lyndon baines

The latest in unwanted apparel

Hi all, the new boxer shorts have gone into retirement (so long as Lyndon continues to mind his manners).  Sadly though, The torture cone and evil boxers have been replaced by the monster harness.  Yes, the ruffwear harness is the new fashion trend of the week, and this one is here to stay for a while.  Lyndon is adapting to it okay, but it’s obvious he doesn’t like it one little bit.  The funny thing is that once he is fine on the stairs and doesn’t have to wear the harness any more, it will be time for him to don his sweater.  I’ve never been one to dress my dogs up (except for Halloween for fun and really cold days for protection), but that trend is going out the window with all of Lyndon’s three-legged garb. 

 The good news is that Lyn is doing pretty good.  He can go out potty on his own now, although I still have to stand by the back door to make sure he doesn’t sneak under the deck.  He can go down any amount of stairs without any help, he can run around the back yard (albeit clumsily), and he’s back to eating his normal food. 

The next stage in tripawd cloths evolution

The part that still isn’t so good is that he doesn’t have the confidence to go up even a few steps, and the few times he has tried my other dog, Scampers, barks and jumps at him and tries to knock him back down the stairs.  Luckily the harness will help me to teach Lyndon how to go up the stairs, and leave one hand to fight off Scamp.

Well, we’ll see how this harness thing works. Till next time… TTFN.

Sorry it has been so long since Lyndon and I have written, but this past week has been crazy busy.  Aside from the usual holiday craziness, Lyndon had a pretty eventful week too.  First of all he got his stitches out on Tuesday!  I was surprised how quick it was, they just took him in back for about 5 minutes and then we were free to go.  The bad news is that he is still banned from messing with his scar for another week… hence the cone is still in power.  Due to all his misery over the cone of shame I asked the vet if there were any alternatives.  And the alternative turned out to be… little kid’s boxer shorts…

swashbuckler boy

Needless to say that Lyndon is not fond of his new britches, but he likes them better than the cone.  It is a really good solution too as Lyndon can sleep and move around and even go down the stairs with the shorts on.  The problem is that they don’t stay up very well, and I’m constantly having to pull them back up (it doesn’t help that he only has a little stub instead of a tail).

The other night we had a funny night with Lyndon.  We were staying with my parents for the thanksgiving weekend and my mom decided that she wanted Lyndon to sleep in her room the first night.  It was a decision she soon regretted.  She first put Lyn in the bed with her and he wandered around the bed, crying for about an hour before my mom put him back on the ground.  Once on the ground, Lyndon wandered and cried for another two hours.  Finally my mom said she heard a tearing sound coming from the master bathroom, so she went to see what it was.  To her annoyance, she found Lydon sitting on the shag bathroom rug picking out every single piece of string.  He had a little pile of torn pieces sitting next to him on the bathroom floor and when she caught him, he just looked at her like, “WHAT?!”  Needless to say he spent the rest of the nights with me.

Lyndon the day before surgery

Well, I guess that’s all for now.  This coming week we are going to start working on going up the stairs.  He’s a pro at going down, but he’s not confident in the slightest going up.  We even got him a ruff-wear harness to help him.  More on that next time.

Tomorrow is the big day… Lyndon finally gets his stitches removed.  I’m hoping that once the cone is finally gone that he will be a bit more comfortable and not quite so whiny.  It has been so difficult listening to him crying and not being able to do anything about it. 

Halloween 2008

The last couple days have been pretty even keel.  We did have one little hiccups, though.  The day before last I had Lyndon in my room.  I stepped out to put some towels away and when I went back in, Lyndon was nowhere to be found.  Of course, being Lyndon, when my back was turned he saw the perfect opportunity to do something naughty.  He went all the way down to the living room, a whole 20 steps down.  I was both mad at him and proud of him at the same time.  Still, even without the stitches he won’t be allowed to do that again without my assistance… at least not until he’s gotten the hang of it.  We got him a ruffwear harness, so tomorrow he gets his fitting and first real stair lesson.

Happy Family

My baby is doing super today.  Earlier he was pseudo-running in the backyard, I even had to stop him from trying to get into the fence fight that the other dogs were having with the neighbor dogs.  Lyndon is the best little fence fighter on the block.  He’s run along the fences barking at and chasing dogs on the other sides that he has displaced all of the rocks we had lining the fences.  It was nice to see him wanting to go back to his old game, but I didn’t want him to hurt himself. 

