The Hounds Adapt Quickly

While we should be putting on boots, gloves, hats and a ski parka before taking our walk for the day ... I'm not ... Don't have to. With the temps at a 'blazing' 51° here in the tropics, all I needed was a 4 season jacket over my sweatshirt. Nike shoes instead of boots ... and we were off.

It was -7° on this day last year.

Sadie, Heidi and Stella seem to be back to normal activity.  In fact Heidi is getting out of bed when the other hounds do and has made it outside today on 3 different occasions. That, is totally unheard of for her. She was awake and outside by 6:03am today.

She normally goes out to the front yard, does her thing and then immediately back to the door to be let inside. Today after letting her out I headed in the back to take some bloodhound photos but more importantly to monitor and yell at them to stop eating the deer droppings. THAT is all they want to do outside.

So it was pretty shocking to see Heidi running down the side of the house, coming from the north. That means she ran completely around the house instead of heading for the door.

After she was inside, I grabbed my camera and decided Sadie and Stella might be more interested in a walk instead of digesting deer stuff. I was right. Who says that hounds cannot see? About 50' away I hold up the retractable leash for Sadie and Stella to see ... not saying a word ... they come sprinting to me because they know that means walk.

Stella is the only one that is leashed. I figure at Sadie's age and weight, she might chase a deer but not for long before she would be out of breath and I could then catch her. Stella is a different story I think, so for her protection and my sanity I put the 25' retractable leash on her.

As you'll see, the first half of their walk their noses rarely come off the ground ... that is all deer area.
Here are some photos of their walk today.

A Short Note Tonight

I added a page about Winston's life that includes around a 100 photos +/- a few. One is at the top of the page called Winston's Story and the other is on the left side under "My Favorite Sites" called Winston's Biography.

I am happy to see at the other hounds adjust quickly to normal life. Heidi has the chair full time now, although Sadie seems to have liked it the past few weeks.

The "twins" are back to demanding being fed on "their time", with threats of Stella howling for food if I don't feed them when they want. Regular feeding times do not matter to them.

My 1st Day Without Winston

First of all I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and emails. The number of them surprised me, yet they made a bad day feel a little better. A friend emailed me last night hoping my day without Winston had not gone too bad, although she knew it would be a tough one. After I sent her a response... she said it would be a great blog post for the readers.

So here is a brief update for my 1st day without Winston.

Before I post that below my divider I need to briefly let you know what changed with Winston and that for some reason after I posted Monday, Winston started going downhill for some unexplainable reason. I'll not go into detail but just list some of the things that told me it was time. I remember on my Monday post that I mentioned at 2:20 that he started whining a lot, with numerous trips outside (3 in an hour), with no results.

• Late Monday night after a lot of hours of sleep - struggles to get up in the sitting position 
• He yelped when I tried to help him   (a sign of a lot of pain)
• Late Monday night turns down an offer of water
• For 17 days he had been guzzling water at every opportunity
• Late Monday night turns down a handful of kibble
• For 11 years and 7 months he never turned down anything to eat .. ever
• Peaceful night of sleeping in bed Monday night - although struggles to lay down
• He was back to using short choppy steps with his front paws to lay down
• At one point stopped and could not lay flat
• Cannot sit up Tuesday morning
• Yelps when I try to help him up as he is struggling to get to his front feet
• Tuesday morning after I carry him to the gated area - with no gate - struggles to lay down
• Tuesday morning struggles to pee and has one very very small piece of poop
• Tuesday morning refuses his breakfast of kibble and water
• I knew from all of the latest changes and the look he gave me Tuesday morning it was time
• I just knew there was nothing else I could do

So here is how my 1st day went without my very best friend. I will add that Wednesday morning has not been any easier. I got 9 hours of solid sleep Tuesday night and feel like I slept 30 minutes. I have two concerned bloodhounds that follow me when I pace around the house and come running when they hear me at my desk.

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This was my email reply to her:

I guess it has gone as expected. It’s been too quiet. Not because Winston was noisy but the bloodhounds haven’t played, stella didn’t howl for lunch and heidi is always quiet. Washed all the Mexican blankets, the dog Coleman sleeping bag and put the barriers away of the gated area … I didn’t want to see it anymore.

Took a shower, shave, a nap, two different walks with the bloodhounds. I looked through all of his photos. I took the last 3 of him this morning. 

I remember how he felt this morning when I held him at the vet, while I talked to him. His coat was so soft. I remember after the sedation shot that he almost finally laid down with my arm under his head to hold him, when he sat back up, refusing to quit and how he finally laid down with his eyes barely open.

I remember after it was all done how the vet tech took his ears, spread them out on the table and she couldn’t stop petting them.

