Leo walks again!

It is Monday. It is the day of Leo's very first walk in over a month. He couldn't believe it, and neither could I. He was allowed 5 minutes of walking and that is what we did. At first, his left foot was dragging a bit, but with just a tad increase of this walking speed he got that out.
His walk is still not very graceful, but knowing this dog, he will probably get back to some sort of graceful gliding over the streets. Unfortunately I left my phone on the charger while we walked, so no pictures here, but I have to say, he did wonderfully (and you're just going to have to believe me, reader!).
Today I used Leo's prong, which sounds harsh on an somewhat invalid dog, but the vet said to avoid letting Leo pull on the leash. He suggested a harness which would relocate the force of his pulling away from his spine more towards his chest, but since Leo walks a perfect heel with that heavy chunk of metal on, the vet said it isn't a problem at all.
We do own a harness, in case you were wondering, and not just any, no. Custom made, by my very own husband, both of our dogs received hand crafted harnesses made from paracord a few months after they came to live with us. They worked well for a long time, but either the harnesses were shrinking slowly over time, or (could it be?) our dogs were growing.
And I think we all know by now, that our dogs aren't obese, but fit with muscle, so their harnesses don't fit them anymore. But now that we have a good reason, Shawn sat down to fix the boys harnessess, actually, as I write this.
I will post pictures as soon as my teachers quit bugging me with such things as homework and class time... What are they thinking? So probably on the weekend we will have a few good shots of the boys in their harnessess and Leo walking down the street.
Now it is only 2 more weeks for Leo until he gets to be outside his crate for a little while and is allowed to play with his little brother again. They sure are trying over and over and even through the crate, but unfortunately we always have to break it up, as much as it pains us.
But, soon they get to be together more than just cuddled up at night. Oh I do have a picture of them cuddled up at night. If I have already posted this, please forgive me, I had class until 9.05pm today.

It is hard to see him, but Flummi uses Leo as his 

pillow. This is their first night back together. For the night 

we put a gate to keep them from wandering

The past 2 weeks

It has been a while since I last updated Leo's road to recovery. In short: he is doing very well. However, I want to go to detail a bit more than that. Leo celebrated his 7th birthday on June 2nd, and since he wasn't allowed to move much still, he got doggy ice cream, and a new toy, where he has to figure out how to get out the treats I stuffed in there (hint: you have to squeeze it).
He also had some visitors, my mom and her gentleman friend from Germany came solely to see Leo (and maybe also my graduation), which made him really happy, because Grandma spoiled him a lot with a new really comfy new bed for his crate, more chew toys, cookies, human food and of course tons and tons of cuddles and pets. In case you wonder, Flummi was spoiled a lot, too, but not so much with toys and food, but with the fact that he was taken places, such as Carmel and other beautiful spots, where Leo could not accompany us.
To talk about the recovery: It is incredible to see improvement every single day. Thinking back to when we first got him home, how he wasn't able to pee and could barely move his feet the way he wanted, to see now that he actually lift his leg when he pees and to see that he is able to empty his bladder fully when he wants to.
He now walks on grass and carpet very securely. As predicted by his operating Doctor whose name I cannot remember to spell, he did lost his grace, and walks like a drunk rhinoceros with a depth perception problem, but he can walk!! where he wants, how fast he wants and you better not stop him. The vet had told us at our last appointment 2 weeks ago that we can let him walk on carpet and grass more and more so he doesn't lost his muscles completely in his back legs, and to stand him up whenever we can, which is really hard, as he won't stand still. He even runs now, and we had to dig out his leash, that had caught dust since his accident. The most wonderful part is that he is allowed to get a few cuddles with his brother during the day, when we let him stay on the couch with us, and I really do believe that he enjoys his Brother-cuddles almost more than his human-cuddles. This is curious, as Leo has always loved people more than other dogs, with this only exception, which is thankfully his little brother.
My mother, Shawn and I then decided he needed more toys, so we took some old shirts and braided them together as a tug toy, which Leo has always used as a chew toy. So he is now basically laying in a kingdom of toys, and he seems very busy a lot. We also stopped his pain medication over a week ago, and he doesn't even seem to notice. The only pill he gets regularly now, is his fishoil, which was recommended by the vet and several other people, who give them to their dogs themselves.
Then last week my mother decided to expand his cage a little, because the weather turned hot and I know he likes to stretch out long, when he gets warm.

Leo in his expanded crate and new bed and Flummi, as

always, by his side

 

Leo has been making so much progress that we started to let him be on the lawn in the sun for a few hours while we were outside, and he has been enjoying it beyond explaining. He has been able to walk around on the grass here and there, and even been not crated at night, which did absolutely nothing, as he stayed in 1 spot the entire night, aside from getting a drink a few feet away.

On Sunday, we all went to go to a very dear friend's wedding, and my friend Sarah, who loves both our dogs dearly, stayed with the dogs. I felt bad about leaving them, not only because Leo is not 100% yet, but also because I have never left them before without Shawn being there. This was the first time we both went away and left our dogs with someone other than one of us. Scary stuff!

They both had a blast with Sarah and her friend Nick who is absolutely in love with both dogs, and they were healthy and very very excited when we came home.

The dogs weren't the only ones happy that we're back...

 

Today we had another vet appointment with Dr. Malte Schwartz at Sage in Dublin. Everyone was very very pleased to see Leo was doing so well. He walked into the vet with his sling on, but we were soon called out that he really doesn't need it, and he can actually already walk, but we wanted to look like we're playing by the book... Leo hates that sling, and we haven't used it. The doctor told us that some dogs just don't like them, and it is okay, as long as we make sure he didn't jump or run too much, which we did. So he is fine away from the sling.

Moreover, Leo has to be in his crate until Sunday, like we have been doing it, BUT Monday is the day that he gets to go on his first walk since his accident on May 12th. It will only be a 5 minute walk, but it will be a walk. We can walk him 4 times a day for about 5 minutes, which will make Leo very happy. 

After the vet, where he got his nails clipped as well, Leo got a bath and a new haircut at PetSmart. They said he was a little hard to work on, since he couldn't stand up, and therefore has a bit of a crooked haircut, which takes even more of his grace away, but we don't care, we just wanted him clipped and bathed. He looks magnificent, as his scar is now basically invisible.

All in all Leo is very healthy and happy. So are we, because we never thought that Leo will be able to go on normal walks in only 2 short weeks. And another week after that, we can roll the ball slowly for him to run after it.

This is like waking up from a nightmare for us, where we will all get to have our boy back in only a short 7 weeks total. Of course, he is still restricted from (running) stairs and jumping much, but who cares? He's back! 

Thanks to all the donations we got under the title "Let Leo walk again", it has actually happened! Leo walks again. It is pure happiness in the Schmagold-Stevenson household.

Visiting the Vet Neurologist. He's German, We like that.

Today Leo and I had to get up early because we had a vet appointment at 9am. The sad part for Leo is, that he was not allowed to have any breakfast before the vet visit. He gave me stinkeye for that.
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!