Today I'm Not Sure

 It is becoming the same routine, which is very good to get back to one that is similar to the one before Winston's back issue. Only this time we all almost 'slept in', it wasn't until 5:16am before Sadie walked in to wake me up to let Winston outside. We came back inside and slept to 7:58am, which about an hour later than normal ... it was breakfast for the hounds and the last day where Winston gets a daily dose of Prednisone. For the next week it will be a dose of 80mg every other day until the tables run out.

It was awful tempting to let Winston out of his gated area and let him "scoot" around the house. He was really active, whining to get out of jail and had that look that he was ready to resume a normal basset life. He is still very strong walking with only two legs since in the past two times he was walked me to the back of the field near the tree line to poop. He walks all through the field with me holding his back legs up off the ground.

It was only a few minutes after I resisted the urge to let him roam the house, that he was asleep. We headed for the vet about noon for his 3rd laser treatment. How do you know if they are really working? There is nothing to compare with. He could be improving just from the anti-inflammatory meds and the amount of rest he has been getting. I will still continue the laser treatments though.

While Winston slept this morning, Heidi took her normal position, Stella found her favorite bone and Sadie sat right next to my desk to bother me.

I am sold on the 4Health No Grain dog food with the Duck and Sweet Potato combo. Duck is the only protein source. She has only gone through about 15lbs of food. Her "raw" spots or really anymore just "problem" spots because they are not raw ... have hair trying to grow back but the big difference is the skin is not hard but soft as normal skin would be. Her coat is not as "greasy" as it was with Earthborn Grain Free but soft and shines.

As I was bring out the dog bed from the house to the back of the FJ for the trip to the vet for Winston's laser treatment ... he started barking and howling nonstop and his tail was going a mile a minute in his gated area.

It was a great day today but for some reason I've not been able to shove the idea away that this might be the best he gets. That thought actually started this morning when I had been awake before the hounds woke up. You know the time of day ... dark, middle of the night, quiet ... when any doubts you have about anything come out to screw with your mind. It was then I started thinking he may not ever walk again.

So I had to ask the vet tech that has been doing the laser treatments ... again ... what kind of success has she seen with this treatment. They have used this laser treatment a lot, but Winston is their first basset hound getting the treatment. All Dachshunds ... some have started walking again, some have not. I told her I didn't think it was fair to the dog to have him use the two wheel cart. Sorry but I've never been a fan of those.

I told her that I planned on waiting for a while and continue these treatments but I know that I might have to put him down if he can't come back to walk again. She reminded me that what I am having to do now is hard on him. Hauling 60#'s back inside, pressure against a sore spine area, compressing his organs while I carry him ... isn't good long term. She also thought the use of carts are also hard on the dog, especially the way the basset hound is built, makes them hard to take on and off.

My concern is his right rear leg has been in a locked straight position since he hurt his back. That has never changed. To protect that leg he will always sit on his left hip. At times when he is walking and I am lifting his hips to keep the paws from dragging the ground it does look like that leg is trying to move in a walking motion but from the hip joint, not the knee joint. I can't get that leg to move when doing a little movement therapy.

I know you and I have seen the photos of the two wheel carts used by basset hounds ... but is that really fair to the hound?

When we came back from treatment it was time for lunch. Sadie and Stella were loving being outside. It felt a lot warmer than it was (around 30°) and they would love to go for a walk. The problem is the field is really saturated where the ground will come up over their paws and the edges of my shoes .. We will have to wait a few days for the daily  walk to resume.

Notice the edges of the water froze during last night and stayed that way most of the day.

A few times today the bloodhounds acted like they wanted outside but once there they were not interested in doing much but posing for the camera. I think they have become bored with the current routine.

Sadie was sure she heard the words "eat" or "food".

After the treatment, some lunch and water, a trip outside ... Winston was settled in for an afternoon of sleeping.

This post is a little early for the day but I'm going to post it now anyway and that will be it for today.

