Hi Joelle & Calvin!

I hope Calvin's surgery was a success!?

While I'm sorry to hear that you and Calvin (& family) had to endure the same difficult and emotional decision making process that I was faced with a month ago, I am very happy that I saw your post! Over the past few months, this site has been an incredible source of reassurance and advice to me and my tripawd, Charlie.  As much "taking" (of advice, etc.) as I've been doing, I'm very thankful for your post, as it provides me the opportunity to reply and thus "give back" a little.

My Charlie is an 8yr. old, 28lb. mixed breed who fought a 3yr. battle against an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma on his front, right leg. Over the course of 3 years, Charlie endured 3 surgeries to remove the tumor locally (none of which were successful) and a 1.5 month radiation regimen (also unsuccessful).  I'd give anything to be able to go back and amputate from the very start, but that is neither here nor there.

Charlie's front leg was amputated on 12/12/14, so just a month ago. Given how recent Charlie's surgery was, I wanted to fill you in on our experiences during this first month as a tripawd.

To start, when I first brought Charlie home (two days after surgery) I was an emotional disaster. Luckily, as a student I was out of school for the holidays and able to be with him 24-7.  For the first 4 or 5 days I'd catch myself staring at him as I went back and forth in my mind over whether I'd made the right decision - after all, it wasn't like the tumor had been causing Charlie any pain yet, we only took the leg off to ensure that the cancer cells wouldn't spread up into the chest cavity.  I could go on and on about how emotionally distraught I was during that first week, but that's not helpful haha - I just hope and pray that you and your family are emotionally stronger than I was during that 1st week period!

For the first week he mainly slept, ate, & let me carry him outside to pee. Yes, I carried him, and No, carrying him was probably not necessary for as long as I did it.  He certainly was not some super-star-speedy-recoverer haha, I think lack of youthfulness and his general couch-potato personality may be partly to blame for that, but he did surprise me (just as I'm sure Calvin will surprise you) with his ability to get about on 3 legs from the very start.

Side note - as crazy as it may sound, if you're anything like me, then the first time you see Calvin get into a tripod squat and go poo, you'll be a very proud mama! (haha I was way too proud of Charlie's ability to balance himself in that position so soon after surgery) That said, Charlie was very constipated the first week (probably due to the painkillers) - my vet recommended a tablespoon of canned, unsweetened pumpkin for him (apparently it's a great source of fiber), and that did just the trick!

Slick Surfaces & Raised Bowls - I read a lot about tripawds having difficulty &/or being very hesitant when walking on slick surfaces; luckily Charlie hasn't seemed to care about hopping on floors vs carpets - except for when he's eating! I bought a small area rug for the space where his food bowls are and it's been very helpful.  Also, I'd highly recommend raising Calvin's food dishes up off the floor. Charlie really isn't very tall so at first I didn't think it'd be necessary, but after just raising his dishes 3in. off the floor I saw a huge difference in terms of how much easier it became for him to eat & drink now that he's on three legs.

Treats - be careful in those first few weeks about giving too many treats! Yes, you're probably wanting to generously reward everything Calvin is able to achieve, but keep in mind that weight gain is especially bad for a tripawd.  I only give this warning because we fell victim to my own desire to "treat" Charlie for every little sign of progress.  For me, it took having to "loosen up" one of his new harnesses after just owning it for a week that finally got things to click for me... I would never have guessed he could gain weight so quickly just by consuming a few extra treats each day (and obviously due to getting far less exercise than he did on 4 legs)... so just be aware that it can happen super fast.

Massage - I've also found that Charlie thoroughly enjoys a good massage - like enjoys them at a level that he never did before haha.  From what I've read (& have now found through Charlie's experience), a new tripawd's body is essentially re-learning how to move itself given the change in posture & walking style - Calvin's going to be building up muscles that, previously, hardly ever got used - those muscles are going to be sore.  During the first 2 weeks I gave Charlie a nightly massage and, when I could fit it in, a massage in the morning too. Charlie particularly likes having the muscles directly along the sides of his spine and down his remaining front leg kneaded.

Paws & Nails - Charlie's surgeon & vet were both very firm in that his toe nails would now need to be kept short - the shorter the better. The impact of that one remaining paw for every 1 step is going to be greater than when he had two paws for every 1 step - so reducing nail length helps prevent joint pains from setting in too quickly. That may sound odd, and this is going to sound gross, but it was described to me like this: Imagine you let your toenails get way too long; with every step you take, the toenails are hitting & scraping against the inside front of your shoe; before long, your actual nail bed is going to be bruised simply from the friction of your toenail hitting against your shoe, which is going to make your whole toe feel sore in the long run.  So yeah, haha do your best to start keeping Calvin's toenails extra short!  I didn't want to have to take Charlie to the vet every other week for a nail trim, and I'm always too scared to cut his nails myself, so I bought this awesome electric nail filer (that I found at Petsmart) that allows me to give his nails a quick file once a week.

