Going down, down, down.

My muscles should be totally huge by now, right? All that work to take care of a broken little dog who can barely walk, must have really chiseled my abs, pecs, quads and lats.

Rooster is 8 weeks post surgery (8 weeks!) and during that time, she needed to be lugged around from room to room, hoisted up on the couch as soon as the first whine came out of her mouth and if she went anywhere near stairs?   Sound the alarm lest she fall to her doom, this princess needs to be carried.  Instead of laying about garnering sympathy points to use towards extra treats and kisses, she has turned into an overachiever shooting her way towards extra credit.

She comes down.

She goes down.

She gets down.

And what am I doing?  Comparing my muscles to this girl.

She totally wins.

Let's Get Physical

I have a confession to make- I've been holding out regarding Roo's progress.  Sure, I could argue that I was saving you from mediocre posts about how she can now scratch her ear with her hind leg or how if I'm laying on the couch, she will hold herself up with her back legs on the floor and lift her front legs on the couch and then cry in my face until I hoist her up.  If that's the kind of info you are into, let me know.  I can also tell you what I ate today.

But now I DO have news.  Yesterday, we went to our physical therapy consultation at The Animal Medical Center.  This is the largest animal hospital in the country and has been around for over 100 years.  They have a top notch medical team, are open 24 hours a day/7 days a week and are the only institute in the city offering post-surgical dog rehabilitation.  They are located in No Man's Land NYC- East 62nd and York and with a 30 lb Frenchie who can't squeeze her ass into a dog bag, completely inaccessible by subway.  $65 for a round trip car service? Hooray!

After making a slight detour to the Oncology Department (which I now know is a fancy way of saying "cancer"), we waited to meet with Dr Alverez.  (The red booties in the picture below are to protect her tootsies from dragging on the concrete when she walks.  Bloody dog toes = not as much fun as you'd think).

While we were waiting to be called in, Roo kept her eye on the suspicious King Charles Spaniel deceptively wagging her tail back and forth from down the hall.

After a few minutes cooling our heels, we met the hippy doctor and her team of merry helpers.  We discussed the surgery, Roo's progress at home, the Do's and Don'ts of home care and discovered the delightfully conflicting views of Dr Prata and Dr Alvarez.

Dr Prata: Let Rooster do whatever she wants.  If she wants to run, let her run. If she wants to play, let her play.  Physical Therapy isn't necessary in her recovery and the best medicine for "Our Friend" is walking her and letting her rebuild the strength on her own.

Dr Alvarez: Confine Roo's movements and activities until she heals further.  Any movement in her spine that causes her to bend will only slow down the healing progression.  Do not let her run, do not throw a ball, only play tug of war on carpeted areas to strengthen her hind legs.  Push her butt from side to side while she is standing and tickle her feet several times a day to promote a knee jerk reaction.

Do I trust the practical man with a gruff demeanor and 43 years of experience who may be behind the times, in treatment advice?  OR do I put my money (and I mean a lot of $$$$) on the new age lady who practices Integrative Medicine including therapies such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy and physical rehabilitation.  Meh.  While I was assessing each doctors' credentials in my head, Dr Alverez and her helpers assessed Roo's condition. 

 My little warrior did NOT appreciate having her hind legs messed around with and tried to take a chunk out of the techs' hands.  They quickly discovered that Roo is "food orientated" (duh) and produced a hunk of dried smelly fish as a distraction.

During the physical, we discovered that Rooster, in addition to a wonky spine, also has bad knees and will likely have arthritis and knee surgery in her future.  Seriously?  Thankfully, I JUST bit the bullet and signed up for pet insurance for both dogs.  This will not include any of Roo's rehab costs, her past surgery or future vet appointments regarding her spine (that's a pretty big pre-existing condition), but at least I will save some moolah when her knees blow out! She was prescribed a bottle of Dasuquin, which is an over-priced, expensive joint health medication that she will have to take daily for the rest of her life as a preventative. This dog is a freakin' lemon!

 I left the facility $1200 lighter and 6 future PT appointments to look forward to.  Her therapy will begin at the beginning of January to give her a little more time to progress on her own and give me a little more time to save my pennies.

At least she's cute.

Country Dogs

Happy Thanksgiving! (...a few days late)

This past weekend, we loaded the pups, a suitcase and a pumpkin cheesecake into a rental car and headed upstate for some fresh country air.  Destination? Phoenicia, NY.  Lesson learned? Bring a broadsword, brass knuckles and a can of mace when renting a car in NYC for a holiday weekend.  During the Dollar Car Rental Battle Royale, I came out the victor and claimed the last available car minivan.

The dogs had a blast running around the yard, barking at the woodpile and pooping ANYWHERE THEY WANTED.  Oh! Yes! Roo runs!  If I wasn't too busy stuffing my face with turkey, mashed potatoes and various desserts, I would have taken an action video of Rooster careening over fall leaves with her front legs moving faster than her back and the adorable somersaults that have become her trademark move.  Instead, I have pictures of this:

And this:

What a bunch of bums (thank you tryptophan).

The dogs snoozed and farted all the way home Sunday. Once we made it home, the dogs were immediately dumped in the bathtub to wash off the fresh country dirt.

By the end of the night, we had two clean, tuckered out pups.  Until next year!

No News is Good News

So here are some adorable pictures of Roo to get you through the day!