I know it was the best thing for him. I know I made the right decision but like you know and I know from experience, it’s just a hard thing to grasp and get through.

I keep looking back and wondering what the cause was. Was it possible he might have had an infection from losing 4 teeth in 2 days although the vet gave him antibiotics? Did he have a stroke type thing on his spine. Did he hurt his back by doing his normal morning jumping off the bed.? Did Stella accidentally fall or step on him as she ran for the door after waking up?

Then I remember the facts … it happened … he was old … he had a great life … and he was just a great basset hound … that’s it.

So I pet and rub the ears of the other hounds. I talk to them. Hug them and at times I pace the house. I think of him lying down at the vet’s right now to be picked up by the cremation company tomorrow and know they will call me next Wednesday to pick up his ashes.

I still see him wag his tail just like Maggie did .. right before they gave they a shot to sedate them.

Time will take away some of the pain away but some of it will never leave. I’m still sad at times for the basset hound that died 8 months after I moved here in 1997. 

He didn’t want to eat this morning and didn’t. He didn’t take hardly any water this morning, then looked up at me with those sad eyes.

I thought when Bertha died at home while I held her as she tried biting me was the worse I had ever felt … but it’s going to take a long time to get over Winston. He was the best of all the hounds I’ve ever had….the best.

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Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday morning when I got back. Heidi did nothing but her favorite hobby of sleeping. Sadie and Stella put noses to the ground looking for Winston when I came back. They both jumped into the back of the FJ sniffing as I took the dog bed out to return it to the house. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to find him.

eyes closed

Winston Was Put Down This Morning

May 2004 - January 2016

Nothing New But a Good Day For Winston

As you can see from the two photos from Sunday afternoon and then the last two photos from this morning ... the two fields across the highway have had the flooding water disappear at a rapid rate. 

These are from Monday morning showing quite a difference from just a couple of days ago.

Sunday afternoon Sadie and Stella were pretty lazy and laidback, not really enthused about doing anything. They sniffed around a little but nothing exciting nor very far away from the yard. Ten acres to roam and they get three feet from the backyard.

After Winston had a few hours of sleeping on the couch last night, moving from his left to right side without a sound, it was time for one last trip outside. It was still early but I moved him into his gated area, turned off the lights wth the game on tv ... he fell right back to sleep between his sleeping bag and Mexican blanket. The more sleep he gets the better for him.

Heidi decided she also needed to borrow my Marmot sleeping bag and it took just a few minutes before she had maneuvered into her favorite position and hobby ... sleeping. By the time it was the official time to sleep she had crawled out of the oven to enjoy the cooler air inside the bedroom. I don't have the windows even cracked, but it's cool temperatures in there.

We didn't finish watching the NFL game Sunday night. During these times you grab sleep when you can, so it was lights out at 10:30pm and all the hounds had been sleeping soundly by that time for the past hour.

I think if I had not had to get up at 4:48am Winston would have slept even longer. Heidi heard me get up, which started the "domino effect", then Sadie and Stella got up by the time I was able to sneak back to bed with the lights off ... of course Winston sat up from his slumber. So it was a lot of water to quench his thirst and then outside. He is starting to pee in multiple places now, so the walks are longer. I can't tell at times if he just wants to go on a walk or is sniffing for multiple spots.

Today I decided he would go back to the center of my bed, covered with the sleeping bag. Otherwise he would have sat in his gated area in the living room and whined. Once again he slept on each side. This "right side" stuff is very new to him since his back injury. In fact Sunday it might have been the first time he has been able to move to that right side.

Also in bed this morning for the first time I can remember since December 19, he laid on his side stretched out from head to toe with occasional feet pushing against you to gain more room. Only his front feet were doing that. I still do not get any responses when I touch his rear paw pads, yet he was able to stand with my help, just a little bit on his rear legs.

He has only 4 more doses of Prednisone to take and that will finish his 40 tablets. This week's dose is every other day. His next K-Laser treatment is Wednesday morning. I am anxious to see how much better he feels by the time we go. He slept well after breakfast this morning but as Sadie and Stella became more active chewing their bones ... Winston woke up and wants to move like normal. He doesn't know he is hurt because he already has figured out a long time ago his front legs and shoulder works fine and that's all he needs ... at least in his mind.

Stella and Sadie went outside for a quick check on air temperature, animal tracks while they slept and then back inside for some quiet wrestling.

The day was pretty quiet. Winston slept a lot with my loaned sleeping bag. He gets really excited when it's time for lunch. Around 2:20pm today he started whining a lot. We went outside a few times and he walked in that field for the longest time before I came to the realization he didn't want to poop, he just wanted to walk the field like he use to.

