Chili Dawg got tired after walking. He would take a few steps and have to rest. I think part of it was getting used to being a tripawd, even though he had already been walking like that before surgery, but part of it is also from the medicine. It definitely throws them for a loop! She will adjust to it and she will build up her stamina for walking, she may never be able to go run a 5K or anything but she will be able to go to Hammel woods again and go for a walk :-)

hang in there, you are doing great! Get some rest too.

Jenna & Spirit Chili Dawg

My husband slept next to Tate for a few nights, a lot of people do it so don't feel guilty.  Do what feels right.

If Dixie doesn't like the sling, then don't use it!  We used a towel but Tate didn't like it so we abandoned it.  It took a few days for him to get kinda mobile but that was okay because we wanted him to be resting anyway.

You're taking everything quite well!  Expect more/different weird, you probably won't be able to figure everything out but as long as Dixie is resting and healing, you're good.  She'll be SO much better once she's off the pain meds.  They are a necessary evil.

Jan & Tate

I think all of it sounds pretty par for the course, unfortunately.  I slept with Sammy for about a week on the floor.  I didn't know we weren't supposed to… who said we aren't? 

On youtube under tripawd Sammy is a video of when he was learning to walk.   He would stand, do two or three steps, then sit or lay down for awhile. 

Is Dixie on Gabapentin?  If she isn't I would recommend it as soon as possible.  Sammy went through really awful phantom pain episodes after his fentynal patch was taken off.  It helps lessen the nerves reacting to the missing limb.

Every dog is different so their reactions and feelings will be more or less then others.  Let us know how she is doing when you can.

Elizabeth and Sammy

Sounds like things are moving along normally. Valentina would only walk a few steps and then lay down to rest. We could barely get her out the front door and onto the grass before she needed to lay down the first few days. She was more awake and alert the first and second day but she was really lazy and didn't want to get up off of her bed. When it was time to go out we had a very hard time trying to get her to want to get up. She is 150lbs so if she didn't help in some way we had to try again later. I had to kind of put the sheet under her some and lift her head to get it under to the other side and then I would pat her butt and say "get up" and somehow that made her get up and then my husband and I could use the sheet to help her get up all the way. Each day got a little better with her being able to get up and to walk and be able to squat to got potty. But after the first two days she was much more tired and slept most of the time. Her most awake times were in the middle of the night for some reason. And I too slept beside her on a blow up mattress. I just wanted her to know that I was there for her. Those drains can be a very messy thing. I confined Valentina to just the living room and I put down large comforters to cover the entire floor to catch the drainage wherever she decided to walk or lay down. I also used those medical lap pads with the plastic backing to put right under her where she was laying because Valentina had alot of drainage. I also put a towel around her neck secured with a ponytail holder and that soaked up some of the drainage and kept her from licking it. I changed the towel twice a day. Some people put a Tshirt on their dogs but with the amount of drainage that Valentina had a Tshirt just wouldn't cut it. That towel was a big help for me because she really wanted to lick it alot! Hope Dixie's recovery continues to go smoothly and she is back to her old self super quick!!