It's cold but it's a beautiful sunny day here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.

A Small Pop In Winston's Back

Sadie and Stella start 2016 the right way by not even making it to the yard to wrestle, they barely made it past the FJ before they started. It must be the warmer than normal temps, it was 0° last year, high 30's today.

We barely stayed awake past midnight last night. I did anyway, all the hounds slept most of the night including Winston. At one time he was in the snoring stage and I take that as a very good sign. The good signs seem to be appearing more and more ... very encouraging.

The day started with the same routine as yesterday and really about the same time. Sadie came into my bedroom whining loud enough to wake me ... just to let me know that Winston was whining to go outside. It was 4:44am. It was about a second after I took the gate down and he started marching to the door while dragging his legs behind him. A "stop Winston" got him stopped so I could prop the door open and put the t-shirt sling under him to lift his hips.

He came back inside and went straight to sleep. That lasted another 3 hours when all the hounds let me know that it was time for their breakfast. When I put the gate down, he sat on his blankets wagging his tail ... a small bowl of water later ... we are "sprinting to the yard.

So now it's 730am I am still feeling I need more sleep but this time I took a chance and put him in the center of the bed. Here is where the next 'good sign' of improvement happened. As he sat up after almost 3 hours of sleeping, there was a small pop in his lower back ... like a chiropractic adjustment. Once again when he saw me getting out of bed he went to the edge of the bed ready to get off. He waited until I lifted him and carried him to his blanket.

Same routine to go outside dumping both tanks ... came back inside and went to sleep until Stella began howling to be fed lunch. His next laser treatment will be tomorrow around 1:30pm. I am thinking with the reduction of swelling around his spine, the small back pop today, more tail wagging these past few days ... this next laser treatment could be really good for him and speed his recovery even more.

With his legs up off the ground as we walked outside at 10:30am, I noticed a little movement with each rear leg in a walking motion, not just dangling free. His left paw was in the normal position while his right paw was somewhere in between the normal and hanging straight down.

As you can see Stella and Sadie are ready for their first day in 2016 to stand on alert with Winston.

One of the blog readers has a real interest like myself, in old steel bridges. So with all the rain we've had this past week along with the photos of the field across the highway flooding .. I decide to take a photo shoot break and see what was up with that bridge with flooded fields ... and to give him an update.

Here is where I talked about that bridge last May, along with some photos:  Click here:

I didn't get far today.

The first photo is the same road last May 2015.

Here is that same road to the bridge today on 2016 Jan 01.

Bridge Is Just Past That White Sign

Here is a current photos from late this afternoon of that field of yellow weeds (flowers).

Sometime around the normal "anytime after 12 noon", if Stella is sleeping she will wake up to let me know it is time to eat. They just had their breakfast at 7:30am so not quite 5 hours and they are wanting to eat. Even Winston was sitting in his gated area today wagging his tail while Stella begged to be fed. For the first time ever I was able to capture Stella howling ... it's a soft howl ... a bloodhound howl ... and I think it's her bark also. I have never heard Sadie bark ... ever.

Her ... "I want to be fed call"

Sadie seems to be looking at her wondering what the hell is she doing???

There were 3 things today that showed more improvements. They keep coming and that's a great thing to see.

1. While holding him up by the t-shirt harness, he peed in a squatting position (his normal) instead  of sitting on the ground.
2. While holding him up by the t-shirt harness, I let him walk to anywhere he wanted thinking he had to poop. He walked all the way through the field to the tree line straight back from the house ... then pooped while standing with me holding him up by the harness instead of in a sitting position. That's a pretty long walk with only his front legs. I carried him back to the house after that.
3. At the time I was bringing his bowl of food to him he was trying to do his patent 'mini hop' on his front feet. He does that when he is excited. 

I know for those readers that are not pet owners it might seem gross to talk about this type of stuff, but it's part of of owning a dog and in this case a dog that is in recovery from a back issue. He continues to do the best he can to get better. Basset Hounds are a stubborn breed and loyal ... Winston is no exception.

