Firstly, how happy were we to come across this great website.

Our beautiful 5yr old Great Dane, Maddie was confirmed with oesteosarcoma a few weeks ago & after a bit of deliberation we decided to have her rear leg amputated & she will commence chemo treatment once recovered.

We certainly have our up & down days.  The day we brought her home, we thought what have we done to our poor girl.  How quickly she managed to get up & walk around, it was so surprising.  We are almost 1 week post op & know it is still early days.  We have been mostly impressed with her recovery, we are very proud of her.

Everytime we start to feel regretful, I jump onto this website & it is great to hear stories from other people & know that what we are going through is OK.

All our fingers are crossed that our lovely, playful, cheeky girl will return.  At the moment she seems very depressed & we sometimes wonder if she is angry at us for putting her through this.  Your stories tell us that it could be weeks yet, so thank you all for sharing your experiences.  

I know we did what we thought was best for her.  She has a lot of spirit & we hope she is around with us a little longer yet.

So thanks again for this great website & to everyone who contributes their stories, it certainly helps us out!!

I second what Karen says:  the meds could really be affecting her.  Our dog Max didn't seem to be back to "normal" until about 4.5 weeks after the surgery, then it was like a light switch flipped!  Just give your girl some time, and stay positive around her.  Keep us updated on her progress!

Welcome Maddie & her pack. Wow – I see you are from Australia. We are definitely going more global lately!

I'm sorry you had to find us here, but you won't be sorry you did.

If you are only 1 week post op, you are still deep in the thick of what is usually "two weeks of hell" – some people have an easier recovery, some have a longer harder one, but it is normal for her to not seem herself at this stage. And she's definitely not mad at you. We worried about the same thing with Abby. She would normally follow me everywhere, but after her amp, she didn't want to be near us. She wanted to hide and be by herself. The folks here and our onc. assured us that was normal due to the surgery and the meds combined making her not act like herself. Once her staples were out and the meds were done, she was her usual lovey, playful self.

Be sure to come here if you have more questions during the recovery and also to keep us updated. She's a gorgeous girl. It's pawesome to be a tripawd pawrent! Welcome to the club,

Jackie, Angel Abby's mom

Welcome to Maddie and her pack!

Those first few weeks are tough.  I encourage you to keep coming here for support… you will find a wonderful community to help you through this rough patch.  I too am a Dane Mom and my Nova is one of the "old-timers" here… an 8-year-old Dane, she is an osteosarcoma survivor over 38 MONTHS post amputation… and STILL cancer-free!

Nova is a front leg amputee but I also had a rear leg amputee pup in the distant past.  They each have their challenges, but I can assure you that Maddie will soon be back to normal and running around again.  Nova was not herself until she was entirely weaned off the pain meds.

Please check out Nova's blog at nova.tripawds.com if you want to read about her journey and PLEASE do not hesitate to send me a private message if you have any Dane-specific questions or just want to chat about your girl.

Dane Leans to you from Queen Nova!

Dane Mom Sue and Nova