Moxie Mountain Dog

Here's the Mox, after a good uphill hike up to Pipe Stones Peak, as I'm calling it -- a lovely cluster of boulders on top of one of the mountains west of Boulder, where we all went last weekend. With all this heat, the mountains are most certainly the place to go. It was in the mid-70's up there. Ahhhh.

The two days of hikes were a great strength-building opportunity for Moxie, and she did very well. And wow was she happy to be out on a real adventure again.

Her PT Amanda has bought a house in our neighborhood! We saw her out on one of our block walks this week. She says Moxie looks just great, "still ahead of the game."

Tomorrow is her 8 week re-check at Aspen. She'll have x-rays to determine the success of the bone healing. I'll be back again with that report!

Upstairs/Downstairs My Oh My!

Now that I have finished my new living space, Moxie and I are sleeping in my bed. Her Physical Therapist, Amanda, said one time up and one time down the stairs per day would be okay....but tell "one time" to a happy muttsky who is feeling her oats these days. Moxie sneaks two or three times, when she can, despite the gate that she hates. When I can, I make her go down slowly behind me and let me use her sling to get her up the stairs. But if Marvelous Monica or the G-mum (Georgie, Jenna's mother-in-law) come by, all holds are off, and Moxie comes flying to greet, right alongside Kokoro.

We're 5 weeks post surgery and so far, so good. Her knee feels good and strong and she is doing very well. Her leg muscles are filling out. She had her first chiropractic appointment since her surgery. Dr. Jason found her opposing front leg shoulder quite jammed. He explained that dogs balance out their gate with opposite legs, so it's common to need a bone adjustment after a recovery period of uneven use. He popped all her toes too :)


I am so grateful for the success of this surgery and for all the Moxie angels out there who have sent love and support.

I never was a "dog person" until Moxie came into my life, but I just can't imagine life without this pup. I'm glad we get to forge ahead with more healthy, happy times together.

Picking bones

Things are progressing nicely. Slightly longer walks around the block (and a half) and Moxie has been less irritable with Kokoro... probably because she's feeling better.

Above is a shot of the two of them chewing bones right near each other. What's funny about this shot is that Moxie is chewing Kokoro's tiny bone and Kokoro is chewing Moxie's big dog bone. Guess the grass is always greener...

Speaking of greener, I've been painting the room I'll be moving into a collection of crazy fun colors: green, blue, orange, yellow, turquoise, ... perhaps a touch of fuchsia! It's a combo bedroom/art studio, so it's got to be inspiring! We stopped at a local art gallery today and saw a really nice treatment of the walls, similar colors with glazed top colors. Looks like I'll be learning a new technique :) 

Photos to follow!

Things feel like they are returning to a new normal, with Moxie feeling better, and my things almost here (pod comes next weekend).  Then I get to settle into just living here.

Christina, Dog Guardian

It's been three weeks since Moxie came home from surgery. Her recovery has been some steps forward, some backwards. When she overdoes it, the next 2-3 days are a pullback to little or no exercise. She lets me know when she's in pain and I freak out for a while about what it means before I can chill out into, "Self, she's in pain, just put her in her pen for rest for a while and get out of her way."  Thanks to my angels for talking me down from those crazy moments of worst case scenarios, to just dealing with the present.

The staff at Aspen tell me she's doing fine, and that when she's limping, just slow things back down to bed rest. Occasional pain pills as needed. Major surgery, after all. I don't have to explain who I am when I call now... they all know me -- Moxie's crazy person -- or "guardian," as Boulder city ordinance denotes pet people, (and pets are "companions" rather than property). I do find interesting places to live, don't I?!

So, we go on very slow walks around the court so that she is encouraged to put her weight on her leg. Otherwise she tends to want to be a three-legged dog hop-a-long Cassidy, so she can go at her customary speedy clip, to investigate all those new smells along the way.

We also do leg stretches, massages, and some strengthening exercises, such as sit, stand, lean, and step up's. She gets stinky liver treats for some of these...loves those.

And, when she's laying down, I sit with her and play with her new favorite toy (thanks, Monica!), the plastic water bottle stuffed pig. The crunchy sound keeps her busy for a while, and it's actually preferable to the squeaky toys. Though she also loves those horrendous squeaks...and I suffer them out of love for her.

It's been quite amazing to spend this much time in concentrated contact with her. I realized I haven't played like this with her since she was a puppy. Sure, I've walked with her everyday, and thrown her toys for her...but usually I'm multitasking (phone or dishes or computer, etc).

These days, it's just me and her for hours.

It's a special time.

Water Treadmill Today and "Our" Mountains

Moxie had her second PT appointment. Amanda did her yummy muscle massage and then tempted Moxie into the treadmill for some underwater walk therapy. Here's a series of shots... Moxie was nervous at first, but quickly figured it out. And the liver treats didn't hurt...

Moxie's left hind leg muscles are pretty atrophied from her lack of use, so we've got lots of stretching and strengthening exercises to be doing each day at home. I'll also take her for a few treadmill sessions over the next few weeks to assure her leg muscles are developing at an optimum rate.

Amanda is great. Again, big kudos to Aspen and associates.

On the way home, I snapped a couple of the views we have around here. The first one is right before turning into our neighborhood:

 
I like this one for all the layers of blues... makes me want to paint!

No Cone Zone!

Yay -- Moxie's two weeks post-surgery re-check appointment went well! Her staples are removed. Doc says her incision cut looks well-healed and her knee feels solid. She's hobbling along, but at the pace, says the doc, that she should be. Cone is off!

Still needs very low exercise, but I can start her daily 5 minute walks this week and slowly build her up to 25 minutes a few times a day over the course of the next 6 weeks.

Meanwhile, no jumping, climbing stairs, running, bolting after squirrels, etc, until after her 8 week check and xrays.

So, we went on a joy ride after her appointment -- I wish I could have taken shots of her with the wind blowing her ears back as we drove along. She loves car rides. So perhaps I can help her into the car over the next few weeks and go on long drives at least, if not hikes. Let's see... is there someplace around here to go for scenic drives?!

This morning, we're all hanging out (Jenna is inside telecommuting, but the whole pack is home). That's Kokoro, the Shiba Inu pup there in the front. Today, I'm studying Stephen Quiller color theory. Good stuff :)

Happy Face!

Here's the happy face I love to see!
She got a cone-off, bone-chewing break yesterday.... until she sneaked some licks on that knee, and the cone went back on.
She's been out of her pen on a couple of occasions and seems to be using the leg more.
She gave me a scare the other day by climbing out over the couch...

She seems like she pulled a muscle perhaps from that caper... not quite back to where she was before then, so she's under strict watch and low exercise. 
Quite the nerve-wracking couple of weeks -- I'll be grateful when she gets her re-check next Tuesday. I hope all is well!