Hey Whisper!!!

I read this late last night and wanted to reply, but was entirely too tired to reply at the moment.

You're story sounds very very very much like my sweet lovable Jersey-boy!  Mr. New Jersey, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma a few months ago and I decided to remove his pain.  (Hi only tumor was in his left hind ankle, so he lost his left-hid leg)  The thing is, Jerz. is an elderly gentleman (12-13 human-years) and definitely has a touch of arthritis...

Unlike many of the dogs you'll see on this site ... those that jump up and run around on day 3... Jersey was not able to do anything without me holding/supporting him for about 9 days. Looking back at it, there were clearly reasons that I know contributed to the initial delay.

1.) he knew that I was terrified of him walking around... and would I would literally panic every time he stood.  So, he learned that he shouldn't "get-up" because I was afraid.  

2.) He'd get up and fall.... and I would completely panic.  Which made him more terrified of falling and even getting up. He eventually stopped trying.  We have a lot of tile/wood floor in out house... so I went out to a store and bought every inexpensive (ugly/non-matching) runner that they had to give him a stable path on the wood floor.  

3.) I worked on controlling my reaction to seeing him get up ... be unsteady and fall... (the DOWNSTAIRS part of my house has nice padded wall-to-wall carpet... so I kept him downstairs to help HIM build confidence with getting up... and also controlling my reaction to seeing him move around.)

4.) I realized that he NEEDED to be OFF the leash to better maintain his balance. So I purchased the webmaster harness so that it was easier to grab him if I saw that he was falling/off balance...and completely ditched the leash.  This actually also helped me psychologically because he CANNOT fall as long as I am holding the handle. He is still really terrified of even trying to go up the stairs (although he goes down the stairs completely fine)... There are also times when I know that he needs to pee... or that he wants to move... i use the harness to get him into a good position to stand and I can help him to stand if necessary. The only time he doesn't wear the harness is when he gets in human-bed, for the night. 

... the harness has been a back-saver as it allows me to give him as much/little support as he needs to go up the stairs (before the harness... I would just carry him... he weights 80lbs!). Hands down... this was the best investment I got after his surgery...

Here he is, in the harness (peeing on my neighbors flowers... smh! Naughty!):  

5.) I realized that he did a lot better moving around outside... so i'd put him in the backyard and let him run around with my little dog.  Sure he still falls, but the unevenness of the ground helped him work out the balance and the ground is always damp (soft) in the back yard. He loves to be outside and is really active outside.

6.) His arthritis is really bothering him.  We've started him on a low dose of Rimadyl, adequate injections and a liquid glucosamine and chondroitin supplement.  He still has good day and bad days... but he does really well on his good days (ie. he gets up to greet EVERYONE who walks through the door). On his bad days he lays around and doesn't fully extend the hind leg when he's hopping around ... and he moans when he lays or squats to poo.  (I think the rimadyl can be increased... we go back to the vet next week) But we're stilll 'figuring it out'

7.) I massage and stretch that hind leg... I move it through its full range of motion and massage....he absolutely loves this. (<3 Soo many kisses).

I'll let you know if I can think of anything else...