It was a beautiful first day of 2016 here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.

Winston Has More Signs Of Improvement

Again this daily post starts off where the previous night ended. Last night that was around 1am as I turned off the Holiday Bowl from San Diego early. Good game but my desire to sleep was winning. After sleeping all day, Winston continued his slumber just like he is suppose to.

I did notice something around 10:30pm while he was sleeping that I had not seen in a while. While laying on his side I could see his rib cage. Finally that area that is normally his waistline was visible once again ... just one of the new small changes.

He was sound asleep when I went to bed. So I did the same thing before, I headed to my bed in the next room and left him be. Around 4:44am, Sadie and Stella came into the bedroom whining loud enough to wake me up. I could hear Winston whining in the distance. For the first time I remember he turned down his water. Yet, he was anxious to get outside and pee. I slipped the t-shirt harness under him and we went walking for the drive, his tail wagging all the way.

After sleeping another hour, where the bloodhounds had spent their time on the dog bed and at the foot of the bed on the floor, Sadie and Stella jumped up when they heard Winston whine and ran out to him. This time he guzzled water, then the same routine as always ... harness, tail wagging, walking toward the yard/driveway.

This time I kept the harness under him out in the driveway to see if he would walk back to the house, he didn't. He made a right turn and headed for his area to poop ... over by the southern edge of the yard along 'his' embankment. Firm stool and normal color -- a healthy sign.

It was during this walking to the edge of the yard I noticed a very slight "new change" ... with his right leg out straight, right after I sat him down thinking that was where he wanted ... there was a slight motion like a oar, using his right leg a little to move forward in a rowing motion while he scooted only a foot in distance ... another "new change"

On Winston's trip outside around 10am, HIS LEFT REAR PAW WAS IN THE NORMAL FORWARD POSITION AND HIS RIGHT REAR PAW WAS TRYING !! I feel this is a GIANT improvement for his recovery. I still had his hip elevated with the t-shirt harness.

Since December 19 his rear paws have been dangling facing the opposite direction, to the rear instead of pointing forward.

"I sleep a lot but I'm feeling a lot better"

All of the hounds slept most of the morning if not all of it. Around 11am they all moved into positions think the first college football bowl game started at 11am...once they found out kickoff was not until noon, they just slept.

Caught In The Middle Of A Head Shake

"My Only Choice If Winston's On The Couch

I decided that since Winston did so well the last 3 days/nights ... he needed to be rewarded, no matter what that link about bad backs said. I moved him up to the couch (under my supervision) next to me until he the next time he had to get up to go outside ... yes, he'll get carried off the couch to make his periodic trips outside.

As I write this it's 12:34pm and not a word...not a word from any of them wanting lunch. Stella is usually begging me for food by 11am if not earlier. Instead she spent most of her morning chewing on her favorite bone.

Not soon after I wrote that, both Sadie and Stella woke up and knew it was past time to eat lunch. Winston's appetite is still good. He wagged his tail as I followed lifting his hips off the ground ... only this time he searched long enough to do both of his jobs. Then it was back in his area for a nap.

All the hounds slept until 4:00pm ... right before the Clemson - Oklahoma football game I wanted to watch, he decided he needed to go out right before the kick off. When I came back inside I brought him straight to the couch and he has been sleeping every minute since.

Once again when outside this after noon - HE DROPPED HIS RIGHT REAR PAW IN THE CORRECT POSITION and then he almost tried to stand!!!

He does feel where he didn't before. I tried to shove up about 5" forward on the couch from his lower back by his tail, so I could have room enough to sit down. HE FLINCHED!

I am happy the way these past four days have gone. I don't know which is the cause for the improvement, probably a little of both, the Prednisone and the Laser Treatment but he has had a lot of improvement in small steps.

