Monday Dog Blog: Brave Asher and Messy Puppies

Mud Ball

It's Monday. And that means it's time for some puppy antics. And a few from our old man, too. The above photo is definitely my favorite of the week. Gershwin, Mr. Construction Worker, loves to dig. Mommy Emily accidentally left the soaker hose on, and G discovered the joy of trying to dig to the source of this wonderful water. Mom Renee was not happy with me OR G. 

Lopsided 'do

Mom took the puppies for a walk around the golf course one day this week. They came home covered with burrs and thistles, requiring a major scissor intervention. Tovah can see really well out of one eye now! I'm a little nervous about how these two are going to look when they arrive home from the groomer Monday afternoon. Will they have any hair left? I'm sad Gershwin my lose his pretty dark tips on his ears. It's just hair, right?!

New 'baby'

It's part of a dog's job in life to shred plush toys, right? Both puppies love to sleep snuggled up with a 'baby'. Every time I get out a new toy, all the dogs know it's for them. How do they know this? 

Is Our Big Brother Okay?

Asher had a rough week. The puppies are pretty concerned about their big brother and seem to sense that he needs his rest and to be left alone. Gershwin misses his favorite playmate.

Recovering.

Asher has struggled his entire life with pain that we were never able to isolate. After watching him struggle with more hind leg weakness and a significant limp on his right front side, we decided together with our vet to refer him to a specialist in town. We've been trying to take the 'path of least intervention', but we are also trying to honor the fact that Asher still has a lot of joy for life. 

More detailed testing this week revealed that Asher has degenerative disc disease from C-4 to T-1. He has bulging discs at all levels, but the C-4 to C-5 level has significant compression. This explains both his back leg weakness and his front leg lameness. 

I'm struggling with 'bad mommy' feelings. Hindsight is always 20/20, right? We had no idea the extent of Asher's pain because, honestly, he's such a trooper. He's good with the puppies, he plays with them, he never gets aggressive. The vet we saw said that dogs are incredibly stoic and can tolerate incredible amounts of pain. I'm sad our poor guy has been suffering more than I realized, but I'm trying to stay hopeful that we can manage his pain better with some new strategies, including two days of IV pain meds, new oral pain meds and some canine PT! On Friday both Asher and I get to go to our PT! :)

Today, while updating on the phone with Uncle Crazy we filled him in on yet another family member with a messed up spine. Uncle Crazy said: "He's my closest relative!" Ha! We do laugh that Asher fits right into our family with his food allergies and his neck/back pain. 

Our Brave Little Guy

And how funny is this certificate that Asher arrived home with? He was a pretty brave little guy, having never spent a night away from us--he's always been with either Mom and me or with Dad and Abbie. I hate to see our poor guy suffering so much.

Happy Monday!

Blessings,

Emily