Also, in all of my reading, I kept seeing that keeping the pads of the paws moisturized (i.e., not rough & cracking) can help tripawds have better traction on slick floors.  I was very hesitant when it came to this - I didn't want to use anything that would result in a residue or oily paw prints all over my hardwoods.  By coincidence really, I found that coconut oil works great for Charlie's paws.  I'm lucky in that when Charlie goes to bed at night, he's out for the whole night; he doesn't get up and wander around so the oil has time to soak into his paws overnight & they're totally dry by morning.  He doesn't lick it off either, but from what I've read I believe it's safe to ingest if he chose to.  The coconut oil has worked so well at keeping the pads of his paws moisturized that I've not even thought about looking into other products.

Bedding - Aside from the surgery itself, Charlie's new bed was the most expensive purchase (~ $70) I've made as part of his tripawd evolution. It's a memory foam mattress (from the Martha Stewart collection at Petsmart) that he loves.  I've found that the firm bed is easier for him to get up and down from than the pillowy dog beds he had before.

Hopping & Collar/Harness - Going on walks remains mine & Charlie's greatest source of angst.  I live in an apartment in a downtown urban area; Charlie and I were used to going on long walks every day - but this is no more.  Although Charlie is slowly building up his stamina, I do not foresee "long" walks returning to our daily routine.  That said, we still have our short walks!  The new hoppy gait Calvin will have at first will become a little bit more graceful with every week of recovery.  I can say that for my Charlie, he didn't seem to have really mastered the hop until about 3.5 weeks in.  He was perfectly able to hop around during those 3.5 weeks, but it just looked a bit stiff and uncomfortable. By the end of about 3.5 weeks though, there was far less stiffness and far more fluidity to his movements - even people at the dog park made mention to me how smooth his hoppy walk had become between week 3 & 4.  So basically, try and relax and be patient, give Calvin time to really perfect his hop-walk.

You've probably seen (at least I did), a lot online about how a harness can be better for tripawds because they offer more support than a collar.  I'm still on the fence about just how much better a harness really is, though like most things I guess it depends on the dog.  Because of everything I read, I've tried multiple harnesses, but due to the loss of a front leg, I can't seem to find one that doesn't twist/fall to the side as he walks.  Also, because Charlie has always been one to walk a few feet behind me, attaching the leash to the top of his body (where most harnesses have a d-ring for leash attachment) means the leash lays atop his head as he walks & he hates that.  For us, a collar is not much better than a harness.... with the collar, the leash bounces up and down in his face with every step/hop - which I'm convinced must be the most annoying thing ever to him.  Perhaps you & Calvin will have better luck deciding between a harness or collar than we've had.

Charlie's/Calvin's Emotional State - Each dog has a unique personality.  Maybe because I'd read so much about a dog's ability to "bounce back" and their outstanding ability to "not emotionally mourn the loss of a limb", I had perhaps an unrealistic expectation of how Charlie would react to becoming a tripawd.  Without a doubt, Charlie was a bit depressed for the entire first month of being a tripawd - though it was likely due less to the loss of a limb and more so the result of muscle soreness and adjusting to shorter walks.  By week 3 we were making daily trips to the dog park but still, his personality wasn't shining quite like it used to.  Until just recently, I'd been worrying that I'd destroyed my dog's zest for life.  I'm happy to say though, that in the last 4 or so days (so a full month post-surgery) I've seen signs of his old spunk showing through again.  He's not come all the way out of the dumps yet, but I'm no longer worried because the signs of a full recovery are there.  I tell you this not to worry you, but just to let you know that Calvin, emotionally, is going to be just fine.  Calvin may even have his same ol' spunk immediately post-op, like I've read that some dogs do.  However, if Calvin is like Charlie and it takes a few weeks for the "lights of his world to turn all the way back on," try not to let your worry get the best of you - patience is key; all of his emotional lights will brighten again, just maybe not as quickly as those darn puppies (sarcasm - I love all dogs, young & old) seem to be able to.

And now that I've reached the end of my spiel, I realize that I didn't actually provide all that much "advice."  Sorry about that, but hopefully there's at least one or two things you can take away from it all.  And to think, I came onto the site tonight to look for info on joint health supplements and I ended up writing quite the novel-length forum post haha.  

Above all though, the key piece of advice that I do want to pass on, is this:  Don't make the first month of tripawd parenting more difficult than it needs to be by filling it with worry.  That was the mistake that I made; I set my expectations too high when it came to my Charlie's recovery pace.  I wasted a lot of emotional energy on worrying over Charlie's first few weeks of stiff hopping, his emotional state, etc., when all I really needed was to exercise a little more patience.   Every dog is different, so while I do hope for Calvin that his recovery is a speedy one, don't wear yourself out emotionally if things don't seem to "click" fast enough - everything will eventually "click" into place, just maybe not at the lightening speed we all wish it would.

And definitely check out the Tripawds youtube videos - they're quite uplifting when you're snuggling on the couch with your own tripawd!

Praying for Calvin, you & your family!  I look forward to seeing an update on Calvin's progress!

jerry said
Page and Charlie, welcome! I'm so glad you posted, thank you! Your future posts won't require approval.

This is PAWESOME insight and extremely valuable, don't ever think what you just wrote isn't helpful, it truly is. In fact it's so helpful I'd love to included it in our news blog if you're OK with that. And if so, please share some photos in a new topic all about Charlie, you two definitely deserve your own topic somewhere like in Share Your Story, we are so glad you're here. Your attitude is fabulous and you both have so many great days ahead!

Feel free to use my post!  though, it's a bit old now haha