to learn about things like these. So they let me. Leo was a trouper although he did request intense belly rubs from the technician, which made it hard to reach his back. But he made up with all his charms for it.
And then we were done. It was great walking out of the vet with Leo in the sling, it feels great to know that I he can somewhat take care of himself, and that he enjoys being on the ground and doesn't have to be carried anymore very often.
The biggest happy ending (for Leo) was that when we got home he got to walk around the front lawn, as the vet had cleared him to do, walk over the lawn by himself, just not on the pavement, and enjoy some deep sniffs from the front yard bushes. And all that was crowned by having breakfast and peanutbutter (I felt bad because he had to wait so long).
Since I haven't taken a picture of Leo yet today, here is one from last night, demonstrating how close the bond between out 2 dogs is:
On a normal day without herniated discs and its consequences, Leo and Flummi cuddle together when it is cold, usually after playing together until they fall asleep. Leo came to us because he and Flummi got along so well, and I think although Leo is the one whose body is hurt, Flummi is very hurt, too, as he does not get to play with his best buddy, his brother anymore (and god knows he tries!), and he also doesn't get to cuddle with him anymore. Leo usually cleans and grooms Flummi's face about once a week or so, and even that is not happening anymore, due to Leo being in his crate 24/7.
I know this blog is about Leo and his injury plus recovery, but Flummi is part of Leo's life, so I want to pay some attention to him here once in a while. So here is another picture, taken before Leo was even officially moved in with us.
All in all, we are very happy with Leo's recovery, and I think so is he. Now that my semester is over I can focus on him more and spend time laying on the floor with him, so he doesn't have to be alone so much. Thanks again, for all your support and positive thoughts and prayers, we appreciate it, and apparently it works really well, so keep it up everybody and Leo will be up and walking again in no time. Thank you!
