Although Grover had exceeded our expectations in terms of getting home and walking/hopping, these first days weren’t without their hard moments. Getting up when Grover was laying in lateral with his amputation side down proved to be not only challenging but also very painful. Although the picture of him sleeping on the couch from the previous post looks peaceful … that only lasted until it was time to get up and he started screaming. This screaming was only made worse by me trying to help. The sound of him crying like that made me want to cry …. but he couldn’t lay there forever so we had to get it over with. I think that the pain came from his neck, but who knows for sure. The good news was that once he was up he could hop around fine … it just seemed to be getting up that was hard. Luckily, it only took two painful attempts to get up for him to realize that he should probably lay on the other side … smart boy!
I have to thank the tripods website for alerting us to the ruffwear harness … it works great! This is the harness that G is sporting in these photos. First, there is a size that actually fits a Great Dane (hard to find!) and second, it is comfortable enough for him to wear all day/night. With the brush guard it helps evenly distribute pressure and we never had to worry about it ‘cutting’ into his incision.
Our couch struggles lead to trying to create “alternative sleeping arrangements” … although well intended I’m not sure he was amused. We also ended up taking our bed off the frame and putting the mattresses on the ground so that he didn’t have as high to jump and could get into bed with us at night easier. I must have a saint for a husband because without asking he started sleeping in the guest room so that Grover could have more space on the bed with me while he was recovering. <3
showing off his new walking skills:
Photos: our handsome boy showing off his new standing on 3 legs skills and a “modified sofa”
Finally getting caught up, Grover looks wonderful!!! I see you mastered the video 👏👏👏
It is going to take him a bit to get adjusted to his new stance and movements. He is using different muscle groups now and still early in his recovery.
I am glad the harness is working for you, my Mitchell is an older quad and he absolutely insists on sleeping upstairs. That harness has saved us many times helping him up and down when he is having a not so good day.
Hugs to all of you, great job on the blog 💖
Jackie and Huckleberry 💖💖