When we came back inside, I decided to put him on the couch with Heidi. I wanted to see if that would stop his whining. He doesn't like being confined. Within a minute of sitting him on the couch, he laid down and fell asleep.

With Winston on the couch Sadie decide his sleeping bag on her spot against the wall was the place to be. She has laid there without a blanket for years, when she doesn't want on the furniture.

Nothing new to report today but that's fine. He didn't regress in anything and he can't have a "new" improvement every day. Patience .. Patience .. Patience

The temps were cold here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana. It said 35° but felt like 0° with no wind.

He's Feisty Today - Must Be Feeling Better

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love and leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion"

Author:  Unknown

I have had that on a small piece of paper, on my refrigerator held by a small magnet. It has been there for more than 10 years at least, maybe even longer than 15 years. I have always believed what that said, consequently there are many times I don't do something because it wasn't the best for any of the hounds I have or had.

Last week I received an email telling me to take Winston's recovery hour by hour and notice any improvements he made. That suggestion has helped me a lot in getting through the dim periods. There have not been many, if only a couple of dim periods due to the little things he does in his recovery, still that "hour by hour" mentality is a good one.

Even though I was excited about seeing his right leg bent around 11:34am today. I also took the leg and gently flexed it in a normal range of motion without any yelping from Winston -- no sign of pain while I did that. There was other excitement though from Sadie and Stella. It wasn't quite noon.

Only 4-1/2 hours after their last meal, they were more excited about getting me to serve them lunch about an hour early and BEFORE noon. They both like Winston but when you are talking food, then everything else stops. This is the look Sadie and Stella will give me before Stella starts her howling if I don't respond with food.

It was a restless afternoon for Winston. Highly active, wanting out of that gated area. He didn't want on the couch, nor on the floor and not in his bed area. He wanted outside and went outside about every 30 minutes for almost 2 hours. Luckily it was a beautiful day, sunny, no wind, cool temps but warm enough to melt the frost on the grass.

Finally Winston takes me out to the far edge of the field. He was still showing the 'walking motion' with this rear legs as we headed toward the back of the field. I knew what he wanted. Around the spot he chose, nothing happened with me holding him with the harness. So I decided "what's a couple of feet of scooting really going to do?"

He went about a foot in distance, rowing with this right rear paw on the ground ... getting done what he has been trying to do all morning.

Back inside he was still whining a little. I think he was feeling that good today and wanted to take off wandering outside. Instead I pulled out my Marmot sleeping back and threw it over the top of him. I think it's his favorite blanket. He moved himself deep inside and went to sleep. No gate was needed.

After another trip outside ... it was a quick one as he only went the gravel driveway ... he came back and was pretty happy that I had let him use my sleeping bag again. No gate now and he stayed around, but it's the sleeping bag doing that. He would move around a different couple of positions. His last one put him outside the bag ... but he was happy to get back under with my help. He slept for quite a while in that position.

My barricade is still working okay. It's a baby gate in front just leaning again the corner of the wall and my portable heater which is not turned on. Next to that is a box with a DVD recorder inside that I bought but haven't used. Behind those sides I sat two 15# dumbbells to hold them because had figured out if he nosed his way between the box and heater he was on the highway to freedom. So far the dumbbells have prevented that.

It wasn't a few hours later and I hear noise coming from his area of the living room. He decided he had enough of sleep and wanted to move around. I take this restlessness as a sign of healing. He has never been this confined this long since he was a 8 week old puppy. I am guessing the more he wanted to "walk" the better he feels and the closer we are to him standing on his rear legs.

From this photo, I carried him to the couch. For the first time I can remember he laid on his RIGHT SIDE and has been sleeping every since, submerged between two Mexican blankets.

The weather was great today in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.

A New Day Brings Better News

At 9:45am this morning as we went outside, his stiff right leg was making a walking motion and his right paw would move from dangling to the correct position with each of these "steps". 

I still had his hips raised with the harness and his feet barely touching the ground -- but there was a defined stepping movement with the paw in the air.

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At 11:34am this morning when I sat him on the couch, gated, he was sitting with his right rear leg bent. This leg has been locked in a straight position since Dec 19. Picture below of the bent leg. If you look back through the other posts of him sitting you will see a stiff straight right rear leg.

Right rear leg is bent for 1st time since injury

It might be a good time to trim his toenails. If those nerves are rebuilding he might be able to feel me cutting them and flinch his paws. Otherwise I can trim them without any reaction.

******

Before I get started on this post today I wanted to clear up something that maybe was taken wrong yesterday after I posted that I wasn't sure about Winston's recovery. Not soon after I posted that I had a couple of different blog comments and more emails in my inbox. It may have sounded like I was considering putting Winston down in the next few days to a week.