My other dogs are handling the sitution a bit better since they have been allowed to go in and out of the family room at will.  Scampers still tries to get Lyndon’s doggie bed, though.  We’re all very excited for tomorrow, so things can go back to (at least somewhat) normal.

stairs were hard even before the surgery

This morning I just couldn’t stand it anymore.  Poory guy just would not settle down… I tried feeding him, taking him potty, taking off the cone for a while, giving him his meds, and every other thing I could think off.  My Lyndon just would not stop whining and wandering.  So I finally out him down in the family room, hoping that he would settle down when there was no one to show off for and that I would get some rest.  When I came down to let him out potty again, he had ramed his cone against the gate until he had pushed one side opened and he had gone up the stairs.  Thank goodness there was only six steps.  I was a bit mad at him because he could have hurt himself, but on the other hand it was nice to know that he can handle it once we get to that point.

If only he'd do this at night

Later in the afternoon he was behaving so well that I decided to take off his ‘hood’ for a while and let him rest.  Of course I had to sit right next to him and push his nose away every time he went after his incision site.  But after a while he was sleeping so well that it was worth the battle. 

I really hope he sleeps better tonight.

my cutie boy taking a nap with his grandma two days before surgery

Last night was a bit unsettling.  In the middle of the night I heard Lyndon farting like crazy, so I thought, “I bet he has to go to the bathroom.”  No sooner had I picked him up than I heard his stomach make a startling noise.  I spun him around really fast so that his butt has over the potty pad and just as he was over it he had explosive diarrhea.  I was so worried about him.  I’m hoping it was because of all the stress yesterday or changing his diet to the turkey and rice to get him to eat. 

Luckily we didn’t have an accidents during the day.  Actually, there wasn’t anything of note today except that the dogs and I are going crazy from boredom.  Unfortunately I can’t do anything to entertain Lyn, but I’m going to a holiday gift and craft show this Saturday… I have to get out of this house. 

come on mama, take it off, please!!!!

My poor baby is still stuck with his cone.  I’ve discovered that the united states is looking in the wrong place… the most powerful weapon of mass destruction currently resides on my dogs head!  Lyn has knocked over chairs, gates, food, water, ottomans, the fan, a plant, the trashcans… he even came dangerously close to knocking over the ironing board (but luckily I was there for that one and stopped him before he tried to go between the legs).  All I have to do is step out of the room for even a minute and a tornado hits.  I can’t wait till my poor guy doesn’t have to wear this darn thing anymore, and I can stop rebuilding the family room.

Well, today totally sucked… there is just no other way to put it.  Don’t worry, there wasn’t any crisis, but both Lyn and I are upset and tired. 

It started this morning when I got up from bed to use the bathroom.  Lyndon was sleeping so soundly, and I didn’t want to disturb him by putting on the cone of shame (besides he was doing so well without it).  So I went to the bathroom and let him sleep.  I came back into my room a few minutes later to find him sucking on his stitches like a pacifier.  He had loosened a couple of the stitches on the very tip of the incision and made them really red.  I called the vet right away and they said that they needed to see him asap.  My surgeon was doing surgeries today so they asked if I could come in before 8:30 for him to see if the stitches were okay still. 

red on the back tip from naughty licking

So I got Lyn and I in the car (after blocking off 90% of the back seat so he would have to stay on the passenger side floor in the back).  We were heading to the vet when some idiot pulled out of a shoppette and sideswiped me.  No one was hurt, but my poor Lyndi and I were stuck there talking to the cop about what had happened for an hour (the other driver didn’t have current insurance and didn’t speak a word of English).  My car was damaged and my tire was destroyed, but I was so glad that I had the foresight to block Lyndon on the floor or he could have been hurt. 

So I went home to trade cars (because there was no way that the doughnut I had to put on my car would have made it all the way to the vet’s office).  I had to rearrange everything into the other car and put Lyndon in with him still a bit shaken up from the first car ride.  We finally got to the vet around 10:00.  Luckily the stitches were okay, but the vet said a couple more licks and Lyndon would have to be restitched in that area and be at great risk for infection… so the cone of shame is now a permanent addition to Lyndon’s wardrobe.  I hate doing it to him, but I’d rather have him a bit uncomfortable than unsafe.

The end result... another full week in the cone of shame

At the moment Lyndon is starting to adapt to the cone being on.  He whimpers and wanders till he gets tired and then falls asleep.  I feel so bad, but I can’t have him prolonging his recovery or making this whole thing worse with an infection.  So far we’ve been pretty lucky… considering, and I don’t want to ruin that when he’s so close.

Here’s hoping tomorrow will be a bit better….

Today started out with pseudo- panic.  Lyndon was super lethargic all night long, but in the morning not only was he totally zonked to the point of having trouble standing up, but his breathing was also a bit short and quick.  I called the vet and told them what was going on, and also that he hadn’t been eating for a couple days.  They told me to not give him any pills for the first half of the day, and try to get him to eat with some home cooking.  Thank God, the recommendation worked well.  I got him some ground turkey and rice, and he scarfed it all down and had a lot more energy after that.

