Week 10 - Day 1

*sigh*

Ten weeks.. finally... things really do get easier from here. Now Koda can be out of her crate while i get ready in the morning and she gets more crate freedom at night too. I allow surpervised games of bitey face, and allow the to progress to more exuberent matches as the days pass..

We're up to about 30-45 minute walks now and there hasn't been a limp in sight.. it's been a slow steady pace for us. Ten weeks.. double digits.. 3 more weeks to the end.. man, what a relief!

I think it's worth noting here.. i'll have to put it somewhere more obvious in this blog eventually, that our regime has been what was recommended by my vet for Koda's recovery.

I've done a lot of research and the one thing i know, is there are as many recovery processes out there as there are vets.

A lot of people have their dogs out on walks after 2 weeks.. i was told to wait for 6.. but there are some who don't step foot out of the crate until 12 weeks and then spent the next four working their way up to running.

So.. that being said.. DO WHAT YOUR VET TELLS YOU TO DO.. because in the end, he knows what's best for his surgical patients...

Oh.. and speaking of walks.. i've been walking both dogs at once because doing it tandem was driving me crazy.. koda is /almost/ 2 years old and given that she's been crated since October, it's like walking a hurricane.. so it's been a challenge.

A friend of mine suggested the easy walk dog harness and we gave it a shot last night.. zomg! so much better!

http://www.buygentleleader.com/View.aspx?page=dogs/products/behavior/easywalk/productdescription

Youtube has some helpful tips on how to properly fit it.. which does take some time.. i'm pretty sure i still need to make adjustments.. but once that's done, it really easy a great tool, much better than coming home with sore arm muscles from the bulldozer on leash.

I think next week I'm going to take her to the beach.. no free retrieving, but i'd like to get those legs in water to use the resistance and see how she does.. I think if she can handle a half an hour in the water w/o incident, then we'll be on the right track...

I wonder if i could do that with two dogs... probably not.