Teenage Wasteland

It's been 4.5 weeks since her surgery and Roo STILL can't do The Running Man, The Roger Rabbit, OR The Dougie.  Worse part about it is that she doesn't even try! This is not for lack of opportunity, au contraire.  I have faithfully supplied her bat like ears with early 90's hip hop any chance I have.  House of Pain, Black Sheep & Cypress Hill are top hits on my Pandora stations.  While I bounce around the apartment, trying to inspire her with my sick moves, what does this bum do?  Step Up in true dance off fashion?  (Believe me, she has watched the movie more than once)  Nope. 

She lays around the apartment.

She watches TV on the couch.

She sleeps until noon on the weekends.

She is one angst ridden argument away from officially turning into a teenage boy. 

Her physical therapy consultation is scheduled Dec 5th at The Animal Medical Center in NYC where she may receive treatments such as: electro-hydrotherapy, underwater treadmills, acupuncture and obstacle courses. Until then we are instructed to walk her as much as she (and the weather) will allow, in order to strengthen those weak hind leg muscles.  Of course, if it starts snowing, we can always enroll in Doga.

Just Terrific

4 week post op appointment!  I called a car service, loaded up Roo -sans sling and made my way to VERG Animal hospital to meet the infamous Dr Prata.

It's hard to complain about long wait times at an emergency clinic, because I'm sure I skipped a bunch of people when I brought in my broken dog.  Since this visit was just a check up to see what kind of progress she has made (from totally paralyzed, to shaking her hips, to standing, to walking a few shaky steps, to full on barreling around the apartment, my guess was her prognosis would be not too shabby), I was content to just sip my coffee and watch the Roo vs. Waiting Room Dogs show.

This bulldog is an Alpha with a capital A.  Doesn't matter the size of dog, gender or if it's a battle scarred pit bull with a crazy eye recently rescued from an underground dog fighting ring, Rooster wants to be recognized as being the baddest MF around.  She will growl like a rabid wolverine, lunge if her space is invaded and if that doesn't scare the other dog into submission, will try to take a bite out of her opponent.  It's a little embarrassing when we see an adorable puppy on the street and instead of playing/sniffing butts, the puppy is quickly taught a life lesson.  Don't assume any privileges when it comes to over-sized Frenchies.  So when my aggressive helpless post op surgery patient tried to have words with a few other dogs waiting to be seen, I kept a firm grip on the leash and prayed our name would be called soon.

After an hour of cooling our heels, we were finally called in to see Dr Prata.  And what did this man have to say? Verdict: "T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C!"  He actually wrote that word down in her chart and then drew me a graph on her potential progress to 100%.  He warned me that she still may never see 100% (I know, I know Doom + Gloom Prata), but at 4 weeks, she is doing T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C.  He explained that because she is under 4 years old, her chances of having another disc herniate is at 20%.  Or, if I'm feeling like a glass is half full kind of girl, her chances of never having a disc herniate again in her life is 80%.

We will take the 80% success rate please!

Every Hero Needs an Origins Story

• Spider-Man - Bitten by a radioactive spider granting him spider based superpowers, Peter Parker was motivated to fight crime by his uncle's death, which he blames on himself.
• Batman - His parents murdered by a mugger, Bruce Wayne used his vast family fortune to become Batman and wage a one-man war on crime.
• Superman - Born on the planet Krypton, infant Kal-El was sent to Earth before an explosion destroyed his home planet. His strong moral code motivated him to fight for justice.
• The Amazing Little Rooster- See below

Back in 2005, I believed Charlie was suffering from only dog syndrome and would be happier if she had a buddy to nip, tumble and cuddle with (read: I wanted a puppy). Shortly after bringing home Joey, an 8 week old, dappled grey, refused to be housebroken, miniature dachshund pup, I realized quickly how severe Charlie's cynophobia was. 

Joey, your reign of terror and urine was short and not really all that sweet.  8/05-10/05

Joey went on to live with a new family and I shelved the idea of adding on to my canine menagerie.  For the next few years it was Charlie and I, living in NYC, against the rest of the world!

In 2008, I began my career in commercial advertising and found myself working in an office where it was allowed, indulged and dare I say, appreciated? to bring your dog to work.

Memories of life with Joey were glossed over (she was a BAD puppy! Charlie would be fine with a different dog!) and puppy fever kicked in at high speed.  On Thursday, April 9th, 2009, I got the Ok from my boss to bring a puppy in every day (he may have had a few beers first) and by that Saturday night, I came home with this thing.

Doing Our Part

Remember when I had a little broken dog who needed really expensive surgery and everyone came together and raised $5,000 so her spine could maybe-be-fixed-kinda-fingers-crossed? Hard to believe that was only 3 weeks ago.  Remember last week, when a hurricane named Sandy made a pit stop on the east coast and tossed around some cars/trees/boats/houses into other cars/trees/boats/houses?  Well, Roo and I sat down and had a little chat.  Since she is doing so much better (Walking! Falling a lot, but walking!!!!), she figured a portion of the money people raised for her, should really go to help some of the other dogs (and their people) affected by the hurricane.

We know that there isn't one perfect site to throw money at, so we are doing a variety of charities:

NYC Food Bank

Bidawee Animal Shelter

Amazon Hurricane Registry

We have also brought down bags of food, batteries etc to: The Drink.  They have organized some pretty great sandwich and supply distribution to parts of NYC in dire need, as well as being an easy place to drop off donations.

Ok, now back to our little helper!

She is getting stronger everyday and LOVES playing with her toys. Hardwood floors and stairs are still the enemy, but she has broken every stuffed neck in the place.

And after a long day of snapping spines (nope, that's not lost on me), she is out like a light.