Lisa, I am so glad Luka's surgery has gone well and he will be home soon.  I just love Luka's handsome face.

The mats or other non slip surfaces are very important and nice clean covers on his bedding. I would also just go ahead and sacrifice a reusable canvas shopping tote now - cut down the sides to make a sort of sling with handles to slip under his waist and provide a little more support as he is getting used to hopping around and getting up from lying down with three legs.  A harness is often too much pressure on incision site at this point, but the bag really can help (in and out of cars, too).  

Make sure you know what meds he is coming home with.  You want to stay ahead of the pain and that usually means multiple meds in different modalities (some work in the brain, others in the nervous system and others are anti inflammatory). Many vets think you want all three for a major surgery like this and I happen to agree.  If Gabapentin is not planned for by your surgeon, please ask about it.  Most dogs come home with Tramadol, Rimadyl and Gabapentin and often an antibiotic.  Make sure also to discuss how often, how much and can you increase frequency or dosage if it seems like it is needed.  Gabapentin in particular has a range that is safe.

Inflatable collar or comfy cone if you think he will bother the stitches!

Can't wait to hear about his homecoming.

Hi Lisa - I'm glad Luka's surgery went well! We are thinking lots of positive thoughts for him. 

Mosby is also a right hind amputee, and we actually had no trouble starting to use the Ruffwear webmaster harness (with the belly guard attachment to help distribute weight) two days after surgery. It didn't interfere with his incision and for us worked much better than the sling that they gave us (which kept sliding up to his hips and hitting the incision), although the shopping bag mentioned above was better than the sling. But I can highly recommend that harness for a rear amputee. It is just tricky to learn how to get it on him since he doesn't have two hind legs to balance on when you go to put the front leg through the harness. We figured out how to do it with him sitting or lying down. Now he loves the harness and knows it means adventure (or bedtime up the stairs). It's also just reassuring to have the handle there whenever he needs a little help!

Good luck! Will be looking for updates. 

Hi Lisa & Luka. Welcome to the club. I truely believe the amputation is the very best thing for these guys - pain is the worst!

I hope Luka did well over night and is coming home soon. The yoga mats have worked out GREAT for us - they don't slip at all and both dogs (tri and quad-pawds) seem to be enjoying them. I second (or third or fourth) the webmaster harness . It's very handy to have on the pup and Aspen doesn't seem to mind at all! I've only put it on him for up and down stairs (morning and night) because it overlaps his incision at the top, but after Aspen gets his stitches out (tomorrow!!) I'll keep it on him all the time, other than sleeping. He doesn't need it too much, but it's kind of a PITA to put on and off b/c I have to get his remaining front leg into the straps. We did get the inflatable collar, but didn't have to use it at all. Aspen never once has tried to lick or scratch at his incision. But it's a much better solution than the lampshade that the hospital might give you.
My one suggestion for you is the write down the daily doses for meds and then check them off, or highlight after you give them. I started this after my husband (who gets up for work earlier than I do) would tell me "I gave him X and Y" while I was half asleep and then I'd be texting him in half an hour trying to remember what he told me. So I made a list of what meds he gets and what times Aspen should be getting them and then we highlight the time after we give him the drugs. (there are so many pills at first!)
People also have mentioned to me about keeping a diary of possible Odd things that happen, so you could sort of work that in if it find it necessary.

He'll be exhausted, but happy to see you. Just try to stay ahead of the pain, which I know is hard. This dosing a dog is truly difficult, but he'll let you know. Take care and keep us posted!

-Lauren & Aspen (Sammy & Andy, too!)

Sorry that you find yourself here, but sounds like you are well prepared for his homecoming.  We are fans of the Ruffwear Webmaster Plus harness - you can see pictures of it in the gear blog.   Many rear leggers can use it almost right away since it does not bother the staples.   The suggestion about keeping a log book is really good - not only is it invaluable to keep track of meds (they come at all hours of the night at first), especially if there is more than one of you at home, but it helped me keep track of when my Otis really really needed to go outside.   I knew he could go 10 hours, so that was the magic cut-off where I knew that I really needed to get him outside.   Otherwise, I just offered and if he wanted to sleep, left him.

A common problem because there are so many meds is getting your dog to take them.   Tramadol in particular seems to taste particularly vile.   You might want to make sure that you have various things on hand to hide meds in - peanut butter (no xylitol), liver pate; cheese; hot dogs; whatever you think your guy might like. 

The 6 inch mattress is probably fine, but make sure to block off stairs, furniture, the SOFA, etc.  And if you can, throw something on the mattress that has his scent, so that he recognizes it as his place.

Looking forward to hear that he is home!