As glad as I was that he had some energy again, the carpet was not terribly thrilled.  I had to go to a meeting for a few hours, so I again set out food, water a potty pad and put on his cone collar.  When I got home, this is what I found…

what a naughty little tripawd!

He tore up the pad, peed on the carpet, knocked over his water, and threw down one of the gates I put up.  His little butt was covered in fluff from the inside of the potty pad too, so I had to give him a bird bath. 

He’s a naughty baby, but I sure am glad he is better.

Next halloween we can add a peg leg to make the costume better

Lyndon and I had a long talk last night before bed.  He agreed not to waned and whine the whole time and I agreed not to put on the cone.  We decided to try sleeping in my room again.  Well, true to his word Lyndon slept like a rock.  In fact at one point he was sleeping so well that I got a little nervous and woke him up to make sure he was alright.  I’m sure he was thinking, “Geesh, she’s never satisfied. I stay awake and she begs me to go to sleep, I go to sleep and she wakes me up!”  Luckily he is making up for it by sleeping most of the day.

"No not winter again! We hate winter!"

Another funny thing happened today.  I had to run a quick errand today, so I put the cone on him and set out a potty pad incase he had to go potty before I got back. When I returned, not only had pooped on the carpet, but he tore the potty pad to shreds just to spite me.  It was so funny that I couldn’t be mad at him.  It was like a big “F you” for leaving him with the cone on.

Lyndon told me that he was sick of me taking pictures of him (he hates the camera), so I decided to put some old pictures of him in the blog today.  Till tomorrow…

I'm gonna miss this view so much!

Well, I finally figured out what was making Lyndon such a panic attack at night… the stupid cone of shame!  I had only been putting it on him at night because that is the only time I am not watching him like a hawk.  I tried everything to get him to calm down last night, but he was running around absolutely frantic.  It really upset me.  So After trying everything I could, I figured I would rather just stay up all night and watch him than sleep while he was so upset.  I pulled of the cone and wallah… he stopped panicking, layed down and fell asleep (almost instantaneously).  So I took all of the cushions off of the couch and lined them up on the floor next to Lyndon’s doggie bed.  Hence, I was able to sleep a bit too with my hand on lyndon to make sure that he wasn’t bending back to lick.  So I think that is what we a re going to have to do till his stitches are removed.  Now that I know what is stressing him out there is no way I am going to put that cone on him for more than a few minutes while I go to the bathroom. 

Scampers and Fifi are behaving better now that I am allowing them in the family room with us.  That doesn’t mean that Scamp is above startling Lyndon up so he can lay in Lyn’s bed.  We are now having more of a problem with licking… I really really have to watch him now, he’s so sneaky.

Amputation isn't the most annoying thing mom's ever put me through!

My baby boy is doing pretty good.  His stamina is increasing, he’s sleeping more soundly and he is moving around better.  He still has a bit of a problem laying down.  He does this really cute thing now where he stomps his back leg four or five times in quick succession if he wants to lay down… I guess that’s his hint for me to help him down.  What a cutie!

Well last night was even less pleasant than the night before.  This time not only did I get no sleep, but Lyndon didn’t get any either.  He has finally started to take an interest in his incision, which meant that I had to put the cone of shame on last night.  He was upset about the cone and anxiuos  because of the pills and restless because of having to go potty every hour.  Poor baby. 

The good news is that his stamina is increasing a bit.  He has been wandering almost constantly and every time I lay him down he gets right back up again.  Stubborn little rat is still refusing to eat anything other than ground turkey, so I’ve been really careful about taking him outside to avoid a nasty accident.  Lyndon has really gotten the hang of postitioning himself for potty time, and he hops from one plant to the next trying to find that ultimate perfect spot.

Lyndon and Scampers three years ago

My other dogs, Scampers and Fifi, are still quite the problem.  Scampers has spent all morning crying and howling.  Finally I brought Scampers down into the family room with Lyndon and I.  Scamp could have given a crap about Lyndon, he didn’t even look at him.  Scamp went straight to Lyndon’s food dish and started eating.  Later on Scampers went over to Lyndon in his bed and barked in his ear.  Lyndon jumped up and Scampers curled up in Lyndon’s bed… I was so mad at him.  Scampy has calmed down now, he’s laying next to me on the couch. 

I have to really watch Lyndon now because of his interest in the scar.  He’s a bit redder and a bit more swollen today.  Everything else is going pretty well, though.  Here’s to getting a little sleep tonight (for us both).