First, huge congratulations on keeping that weight down!! (as you can see, Nicholas could loose 8 pounds). Your girl must be in great shape, which will give you more options and help your decisions. It was 2 1/2 absolutely awful weeks from the time the lump appeared on this otherwise healthy boy to his amputation. I seemed to spend a lot of time arranging things and nervously waiting for phone calls and not as much time as I wanted to with Nick. Once you have seen the oncologist and they have walked you through the options, it will get better. 

Though we hadn't yet decided what to do, during those two weeks I learned a lot about how Nick moves through our large house, and how to adjust it for him, and he learned how to navigate safely on three legs.  So I wish you the best on Monday. What's most important is what kind of life you want for your dear girl. You'll find a lot of support and information here.

Suzanne and Nicholas

Safety Tip: Your girl has probably learned to move through your house and property with good manners  but don't discount what choices she might make if you change boundaries around suddenly. Last week, we were in the process of blocking the steps down from our terrace, when Nick got wind of a bobcat who had been after our chickens. We ran out to see him sailing over the stone wall, six foot drop, and taking off down the side pasture, cancerous leg and all. He did that once as a teenager and we added steel fencing along the wall which we have dug out of the garage and replaced. But anyway he survived. Dogs!

Just a log. 

NIcholas's amputation was Thursday AM. Today is Monday AM . His incision looks good, I have been icing it and he has been lying, by preference, on cold stone. He is wearing a man's 2XL Tee shirt and I am hoping that by the time the incision starts to itch, it won't occur to him to scratch it, so no collar of shame. Also I can wash his shirt so it keeps the area clean, if not sterile.

This morning, he studied the two steps down from our room to the terrace and executed them perfectly after a little slip the day before. Much more active. Our daughter and son in law came up from LA to see him, lots of waggy tail and leaning. He loves the company but also puts out a lot of Newfie social energy, so he was tired and seemed disoriented last night. Today he's more relaxed and really resting.

He had a full meal in his dog bowl last night and this morning, so the time for treats is over, just his usual sardine/scrambled egg/green bean, carrot etc toppers and fewer topper calories because of the pills wrapped in ground beef or cream cheese. I cooked him some liver cubes from our own organic Jersey beef, which are a huge hit.

Incidentally, I did buy what were supposed to be the best ice packs, but little green frozen peas wrapped in a towel work much better, more flexible to conform to his body, the towel gets cold gradually so it's less of an immediate shock. He's still enjoying "being iced".

I seem to have uploaded the images so I can't access the url, but anyway if you want to see a Newf in a 2xl tee shirt, the link works!

https://nichola.....com/?p=586

Thanks. I'll do that. I had actually started a different blog yesterday with different pictures and then couldn't locate it. but I'll figure it out.

Thanks for the note. You really understand my boy! He's my best helper in the kitchen. I got him some canned pumpkin for constipation, which I've never used. It's been almost five days and he's not straining but I thought a little help might be in order. Does this work for amputees? He's quite the gentleman... always goes way at the end of the dog park away from the people, so the position might be confusing him too. He got peeing down right away.

Log:

Day 4 yesterday. He's getting lots of pets and cuddles from the family and Truman's music students. It tires him out a bit because he tries to keep track of where everyone is, and be a good host to everyone, but he's using his heart and brain and that has to recover too. He found a little "cave" under a tree in his yard with a pillow of long dying iris leaves,  and we stayed out with him for a couple of hours. Couldn't get him to stand up and come out until I realized that he was concerned about tangling his good foot in the leaves, so I cut them off  and enticed him with liver cubes and we made it back. I'm realizing with a giant dog, I need to look at the path ahead from their sight angle and clear the path of things that obstruct their view or seem hard to walk through Very tired in the evening. Also since he's heavy and staying in one position for a longer time, I expect his hips and back legs get a little stiff, and it's hard to balance getting up, so it's good for him to change positions.

Day 5 This morning, for about 2 hours we had our old Nicky back. He woke me up, took the steps by himself, went out to pee, tail wagging and bouncing around,  told me the pool water was down and found his water bowl, let me know the gate to his yard was shut and went out to poop and came back, all by himself. I told him "Watch out" for the hose on the terrace and he stopped, looked, and hopped over nicely. Now he's resting, but I think he feels much better now that he knows he can be independent and he has mapped how to get around safely. We'll do this for a couple of days and then tackle the back yard (2 wide steps down)