Heidi moved out to join all of us and kept the chair with her blue Mexican blanket. Stella and Winston shared the couch with me while Sadie was not happy being relegated back to the area where Winston sleeps.

Happy New Year!!!!

Bloodhounds Save The Day

It all started with me setting the small oven that is above my stove,  at 425° and baking one of my two pizzas received late afternoon Wednesday from three of my closest friends. The 35 minutes were up and the cheese pizza looked just as good as the one in the photo on the left. It tasted even better. 

Winston was behind his gated area wagging his tail from the smell coming from the kitchen, Heidi woke up and came running from the bedroom and Stella along with Sadie sat at attention watching every move from the plate to my mouth.

That part of the baking was okay. 

Photo from TastesOfChicago.com

Where the bloodhounds come in as lifesavers involves the apple pie, pictured below that is baked inside a brown bag. If frozen, which it was, the baking time was 90 minutes - open the bag and then another 45 minutes to make the crust just like the photo below.

Photo from TastesOfChicago.com

Since the oven had already been running at 425° for around two hours, I knew that 45 minutes to brown the crust may take a shorter amount of time so I sat the timer at 30 minutes -- took off for the computer room to answer some emails and catch up on my football/basketball scores.

It wasn't long before I had two bloodhounds running into my computer room, tails between their legs and very agitated. I first thought with Stella's "guilty look" she had found and finished off the remaining pizza that I had sitting on the kitchen island. As I walk away from from desk around the corner to see what the bloodhounds had gotten into ... I see a kitchen full of smoke that is bellowing from my small oven door.

Stella was at the door trying to move the locked door handle lever with her nose to open the door and get out. Sadie was sprinting to the door to get out. I shut off the oven but left the oven door shut, not go give it added air to help fuel a potential fire.

Stella and Sadie ran to just the edge of the yard and field, sat down looking back at the house. Winston is sleeping though all the excitement and Heidi never left the bedroom. She decided if she didn't get any pizza then apple pie was not a possibility.

I walked around and opened windows, brought out a stored floor fan and proceeded to get the smoke from my kitchen to outside ... all in 40° weather. I opened the oven door to let the remaining smoke out along with pulling out the perfectly baked apple pie. The pie still smelled like a freshly baked apple pie.

My mistake was not using a cookie sheet as instructed because mine was too narrow. Instead I used a pizza pan that had holes in the bottom. I did not know the amount of juices that would come from the pie, through the brown bag and drop on the very hot oven floor. It should be quite fun to get that off (any suggestions) but it was well worth it after tasting a slice of that great apple pie.

It took almost 15 minutes before the hounds decided to re-enter the house. Sadie ran to the bedroom and hid with Heidi while Stella followed my every move and glued herself to my desk chair as I ate a slice of pie and continued to read all the news I had missed while sleeping the day away.

So ... 2015 Hounds of the Year go to Stella and Sadie!!

Another Solid Day For Winston

Last night as I glanced up, I saw I had been sleeping sitting up on the couch for an hour. All the hounds were sleeping with Sadie and Heidi snoring. It was only a little after 9pm. I didn't want to wake up Winston, thinking sleep was better than anything. So I turned off the light and headed to my bedroom. It was a chance I was taking since I had not slept in separate rooms with Winston since he was hurt.

I woke up at the "new normal" 3:09am. Not sure why but that seems to be the time lately. Darkness, really quiet, not a sound from the hounds. I wanted to see how Winston had done after his solid 8 hours of sleep by then. As I looked around the corner, Winston was still sleeping ... Heidi had moved into the confined area via under the end table and was sleeping next to him.

As I was moving around the house, Winston sat up, wagging his tail over the soft inside liner of his Coleman sleeping bag. I gave him a bowl of water, then slipped the t-shirt harness under him as we walked out the door ... his tail wagging.

Winston had been able to control his bladder for over 8 hours and slept most of those hours. That's not out of the ordinary for him, except for Sunday where the Prednisone may have played a part in a  couple of accidents by him. Of course when I turned the lights on the bloodhounds woke up ready to escort us outside and a chance for them to dump their tanks.

