What you are describing sounds perfectly normal.  Your pup just had major surgery a week ago and his body is recovering.  They also start using their muscles in different ways than ever before to compensate for the missing limb and get tired really quick.  It'll be at least two weeks (usually when staples/stitches come out) before you start seeing their personalities come back.  They are doped up on pain meds when they come home and sometimes act pretty spunky at first and then crash.  Ups and downs are normal.  I couldn't get my Daisy off the couch for the first week or so other than going out for potty breaks which was ok since the vet didn't want her to have any other activity for two weeks. She had zero interest in anything.  I even had to hand feed her on the couch. She refused to eat her regular food so it was a steady diet of boiled chicken and hot dogs in the beginning.

Trust me that we all questioned whether we did the right thing during the recovery.  Just remember you took away that awful pain from his cancerous leg.

Marla and Daisy

Yep, the meds could definitely be affecting his mood/personality, along with the fact he just had a major surgery.  Every dog is different.  Our Max took about 4.5 weeks before we saw his "normal" personality come back.  Good luck and come back frequently for questions, we've all been there!

Ditto to the posts above.  Although Zeus never seemed truly depressed, we didn't see our boy return to normal for about a month after surgery.  He tweaked his back about 1.5 weeks after amp and we had to keep him on the pain meds about two weeks longer than normal.  Once he recovered from the strained back and we weaned him off the meds we saw a big difference.

It's not unusual at all for the dogs to crash a few days after they come home.  I think when they first get home they are running on adrenaline (not to mention the IV pain meds that the dogs get at the vets - which are way more powerful than what they come home with - are still in their system).

Keep in mind that this is HUGE surgery.  As much as all of us talk about how quickly the dogs recover (and it IS quick considering how long we as humans would take to bounce back after an amputation!), it isn't instant.  Try to celebrate the baby steps and before you know it things really will be back to normal.

Good luck with the rest of recovery!

Lisa

Just like everyone said above, this is normal for most dogs.  I think the first couple of weeks during recovery is when most people doubt the decision they made.  Cadence was our shadow prior to the amp.  The first few days she was like her old self then she crashed. Cadence would go in to another  room and just want to be by herself.  It was hard for me not to follow her in there, but I gave her the space she needed.   In our case, it was the medication she was on.  Once your Baron is off the medication,  you will see the pep back in his step.  I know right now you are thinking it wont happen.  But take my word for it, once Cadence was off the pain killers she was back to her spunky and silly self.  The hardest thing is the waiting, but it will be well worth it.  Baron will adjust to life on three legs and you will once again be smiling.