Dear Friends,

Herrrrrrrs's Raven, our now 10-year old Portuguese Water Dog, who, exactly ONE YEAR AGO TODAY, underwent

amputation of his right front leg and shoulder.  Off-leash, he is a sight to behold and marvel at -- as he tears around the house with his "baby" in his mouth, or he makes a strafing pass and tromps on a toy with that front leg, or he tears around our property at near Mach 3 speeds.  He moves so fast, catching him on camera is NOT easy.  So here's a close up...head tilted because he hears his daddy coming...and nothing's better than having the WHOLE pack together!  

It's life in the slow lane at home or anywhere on-leash that's the hardest...for Raven and for us.  He still (and will forever, I think) catches us off guard when we see him walk into a room, that slow motion taking such effort.  We very seldom take him to gallery openings anymore or downtown to walk around the Plaza; our much slower pace creates a laborious one for him.  So he stays home alone much more than we all three of us want.

We both ask ourselves, "How did this happen to this beautiful Spirit?"  (We know better than to ask "why" questions -- but we ask them anyway.) It makes me cry - still.  The uncertainty of our decision a year ago lingers - still.  He is our hero.  We've learned much as a tripawd pack.  We love him even more, if that's possible.  But we realize fully that our decision put Raven in the position of being a hero.  We still feel that responsibility in our guts and still wonder.  And sometimes we say we wouldn't do it to him again.  But then we put our arms around him and hug him and look into his bright, big brown eyes and shiver at the thought of extinguishing this Spirit without having given him a chance.  I remember those words, that agonizing consideration of "giving him a chance."  We couldn't know...could not imagine...what his Life might be like.  All important decisions are made with insufficient information. We still wonder if the decision was right, fair, selfish or loving.  Raven's vet says he has recovered and thrived so well because of our love.  Love comes in funny, strange packages.

What's our bottom line?  It's a happy year later.  We bask in Raven's love and lavish ours upon him in return.  He is healthy, vigorous and full of himself -- still trying to out-smart us, still attempting to avoid using the ramp in and out of the car, still washing our knees at every opportunity, still begging for pizza crust -- and bread and carrot peelings and treats and anything that comes from a crinkling bag -- still searching jeans pockets and pocketbooks of a friend who unfailingly brings him dog biscuits...still doing lots of the things that it means to be Raven.

jerry said
Raven...I'm so hoppy to hear you're spunky and charming as ever! 

Thanks for the "charming" description.  I like to think of myself that way!

And thanks for the gentle words for my peeps!  They know they made the right decision...and I certainly think they did...  It's just that they love me so much, they want me to have an effortless life.  So now my Mom is looking into a little red wagon!!!  Can't you just see my handsome, charming Self holding court downtown Santa Fe perched in my own red wagon!  How neat would that be???  Photos forthcoming perhaps!

Wags & sniffs, Raven

Well, folks, remember Raven?  He's still being Himself - which is more than any pack could ask for!    It will be two years on July 27 that we learned of his cancer...and the amputation, right front, was Aug 2, 2011.  He is our joy! 

We eventually did get that little red wagon, although it's never made its way to downtown Santa Fe.  I never considered how heavy the wagon would be to lift into and unload from our Explorer!!!  But we've used it for fun, pulling Raven on our deck and concrete walkway. Well trained though he generally is, he was always threatening to jump over the side panels!  Harry said that's because he hadn't been tired out before we put him in the wagon...which was the original intent.  Oh well, it may just end up being a really handsome firewood hauler...we'll see.

Now, we're into a couple new phases.  Raven's a little less frisky (more about that later) and definitely less likely to run up and down certain sets of stairs that he was back to taking two-at-a-time very shortly after the amputation.  Plus, more and more often, instead of charging down the outside deck stairs to greet me at my car when I come home, he stands at the top of the stairs wagging his tail in greeting.  First couple of times that happened, it really caught me off guard.  I still miss it!   My husband and I are paying heed to Raven's self-imposed stair-avoidance by finding alternate ways of entering places when possible. 

I began wondering if part of Raven's less frisky demeanor was due to us not providing enough for him to do. So 4 days ago I got the bright idea to use the weave poles we still have from his 4-legged agility days.  I wasn’t certain it was a good idea, but thought we'd try it.  Raven will do ANYTHING for treats - to the point of being frantic - so we were having decent success.

Then today, I decided to research if tripawds doing weaves was okay.  Well...lookie, lookie here from our very own Tripawds site!  I'm redoubling my commitment.

http://gear.tri.....ave-poles/

And after watching the following video, I decided to start over and try this technique.

http://www.monk.....g-to-weave

Plus, we're going to get him the K-9 Float Coat .  Our summer has been scorching already.  Our nearest lake is 45 minutes away, but I hope this too will bring some enjoyment to the Pack.  I promise not to go overboard.  We'll ease him into these activities, build his endurance slowly...and pay close attention to what Raven wants and likes.  When he starts bringing me his float coat like he does his Harley ball...I'll know doing it right!

For now, that's our wonderful story about our thriving 11 year old Portie, Raven. I'll reacquaint myself with loading photos and post some in the next couple days.  Just know we realize how blessed we are to be able to tell this story almost two years later and happy to share it with you.  This community continues to be a hugely important support for us.

Wags from Raven.

Hello.  I'm back.  It's been another year. I'm Raven.  Some of you know me. [Image Can Not Be Found]

Three years ago today I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma...and a week later, the doc took away my right front leg and shoulder.  And then I did chemo.  I'm a happy camper to be celebrating this event with you...cause I know so many of your stories and so many of the hard stuff you've gone thru.  Us, too -- me and my Pack.

I thought I'd show you some of my photos from the last year especially.  When I was romping on 4, I learned to run agility weaves.  Well, my Mommy decided we'd try it again.  Wanna see?

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Then I got this bright red wagon!  I heard some lady say to my Mommy, "He should be pulling you!"  Very funny!

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And some of you may have seen this, but it's the ramp I use to get in and out of our Explorer.  I really didn't want to use it at first and try end runs, but Mommy & Daddy were wise to me.  (And, now that I'm 12, well, it's kind of nice to have the help!)

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(My Mommy apologizes.  She's using photos from Facebook and they don't work.  Tomorrow, we'll get her to fix them.)