Quincy said
We have an almost 8yr old shepherd mix Quincy approx 60-65 lbs who is a few days behind Otis (who posted above) in terms of amp recovery (he will be 8 weeks tmrw). Every dog is different as several have noted but I think the key in terms of recovery and knowing if they are in pain is kind of their overall behavior/attitude/energy level.

For example, Quincy does all the things he used to and acts just like himself (and pretty much has since 2-3 weeks, once his staples came out and stopped with the heavy pain killers). That said he does them for much shorter times - e.g. - he obviously can't walk as far but wants to (we just don't want him to hurt himself or get stuck midway and have no way to get him home), he still plays and chases the ball out back just in shorter bursts.

He also has been/did do the weird yelping thing similar perhaps to what is mentioned above.  Typically one quick yelp that was preceded by nothing unusual and followed by either going back to what he was doing or being dazed momentarily, looking at us and then going back to what he was doing. That didn't start until almost a month post op and well after Tramadol, Rimadyl and Gabapentin stopped. For about 4-5 days I did give him a Gabapentin in the evening to see if it would help and it did lessen the yelp incidents but not eliminate. We asked last week at his 3rd round of chemo and vet said after full physical exam he was ok and she couldn't illicit any yelps and nothing seemed out of the ordinary physically. She said Gabapentin wasnt hurting anything if we wanted to keep giving it but that she didn't think he needed it either - i.e. our call if we thought it helped. We stopped and he has yelped a few times but it is less overall than before. I don't know - it is strange and certainly unsettling because you think the worst and don't want them in pain but in our case he is fine otherwise - probably just adjusting (we all are).

I guess bottom line is it takes time and is an adjustment for you and your dog be it 3 weeks or 6 weeks so you have to be patient and go easy and yourself.  Also if there is additional therapy like chemo or other meds or vet visits that could be affecting endurance/behavior.  You know your dog best and if something seems off, definitely ask the vet (and check here because chances are someone here has experienced something similar).  Good luck!

Thanks much for your sharing.  It really did help me.