Learning new things with my camera..

Aselin spent the day with me and we had a girls day. We had lunch with Lois and then we went to the beach and I got to practice a new technique with my camera called Bokeh..  When my friend Mariah posted some pictures on her site and they are totally awesome by the way, I loved the faded technique she used for the background.. You can see some of her pics at Bunch We Lunch with on facebook. She has spread her wings and is doing family pics now as well as the amazing dog pictures. She is in Toronto and I so wish she was closer to capture my Lab crew..
Anyway I spent some time practicing today and it came out pretty well I think. Of course having a cute subject really helps.. Next time I will try it out with the pups..

Getting the all important sand and water mix just right!

 Rinsing the sand off..

She was looking at periwinkles..

Just having fun...

The mix is almost right.

The water keeps leaking out!!

What sand!

 hmmm nuff said!

just need a little more sand..

Chauncy's Progress

I took this video on Sunday day 13 post op. He did fantastic even if I do say so myself. He doesn't do this well all the time but he is making great progress.

Outside on his potty breaks he does really well. Inside he tends to keep it up more than he does outside but that is normal.

The last day or so I have been able to stay in the living room with him rather than stay in the bedroom. He is doing great but he is one sad looking puppy and I feel guilty but he is not allowed to jump up on anything so until we get the all clear from the surgeon he stays on his beds.. or mine since it is on the floor...

Can I please get on the couch beside you... I love you!!

9 days Post Op

 

I think Chauncy's incision looks GREAT for 9 days post op. I wore the soft e-collar on him until I was sure he would leave it alone and he has so goodbye collar.. He is doing great being confined while I am at work. Bill takes him out for potty breaks on a leash. He is using his leg a bit outside but less so inside the house. He doesn't move around the house much at all. So for now that's good I guess. No walks yet, just potty breaks..

5 days Post OP

Well Chauncy is doing much better today, he has made steady progress this week. The swelling is almost completely gone and the incision looks great!

I was putting a mattress in the living room and sleeping there with him and the other pups. I covered the furniture with laundry baskets so he could not get up on them but he kept getting up and standing by the bedroom door which was closed of course as we don't want him jumping up on anything. I had to put him in the gated area anyway so I finally decided on Thursday to turn my bedroom into a crate.. I took the mattress off the frame ( well cleaned out what was under the bed first ) and put an area rug down on the wood floor to keep him from slipping and covered the rest of the floor with rubber backed mats. Now my evenings are being spent in the bedroom with the pups.. It's safe and I don't have to worry about him jumping up on anything so I don't have to sleep with one eye open.
Going to be a long summer!

ACL modified Flo Technique

Chauncy had the modified Flo Technique yesterday to repair his ACL which he ruptured on Jun 11th. The radiographs at the time of surgery showed minimal degenerative joint change and the expectation is he will develop arthritis and only time will tell how much.

He was not a happy camper at all on the short trip home.. He hurt and he let us know it. He developed diarrhea about 1/2 hr after getting home and that was certainly not pleasant for him. I suspect from intra-operative injectable NSAIDs which he was not supposed to have because of his reaction to them especially injectable anafen in the past. It is routinely given so I think it got slipped in. We had a rough first night with only Tramadol for pain. I iced him non stop last night, just rotated the sites so not to do any tissue damage. That helped, I know it did.. Thanks Karen.. if not for you I would not have started it when I did.

This picture is was taken just after I brought him home last night, he is a lot more swollen today.
With regular Tramadol and hourly icing he is doing better today. Emma and Aselin both came to help me look after our boy. Thank heavens for great grand kids no matter how young they are.

The Ruff Wear Harness I got when he injured his leg has been very helpful and I highly recommend it for anyone who has a dog with an acl injury.


This is an excellent resource for Canine ACL issues and repairs. 

Canine ACL issues