Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

You Make Me Smile – May 29, 2016

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You make me smile (or laugh), the sweet, funny, loving things my dogs do on a daily basis that brings a smile to my face, or a laugh to my lips.

Sampson, the way you stop and sniff the plants, even the ones that are higher up off the ground….

Golden Labrador sniffing plants

You make me smile.

It makes me wonder just what he’s sniffing. 🙂

Do your pups sniff plants at nose level? What do you think they are smelling?

 

A New Normal

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When Sampson did a partial tear of his right knee, a diagnosed Heart Murmur and Arrhythmia left us with the only option of conservatively managing it.

For us, conservative management is very similar to the rehabilitation we did two years ago, when Sampson had surgery for a full tear on his left leg.

We had to come up with a new normal, so here’s how we are conservatively managing Sampson’s CCL tear:

  • Short, slow leash walks. We started at 3 minutes out and however long it took us to get back and have worked him up to 7 minutes out and however long it takes to get back. We do this two times per day.

    She's the star? You're saying, SHE's the star? Look at how nicely I'm walking.

    Seven minutes? That’s barely enough time for a guy to do his business.

  • Blocking.  Sampson’s favorite spot on the couch is blocked off to prevent him from jumping/climbing up on it. The front window is blocked off with chairs. This it to keep Sampson from putting his front paws on the sill and standing on his hind legs to look out. It’s sort of like baby proofing your house, except never put chairs in front of windows when you have a toddler. Chairs and toddlers, it’s a bad combination.
  • Throw rugs. Any uncarpeted surface has a non-slip throw rug. This is to help keep Sampson from slipping. I have so many rugs, it looks like I’m remaking Aladdin. For dogs.
  • Pain management and supplements. Anti-inflammatories, pain meds, nerve blockers, joint supplements and vitamins have become an integral part of meal time. I spend more money on medications and supplements than an old guy spends on viagra.
  • Gates. Gates prevent him from going into areas where he could potentially hurt himself. Like bedrooms where he could try and jump on the bed, and stairs. Stairs are definitely off limits. We have more gates than a gated community.

    But the BIG bed is in there!

    But the BIG bed is in there!

  • No playtime. This is probably the hardest rule to enforce. As our physical therapist said, “From the waist up, he’s still Sampson.” He still has his mind and in his mind, he’s the same dog he’s always been.  And Delilah is still Delilah, she has energy and loves to run and play. It’s so hard to have to stop them from this small enjoyment. I feel like Cruella DeVille, when I have to say, “NO!”

 

The hardest part in all of this, is restricting Sampson without letting him get depressed. With any type of injury or illness, it’s important for your pet to feel like they are still part of the family and to make their life as normal as you can.

UltraLite Bi-Fold Pet Ramp

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This post is being sponsored by Solvit Products. I am being compensated for sharing my review of Solvit’s UltraLite Bi-fold Pet Ramp. All that being said, my opinions are my own and I only share products with my readers that I use myself.

My dogs don’t ride in the car as much as they used to, but when Sampson did a partial tear of his right CCL, vet appointments became more frequent. We’d been using a Telescoping Ramp by Solvit that worked very well, but I was looking for something more light weight.

I was so excited to try the UltraLite Bi-Fold Pet Ramp from Solvit.

UltraLite Bi-Fold Pet Ramp

Let me just tell you HOW much I LOVE this ramp. 

  • The ramp folds in half, which makes it very compact in size. It fits easily in the back of the car when I’m not transporting Sampson and when he is in the car, it fits nicely on the floor of the passenger seat.
  • The ramp is not heavy at all. In fact, it is so light and compact that I can easily carry it in one hand.
  • Setting the ramp up is as simple as unfolding and positioning it.

Check it out.

A difference of opinion.

Sadly, Sampson did not share my opinion of the ramp. Although, I have to be honest and say, it could have been handler error, so please hear me out.

It started off fine. I opened the ramp up and left it on the floor for a couple of days, after which, I asked Sampson to walk across it, which he did with no issues.  In fact, the first couple of times he used it he was fine.

Then on a day I took him up to the park, he fell while trying to get up the ramp. I didn’t panic, or freak out, I simply lifted him back up and he used the ramp to finish his climb back into the car. I thought maybe the pitch of the ramp was too steep for an 11 3/4 year old dog with arthritis and bad knees. I decided to try the ramp on the side of the car.

But I made a mistake.

As long as I’ve had Sampson, he’s always had the run of the back of the vehicle whenever he was in the car. A while back I won a seat cover from Jan at Wag N’ Woof Pets and I thought, I’ll put the seat cover on the back seat and use the ramp on the side of the of the car and everything will be fine.

Apparently I’ve never learned a damn thing about easing my dog into something new.

I can’t tell you if it was the ramp on the side of the car that was the issue, or being confined to the back seat. All I know is Sampson panted the entire way to his appointment, wouldn’t lie down at all (he sat the whole way there) and I had a hell of a time getting him out of the car.

In fact, I’m pretty sure I said a very bad curse word, very loudly in the parking lot of the vet hospital.

What went wrong?

The ramp didn’t work great on the side of my car, because of the way my car door opens. With me on one side of the ramp and the door on the other, I think it was too confining, plus the ramp was pitched a tiny bit to the side because of the narrow car door opening. I know if I had a car with a sliding door there would be no issue. The ramp would be at a moderate level of incline and there would be plenty of space on either side for Sampson to walk up it.

So there you have it, I found the perfect ramp for me,  but it turns out it’s not the right ramp for Sampson.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t try him again with it, maybe in a few months when he’s feeling a bit stronger. Except next time, I’ll take my time easing him into a new ramp.

Do you use a ramp for your dog?

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