Hi all.  I happened to be browsing yesterday and found this site.  I have an English Mastiff, Spike.  Our story seems to be a little unique.

About two and half years ago, I woke up to find one of Spike's back paws swollen to almost cartoonish size. He didn't seem in pain though.  I took him to the vet.  The diagnosis was a spider bite.  He would require hydrotherapy three times a day and massive amounts of medication.  At some point, the wound became painful and my normally friendly, docile pup became Kujo.  The vet said I would have to provide treatment at home.  They left out the part where his fur, his skin, his muscles would fall off.  It was so traumatic both because it was pretty gross and because my sweet dog was in so much pain.  Eventually, we had to start wrapping the wound to keep him from licking the wound.  He wore a collar but because his legs are so long, he was still able to pull the bandages off.  Each vet visit consisted of Spike being sedated so that he wouldn't get aggressive with the staff.  He was always so good about treatment at home.  He jumped into the bathtub for his hydrotherapy, he took is 14 pills a day and peacefully laid on the floor while I changed his bandages.

Spike started to get better.  The skin started to grow back over the wound.  He was walking on his leg again.  Then something went wrong.  I'm not sure what happened but the wound reopened, infection set in and he couldn't walk on his leg.  I tried everything.  The doctor mentioned amputation but I wanted to save the leg if I could.  Finally, one night, I found Spike in the yard crying.  He was literally eating his own paw bone.  I took him back to the vet the next day.  He said if we didn't amputate, Spike would become septic and die within the month. 

He went into surgery on Friday.  I anxiously awaiting the call to tell me he came through the surgery.  Dr. Bone (really) said Spike did great.  The surgery took a little longer than expected but hopefully he would come home Sunday.  As expected, though, I got the call Saturday morning that while the leg was gone, Kujo wasn't and Spike needed to come home. 

I went to pick him up and thought, how am I going to get a three legged, drugged up, 115 pound dog wearing a collar into the car.  (He lost a lot of weight while he was sick)  So, it took some effort, creative thinking and doggie treats to get him in the car.  It's funny because when I first saw him, I wasn't so shocked by the three legs but by the fact they shaved him.  I didn't even think about that.  He cried when we pulled onto our  street.  He knew he was home. 

He made it up the stairs and on to his new padded bed.  He slept a lot the first day.  However, the next day was a little different.  My full grown dog was replaced by a puppy.  He ran up and down the stairs.  He played.  He even jumped on my bed.

We are now two years following his amputation.  Spike will be 6 in May.  He is the same dog he was before.  He's faster down the stairs than me.  He runs, jumps and plays with the other dogs.  He loves Petsmart.  Most people don't even realize he has three legs at first, they notice he's just big.  He's up to 150 pounds.  I try to keep him lean so he doesn't put too much stress on his other hip.  He gets a little tired sometimes but for the most part he lives a normal life.  I look forward to spending a lot more time with my puppy.