Thanks so much for the information. I would like a referral to a physical therapist. My own vet mentioned there was a place not too far from my home that had an underwater treadmill and such. I don't feel good about asking for the donation from the Foundation because I do have some money but I am just trying to be judicious on overspending. When he first got diagnosed, I did go around spending a lot on anything I thought I needed but most of the purchases turned out to be good decisions - not all. 

So to answer some questions, he is not getting a whole lot of exercise. I never really took him for walks because he is very reactive to other dogs. Instead I have a trolley line in the backyard where we could play fetch and he could spend time in the yard (not fenced). So that is not happening now and the yard is full of snow anyway. In the mornings, he likes to play in the house sometimes but it's not really "exercise". He does mild fetching and tug of war. 

When I found out that he would need an amputation for a decent chance at a longer life, I realized my house had problems. There are hardwood floors throughout. So I got area rugs for everywhere. I also have these traction socks that I use at times. My house also is a raised ranch so you have to do stairs to get out the front door. This was a huge problem until I realized I could walk him out onto the deck which is level with the main floor. At first he wouldn't pee or poop out there, probably because it is wood. I had gotten some astroturf and a puppy spray as incentive but that didn't work. But after a day or two (I was using diapers) he finally peed out of desperation and then he understood. So I have been using the deck (stairs blocked off) for his potty. It is like a doggy corral and on warmer days he likes to walk around out there and see the sights. So that is a little bit more exercise. But overall not a lot of exercise. I think his weight is good. A couple of years ago I got a weight control kibble which I add canned food as a topper. He lost some weight and stabilized. By the way, he also has a seizure disorder (lucky me) which has been going on for about 2 years and is on medications to keep these at a minimum - about one seizure a month.

Also at first he couldn't do the stairs to go to the vet. I have a harness with handles in the front and back I got from the vet hospital. I am a senior and couldn't do this on my own so I have a wonderful pet sitting service that sent someone to help me with stairs and the car. I also got a ramp for the car that I trained him on. Now he has learned to do stairs but I still accompany him because he wants to go too fast down. He was doing good going up on his own, but one time he decided to turn around and took a tumble. Scared me to death. So now I accompany him both ways. Now I can get him around on my own. He asked to go down the stairs and out a few times so we were doing that but now the weather is terrible. 

So this is getting too long, but I hope some things I said will let others know the process I went through. For the rehab referral, I am in the western suburbs of Chicago, zip 60542. Thanks so much!