Posts
I'll start by saying I'll really appreciate comments from long time Dachshund owners and folks who have had a Doxie who has had or has back problems.
Yesterday, in spite of the fact that her back legs are not working well, chased a Pit Bull out of the yard because it offended her. True it was a friendly Pit Bull that I know, but there are times I wish she was not so brave. The only thing the Pit Bull did wrong was that it had forget to 'check in' with her first after entering the yard. Dolly seems to feel that she needs to assess a visiting dogs mood before they visit her humans.
Her bravery I feel has gotten her into trouble medically. She WAS absolutely fearless about leaping. One time she burst through a screen window and landed ten feet below. That was at her former owners home and she had seen us out in the garden. She also used to leap from our front porch onto the mid level of our terraced front yard. That's about 15 feet but not straight down.
Our current problem showed up slowly and I finally noticed it about two weeks ago. Dolly was just not herself. She preferred to sleep and seemed to have low energy. I was thinking she might be in the early stages of diabetes. She neglected her appearance and did not seem to take as much joy as normal with our truck rides. The thing I noticed the most was that she had pretty much stopped giving my face a good licking. That used to be serious business for her. It was like she was grooming me like she's do a pup. She was very precise and thourough about doing this job.
I got her to the vet about a week ago. By then I was thinking that her monthly flea treatment had run out and she was having a problem with her flea allergies. I also figured that it had been a long time since her anal glands were expressed and maybe that was the problem too.
As soon as we got inside the vets door Dolly started acting like her old very happy self. Usually she is tense because she hates going to the vet. She likes the people there but she has had to stay over night a couple of times and be separated from her people. She does not like to have us out of her sight. At the time I thought maybe she was faking feeling good so she could go home. A few years ago I would have laughed at anybody who made a statement like that but that was before I got to know Dolly.
The vet X-rayed her and found a couple of places in her back that she said might cause Dolly some problems five years in the future. She also said her anal glands needed expressed and that was possibly causing her low energy. She gave us some anti-inflammatory meds to give Dolly once per day. The vet seemed to think that Dolly had leaped and landed wrong and probably hurt her back. Dolly was very happy and energetic when we left. That evening gretchen gave her the meds. About 30 to 45 minutes after the meds were given Dolly started giving Gretchen a lot of attention. Dolly wanted no attention for herself she wanted to give attention. it was her "Thank You" routine. It consists of long loving looks. You also get the paw wave. You get the feeling that shes saying " My humans are so smart" In the past she has resisted us giving her medications. After the first dose of the anti-inflammatory she stopped completely. She now knows the pills help I'm guessing.
It was not until after the vet visit that her problems with walking showed up. I'd bet it was there before but she was hiding it to avoid a trip to the vet. I am more than likely wrong about that but would not be surprised to find out that I was right.
She began having problems walking. She'd walk and then just plop down. She did not sit gracefully like she normally does, she'd just plop down. What concerned me was that she was doing this while on 'patrol'. Patrol is serious business to her. She never sat down in the past in the middle of a task.
She also looked like she was planning her moves out ahead of time. it takes being disabled yourself to understand this. A normal person moves without thinking about it. When my disability was at it's worst I'd plot my movements out ahead of time. I did this to figure out the way that caused the least pain and used the least energy. If you wear yourself out you wil hurt more. It looked to me that Dolly was doing the same.
I considered calling the vet and asking if we could increase her meds. The next day she acted better. I held off calling because I was afraid that she would become tolerant of her pain meds like I have my own pain meds. I can explain to myself why my meds don't work all the time but you can't tell that to a dog.
Dolly has slowly improved but still had that gait problem. I'll be taking her back to the vet close to the time the meds run out.
What has really impressed me is Dolly's attitude. It's like "My legs don't work like I want them to." "No big deal, I'll figure out a way to get around this." It's almost like the times where we have made her do something she did not want to do. She just accepts it and goes on. There is no whining or begging. You get the impression she thinks " Well this is what my people want and that is what I shall do." However in this case it's "My back legs don't work, no use worrying about it, I'll just accept it and go on in the best way I know how."
Before this happened I used to think I understood why people put their Doxies in wheelchairs instead of putting them to sleep. I thought they loved their dogs so much they could not put them down as long as they appeared to enjoy life. I now have a much better understanding of how a dachshund enjoys life and is determined to make the best of it. They have no intention of dieing or giving up.
Somehow I can, in my minds eye, see Dolly chasing Pit Bulls out of the yard in a doggie wheelchair. Somehow she'd figure out a way to make it go faster. She'd also be trying to help me get it on her faster like she does her orange harness.
