Hello Happy Pitbulls

Zero Update

Zero is a bad boy, which in itself is a really fabulous thing.  I woke up on Thursday morning to find Zero in the bed.  Hmmm...the last person to bed is supposed to close the door on his kennel, Mike!  At any rate, Zero's feeling well enough to jump on up, which is good.  Now we have to keep him from doing it for the next six weeks while his bone heals.  This is the hardest part, because he really wants to run around, but we know better.

I've been meaning to get some more pictures of Zero online.  This one here is from about a week after his surgery - Mike removed Zero's patchy-patch pain patch with his various tools.  You can see the lovely staples there on the blue circle-thingy.  Zero was so good while Mike was taking them out.  It gave me the heebie jeebies for sure.

This right here is Zero on the mend.  We actually took him to the vet to have these staples taken out.  I figured Mike didn't have the appropriate power tool or device to remove these.  They do have a pretty neat gadget to remove these at the vet.  It took just a few minutes to get it done.  This was about two weeks ago.  It looks so much better now.  He's healing really well.  And no more cankle!

I'm hoping all of our internet dog friends are doing well.  Digger, the Greyhound and Max the dog who had two TPLO surgeries.  Hang in there doggies!  It gets better with time!

Yawn....

The past 72 hours have been crazy.  Between trying to keep the dog, fresh from surgery, from trying to jump on the furniture; trying to keep the Fifi dog from humping the Frankendog; tweaking my back from laying on the floor with the dog all weekend; getting our taxes complete and signed; blah and blah: it's been nuts.  And there's more I should be doing, but that's the way it goes.

Zero is doing really well overall.  His bruises are starting to fade a bit and the swelling's gone down quite a bit.  However, the dog just had his leg bone sawed completely through, and although he's got plates and screws holding it together, it takes about 8 weeks to heal enough that we can let him start to resume normal activity.

Work is crazy (I've said that before).

Jack Bauer is still alive (again), but President Logan is completely guilty.  How can anyone not like that show?  No matter how crazy it gets, I still get my TV shows.

The Making of the $6,000 Dog

We've only spent $6,000 to make our dog bionic, unlike Steve Austin, who required $6 million.  I guess that's because he didn't get the eye and the accompanying sound effects and music.

Alas, poor Zero came home from his second TPLO surgery today, and he's doing well.  I've posted some photos in a new photo album that will be updated throughout his recovery.  (Look Right).

We had not so great of any experience with the vet this time (not the vet, but the lame help up front, who could not answer any questions about the surgery and weren't very friendly about the whole payment process).  We have actually found a new vet that we like a lot, so after the patch, staples, xrays, etc. get removed and completed, we'll transition them over there.

I worked from home today, which included several shifts of sitting next to the dog to pet him while I reviewed endless Use Case documentation.  Fun fun. 

Anyhow, we're in for 8 weeks of restricted activity, no playing, no jumping on the furniture, and no fun for the poor doggy.  We'll keep you updated.

WARNING: the pictures are not for the faint of heart.  Look at your own risk.

TPLO Revisited

It's been just over 2 years since our Zero dog had his TPLO surgery.  You may recall, Zero became Frankenzero when he ruptured his cruciate ligament in his right knee.  The procedure involved completely cutting his tibia, rotating it, then securing it in place with plates and screws.  Our happy, boisterous puppy spent about 10 weeks with literally no exercise beyond going outside to do his business on a leash, and then back to the kennel.

We got confirmation today that Zero ruptured his left collateral cruciate ligament, so we'll be scheduling another TPLO surgery for next week or the week after.  Poor puppy dog!  He has been whining and yelping for a couple of days now.  We're not quite sure how this happened -- usually his injuries happen during boisterous play with the Feefster.  Apparently, he stood up kind of funny the other day and Mike heard that tell-tale pop.  Within a few hours he was completely lame on that foot.

So this is what we're looking forward to.  Another summer of FrankenLeg and CankleDog.  We took all kinds of pictures of our magical pink wonder dog when he had his first surgery.  Staples, pain patches, swelling, nastiness.  I'm even looking forward to sleeping in the kennel with the dog, since he can't jump up on the bed anymore. Fun fun fun!  We're going to have a bit of an easier time, since we know what to expect.  Now, we just have to figure out how to pay for it.  Our bionic dog has cut into our IRA contributions for the year, but our little meathead is worth it.

My dog is made of donuts!

My dog Zero just got the clean bill of health from his surgeon from his TPLO Surgery last July.  We took him to the doctor on Tuesday and he said that his bone was all healed and his muscle is growing back nicely, but that he's gained a little weight from this experience (haven't we all?) and he'd like to see him lose 5 or 10 pounds (we've taken to calling him sausage dog).  He said that he should be able feel Zero's ribs, and what he's feeling is something that isn't muscle and isn't skin.  So....I took that to mean my dog is made of donuts.  Mmmmm.....donuts.

We're also calling the donut dog "Devil Dog" because he has blond spots starting to sprout up on the top of his head, right where his devil horns should be.  I'll have to get a picture on here.

In the meantime, the Yankees have tied it up in the 12th inning and I'm missing the damn Red Sox game!  Go Twins....Red Sox all the way!  This is our year!

My Dog Zero is Way Too Cool

Pimp Doggy

I am so excited -- I was at Evangalines in Sacramento today and they had dog halloween costumes. I got Zero a Pimp Doggy outfit. I decided to exploit the poor boy by dressing him up a month before Halloween and making him pose for pictures. He is such a great dog. When I came at him with the pimp daddy hat, he wanted nothing to do with it, but I put the cape on first and the hat followed easily. Secretly, I think he liked it. I just have to get a big ass gold chain and his look is done.

Franken Dog Update

The Cankle is Gone
I haven't used this blog site for 9 months (since I started my new job, oddly enough). I've since had a bout of grad school, started a new baseball season, quit grad school, ordered a Hybrid car and a bunch of other things.

Zero nearly ruptured his right cranial cruciate ligament (it's a knee thing) in some mysterious way.
He had to have a surgical procedure, TPLO to fix it on July 7, 2004. Here's an update to his surgery.

Zero is about a week and a half out from surgery and except for the Franken leg staples going up his leg, it would be nearly impossible to tell him just had surgery and he had his tibia secured with screws and a metal plate. The Cankle (which is what happened when there is no definition between the ankle and the calf) used to be a big bruised sack of fluid hanging off his foot is now GONE. It's amazing how fast he is healing.

I just sent an email to the surgeon to see if we're going okay with letting him roam around the house a little. We have to keep him calm for the next 6 weeks until his bone heals. That will be a challenge.