More than halfway!!

We've made it past the 6 week mark (actually by now we are at the 7 week mark)!!!

We had an appointment on Monday for a quick x-ray, and they look great! Her bone is healing nicely - according to the doc - and her range of motion is up to par. I was expecting to hear that she is a miracle dog and that she doesn't need anymore physical therapy and her leg is completely healed...but this will do.

We got the all clear for walking, we can go up to a mile! This is fabulous news because, if you know our dog, she has a little bit of energy that could really use an outlet.

As an added bonus: Rigby's leg hair is all grown in!!!!

Sorry for the long pause between posts! Rigby has begun her doggie physical therapy. We have a local vet who is also a certified pet rehabilitator come once a week to work with us to get Rigs back to tip top shape.

So far we have her doing a couple five minute walks per day on the road, her range of motion exercises, as well as a couple of interesting ones.

The first one is a contralateral hip exercise. Basically we take a treat and put it near her backside and she then has to twist to get it. We like this one because she doesn't cheat much.

The next exercise we do is making her sit square. Now with this one, Rigby is a pro at cheating. Whether it be leaning against the wall, leaning on her good leg, or just flat out sitting on her butt, she really can find a way out of doing this exercise. Another one that only works for a minute is putting a hair tie around her good paw. She really doesn't like it and it forces her to put weight on the bad leg.

Another exercise we do is lovingly referred to by our vet as happy butt. Basically you get her riled up so she's trying to play, and you push down on the top of her hind end, forcing her to put weight on it. We have to do this one last because she gets too riled up.

The last exercise is my personal favorite. We call it the circus elephant. Basically we take this little side table and put the dog up on it. The platform is so small that she's forced to sit on it correctly.

We have decided!

We are going to go with our local vet to do at least the beginning stages of Rigby's rehabilitation!! 

Mike set up an in-home (thats what she does) appointment for our rehab consult for Monday. Wish us luck! 

In the meantime...this is what Rigby is dreaming about when she takes her doggie naps in her sweet new bed...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday we went to the doggie doc and we had Rigby's staples removed. Dr. Prostredny had nothing but good things to say about her progress: good range of motion, incision looked great and she was very willing to give him kisses.

We talked about moving forward with physical therapy and haven't quite decided who to go to. Our primary care veterinarian has the same canine rehabilitation certification as the Annapolis practice and is much more accessible. However, she does not have certain machinery and we just really like the whole vibe happening across the bridge; so we are still torn.

Rigby is feeling better now that she doesn't have to worry about embarrassing cone hair. She's also excited about her leg hair growing back in (I, on the other hand have the opposite reaction).

One week down

It is amazing that we've already made it through one whole week! All of the swelling around the ankle has disappeared, she's using her new leg, and her long list of medications is almost finished. 

My mom sent her grandog a present for being so brave...it is almost as big as an actual couch! And Uncle Drew brought over a beautiful new bone...it is almost as big as her doggie sofa!        As soon as she climbs in her new sofa she's out like a light. She loves that thing!

Mike and I had tickets from way before Christmas (and knowing that we had to do this surgery) to go see Mumford and Sons in Brooklyn this coming week. So Marcia and Chris are going to be in charge of her daily care for a couple of days. When we get back we have her staple removal appointment. I can't wait until those things are out and we don't have to have her in a cone all the time. She really just looks like mickey mouse in the Fantasia movie with the magicians pointy hat, but she has it on all wrong. 

She found her new (BIONIC) leg!

As soon as I walked in the door today after work I noticed that Rigby was using her new leg!! That was quick! This just means keeping her contained from extracurricular activities will be that much harder from here on out.

Mike has been a tremendous caregiver. He is working from home during the day and has been critical in her post-surgery care.

We did have to make an adjustment on the crate situation a couple of nights ago. Because she can only lay on one side and has a cone at night the crate was just too tight. I woke up around 2 am to her wimpering. She just wanted to be out. So I decided our "master" bath (if you can even call it that) would now be Rigby's master bedroom...there is a fluffy Eddie Bauer fleece blanket, dog bed, and cute pink target down comforter lining the entirety of the bathroom (good thing I just performed a deep-clean) finished off with a baby gate to make it official. She is not spoiled at all!

Superbowl Sunday

Well, we made it through the first night back in the crate! 

We snuggled together in the sunroom watching the DIY channel and this show called "Too Cute" on animal planet. You can see Rigby is a blanket hog. 

Do you like her new edgy haircut??

In between naps and frequent bathroom breaks we did our first day of Physical Therapy. She didn't resist and we got the maneuvers down!