One last thing.. Harley's owners moved out a day or so ago. I am going to miss that dog. I think Dolly will too.
Yesterday, in spite of the fact that her back legs are not working well, chased a Pit Bull out of the yard because it offended her. True it was a friendly Pit Bull that I know, but there are times I wish she was not so brave. The only thing the Pit Bull did wrong was that it had forget to 'check in' with her first after entering the yard. Dolly seems to feel that she needs to assess a visiting dogs mood before they visit her humans.
Her bravery I feel has gotten her into trouble medically. She WAS absolutely fearless about leaping. One time she burst through a screen window and landed ten feet below. That was at her former owners home and she had seen us out in the garden. She also used to leap from our front porch onto the mid level of our terraced front yard. That's about 15 feet but not straight down.
Our current problem showed up slowly and I finally noticed it about two weeks ago. Dolly was just not herself. She preferred to sleep and seemed to have low energy. I was thinking she might be in the early stages of diabetes. She neglected her appearance and did not seem to take as much joy as normal with our truck rides. The thing I noticed the most was that she had pretty much stopped giving my face a good licking. That used to be serious business for her. It was like she was grooming me like she's do a pup. She was very precise and thourough about doing this job.
I got her to the vet about a week ago. By then I was thinking that her monthly flea treatment had run out and she was having a problem with her flea allergies. I also figured that it had been a long time since her anal glands were expressed and maybe that was the problem too.
As soon as we got inside the vets door Dolly started acting like her old very happy self. Usually she is tense because she hates going to the vet. She likes the people there but she has had to stay over night a couple of times and be separated from her people. She does not like to have us out of her sight. At the time I thought maybe she was faking feeling good so she could go home. A few years ago I would have laughed at anybody who made a statement like that but that was before I got to know Dolly.
The vet X-rayed her and found a couple of places in her back that she said might cause Dolly some problems five years in the future. She also said her anal glands needed expressed and that was possibly causing her low energy. She gave us some anti-inflammatory meds to give Dolly once per day. The vet seemed to think that Dolly had leaped and landed wrong and probably hurt her back. Dolly was very happy and energetic when we left. That evening gretchen gave her the meds. About 30 to 45 minutes after the meds were given Dolly started giving Gretchen a lot of attention. Dolly wanted no attention for herself she wanted to give attention. it was her "Thank You" routine. It consists of long loving looks. You also get the paw wave. You get the feeling that shes saying " My humans are so smart" In the past she has resisted us giving her medications. After the first dose of the anti-inflammatory she stopped completely. She now knows the pills help I'm guessing.
It was not until after the vet visit that her problems with walking showed up. I'd bet it was there before but she was hiding it to avoid a trip to the vet. I am more than likely wrong about that but would not be surprised to find out that I was right.
She began having problems walking. She'd walk and then just plop down. She did not sit gracefully like she normally does, she'd just plop down. What concerned me was that she was doing this while on 'patrol'. Patrol is serious business to her. She never sat down in the past in the middle of a task.
She also looked like she was planning her moves out ahead of time. it takes being disabled yourself to understand this. A normal person moves without thinking about it. When my disability was at it's worst I'd plot my movements out ahead of time. I did this to figure out the way that caused the least pain and used the least energy. If you wear yourself out you wil hurt more. It looked to me that Dolly was doing the same.
I considered calling the vet and asking if we could increase her meds. The next day she acted better. I held off calling because I was afraid that she would become tolerant of her pain meds like I have my own pain meds. I can explain to myself why my meds don't work all the time but you can't tell that to a dog.
Dolly has slowly improved but still had that gait problem. I'll be taking her back to the vet close to the time the meds run out.
What has really impressed me is Dolly's attitude. It's like "My legs don't work like I want them to." "No big deal, I'll figure out a way to get around this." It's almost like the times where we have made her do something she did not want to do. She just accepts it and goes on. There is no whining or begging. You get the impression she thinks " Well this is what my people want and that is what I shall do." However in this case it's "My back legs don't work, no use worrying about it, I'll just accept it and go on in the best way I know how."
Before this happened I used to think I understood why people put their Doxies in wheelchairs instead of putting them to sleep. I thought they loved their dogs so much they could not put them down as long as they appeared to enjoy life. I now have a much better understanding of how a dachshund enjoys life and is determined to make the best of it. They have no intention of dieing or giving up.
Somehow I can, in my minds eye, see Dolly chasing Pit Bulls out of the yard in a doggie wheelchair. Somehow she'd figure out a way to make it go faster. She'd also be trying to help me get it on her faster like she does her orange harness.
One last thing.. Harley's owners moved out a day or so ago. I am going to miss that dog. I think Dolly will too.
