Spike: Stepping Stones to Success

It has been nearly three weeks since Spike had the surgery to repair his ruptured cruciate ligament.  Three weeks full of many ups and many downs.  The wound on his leg has almost fully healed and the fur is growing back on both his leg and the area of his spine that was shaved for the epidural.

Spike is putting weight on his leg, but is struggling to always fully weight bear as he has lost confidence using that leg. He hops on three legs given the opportunity as that is his preference.  Hopping is quicker that walking on a weakened leg and we all know that Spike likes to move as quickly as possible!

We are working hard to help him regain his confidence and leg strength, but recovery is long and slow and a process fraught with fear and worry.

Big stepping stone - scratching an ear with his injured leg

Spike is not allowed to play with his husky friends which makes him very sad.  He cannot go upstairs, mix freely with his pack or run around the garden.  He is confined to one room in the house on the rare occasions when neither of us humans are not home to take care of him.  Our lives revolve around his care and welfare, a situation that we are fully committed to and leaving him alone is very difficult.  

He has a big cage which has become his special place, it has his special beds and toys and treats in it and none of the other huskies ever venture inside.  We placed the cage in his favourite place in the living room, very close to where Ian does most of his work during the day.  This is a place where Spike feels happy and secure, close to his favourite human.  We have never had to close the door on the cage, for which I am extremely grateful as to force him to live in such a confined space would be heart-breaking.  Spike chooses to spend 90% of each day in his special place, with his toys and treats, resting and recovering.  Spike has little desire to eat and we have to tempt him with whatever we can.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

Our dogs have not historically been given dog chews or dog treats.  They are fed raw and natural food and have never been trained using food as motivation.  Although the exception to this is probably the homemade flapjack that I make especially for them! Spike struggles with bones due to his deformed jaw and lack of strength and technique, so the option to use bones as a boredom reliever does not work.  We decided to get some raw hide treats for him to try….  I am pleased to report that our plan appears to be working as he likes the raw hide chews and they don’t upset his tummy.

Meeting new friends

Following on from the success of the chew treats, we decided today to take Spike out for the morning as a special treat and to break the monotony and boredom of his current situation.  We took him to a parkrun event in Bath where there would be lots of people and lots of trees to sniff.  His friend Krofti came too.  Krofti at 14 years of age no longer runs further than once around the block, is completely deaf and a big bit senile, but loves being with people and going on little adventures.

A pre run cuddle and promise for the future

I am pleased to report that Spike and Krofti loved today’s little adventure.  For the first time in nearly three weeks Spike smiled.  That very special smile that we have all come to love was on display for most of the morning.  He tried to jump around every time a person came to say hello, his enthusiasm was delightful to witness but quite hazardous for me to experience.  Trying to restrain an over enthusiastic young dog with my broken foot in a special boot and in the mud requires a great deal of concentration!  Fracture boots do not provide the same grip or control that Salomon shoes do!!

When we returned home both Spike and Krofti were very tired, but they looked content as they lay down on their special beds.  Both were soundly asleep and dreaming within minutes of walking through the front door.

Watching and waiting.  One day we will run again....

Spike and I both have a long road ahead of us before we will be able to run again, but days like today are amazing stepping stones in our adventure.