That's not the case.

I am going to give him every opportunity and option to recover to the point of walking again. From the start of this (Dec 19) I have had a date in mind to where I would have to decide for the best for Winston. That date seems to adjust with each new article I read or every new link that is sent to me by this blog's readers.

Basically it boils down to science and Winston.

At times he gets "Basset Hound feisty", is always stubborn and has a never give up attitude. A typical basset hound. About the time I think there is no chance for him to recover enough to walk - he does something that gives me hope. Like this morning.

While outside on the "frozen tundra", he had peed and after I slid the harness off him so I could carry him back into the house he takes off scooting across the frost covered grass -- slightly pushing off on his curled right paw. If I put his paws in the correct position while holding up his hips with the t-shirt harness ... he can handle a little weight on those legs before having to sit down.

This link sent to me yesterday by Contessa over at 5C's Que Pasa has a very good vet explanation of what Winston is going through right now and in a way is ahead of schedule because he has been showing some improvements after two weeks, and nothing should be expected for 3 weeks. Contessa's dachshund Carmeh had similar issues last May and recovered by July.

It's just that when you see a face like this, you hate seeing him going through what we have been doing through at all hours of day and night ... only after two weeks ... it also makes me to keep trying to help him recover, by time and different treatments.

I have no doubt that the laser treatments are having some effect on him. He will sleep a lot the day of those treatments. I also think he may "twitch" more than the other days. By that I mean he will be laying down, possibly sleeping, and then all of the sudden he sits straight up and doesn't move for a minute. When he does that I am thinking he is feeling some kind of pain in his back.

Last night he started whining around 7pm. He had already been outside plus had drank almost a full small bowl of water. I knew what he was wanting. He was tired of the gated area just on the other side of the end table. He wanted on the couch. He could hear the ballgame on tv.

Whining to get on the couch

Stella never woke up when I lowered Winston to that spot

So I gently laid him down on the couch next to Stella and myself while I watched a football game. He moved around gingerly finding that one comfortable spot -- was asleep soon after. It was almost 3 hours later where he jumped straight up in the sitting position and started whining. Outside we went.

By the time I was able to slide the t-shirt harness under him, he was half way to the opened door. I could tell he was in a hurry, faster than normal. He trotted to his spot with me holding his feet up almost off the ground (I try to keep his back as straight as possible). He had to poop.

The thing is, he will "walk" around the yard to smell out his spot but his new spot is not in the yard. He decided a few days ago that his new spot was at the back of the field behind the house, all the way out to where the bushes start separating the field from the trees. Once he is there he will go and it's a long trip back inside from there carrying a 60# basset hound.

He walks that distance to the bushes on two legs and me holding his hips up

The problem is his back is so long, even if my left hand is as far back to the hips as I can get, the way he is built his lower back with curl down by gravity as we walk. There is something about that right side of his back ... the right rear leg that will not bend ... always laying on his left side or sits on his left side. So I always pick him up on his right side.

He rested most of the night and the night ended at 11:09pm. I was hoping for about 6 hours of sleep, but that was not the case. Sadie came into the bedroom to wake me at 2:18am and I could hear Winston whining in the distance from his gated living room area. Sadie has been sleeping in the chair next to the gated area since Winston has been hurt. Same urgency from him as last night with the same results.

Any car that is driving by at 2am in the morning on the highway (there are a few) within site has to wonder what is going on if they glance up to the yard. I am walking around holding Winston by the harness, small camping flashlight in my mouth facing the ground and walking in small choppy steps to keep up with his pace ... all in the middle of the night and in 20° weather.

I am not saying that to make myself something special ... but to just show how weird that must seem to drivers passing by in the darkness.

We were able to sleep a solid 4 hours this morning before the hounds had their breakfast. Stella must have been hungry because she started that howling thing she does. This is the first day of not giving Prednisone to Winston. His dose is every other day for the next week, then he will be all out of Prednisone.

On a different topic and maybe some are following my flood photos. Believe me this is NOTHING compared to what the people in the St. Louis area are going through. I can barely imagine going through that in the spring but it's indescribable those people have to go through that in sub-freezing temperatures.

If you can look at the photos from yesterday's post, you will see this morning that the water in the field across the highway had a large majority of it disappear. On the other field across from that, yesterday afternoon it looked like you go go sailing with whitecaps on the water. Today a lot of that water is gone and has frozen on the edges.

Almost gone over night

Edges are frozen with less water

With no wind that high 20's temperature doesn't seem so bad ... Sadie, Stella and I head out for a walk before the last NFL kickoff of the season starts.