Back inside Winston went right back to sleep in his confined area. To me that was a great sign that he was feeling better. The last time I had seen him awake was a little after 7:30pm Tuesday night. According to my color coded spreadsheet tracking Winston's health, the last two days/nights have been solid and signs of improvement.

The rest of the morning was normal. I took Winston over to the vet's at 8am for his 2nd Laser Treatment. He loves riding in any vehicle, so traveling is not a problem. He rode over in back of the FJ on the dog bed from the bedroom.

The field flooding I showed here yesterday become worse overnight. Here is a new photo take this morning compared to yesterdays.

This Morning December 30

Yesterday Morning December 29

The hounds didn't do much in the morning ... went outside a couple of times. Pretty lazy.

I am not sure what the laser treatment does for Winston immediately. I know what the purpose is. Soon after he arrived back home after his 2nd laser treatment this morning he fell into a deep sleep. That's a good thing. I could only equate it to coming home after I get an 1-1/2 massage and sleeping the rest of the day due to the relaxed feeling.

Stella Stood Watch Over Winston

Sometime around 2pm I turned off my IU basketball game that was ugly for major college basket ball. Winston was still sleeping since his lunch. I left him there and headed for the bedroom for what i thought was a short siesta. An hour and a half later I found that out to be not true. I wake up hearing something ... yes you guessed it.

Winston had escaped from his makeshift jail and had walked dragging his rear legs from the corner of the living room, around the corner, down a short hallway and into the bedroom ... he was lying on the dog bed on the floor, whining to get up on my bed.

Yet with the new rules installed after reading the link last night on how to treat a disc problem for a dog, I carried him back to his living room confined bed, reinforced the side of it where he pushed out the box and heater to move between them. I went back to bed since I was that tired and slept until 5:07pm.

Winston was still asleep when I peeked around the corner. It was good to see him sleeping a lot today. So at that time it was the normal routine.

• Give Winston water behind the gated area
• While he is drinking put on my jacket, prop the storm door open
• Bloodhounds go out the open door immediately
• By this time Winston is finished drinking water - move him forward over the harness
• Lift his hips as he wags his tail walking towards the yard
• Dumps tanks - I carry him back inside because he likes to wander if we try the harness thing back to the house

Only this time, as I open the door, sitting on my step is a delivery from FedEx .. a gift from my college friends scattered throughout the USA. A box from Lou Malnati's Pizza Taste of Chicago ... 2 deep dish pizzas along with a deep dish apple pie.

Of course the hounds are all excited as I open the box...they ALWAYS assume food - even Heidi comes sprinting from her bed. Winston curbs his excitement and doesn't move a lot but his tail is wagging 90 mph.

So the first pizza went into the oven, the apple pie went in the oven after the pizza was done ... I should have used the two ovens I have not just the smaller one, I guess.

So we didn't do much at all today ... lots of rest for him and I.

Sometime around 6:07 pm, Winston has decided once again he has had enough "bed rest". Whining to get out. When the gate comes down he wants to walk dragging his feet as I stop him. Take him outside to only find out that he wants to walk forever in the front yard acting like he is looking for a place to pee or poop ... before I realize he is just wanting to walk!! LOL

He finally gives up hope of escaping around 6:34 pm.

Winston is still sleeping almost 2 hours after he smelled the pizza ... He has had 3 GREAT days in a row.  Wagging his tail a lot when he is awake. He is either confined or outside to pee ... no exceptions. I do make a point of sitting on the floor a lot, hanging out with him and discussing the plan, reassuring him that he's alright.

I have some wire panels on order from Amazon to help in containing him. Thank you to those that emailed me tonight asking if things were okay. All is okay, just a little late posting due to my nap and then enjoying that Chicago deep dish pizza .... then as I try to add photos, Blogger doesn't want to cooperate.

All is good in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.