Berkley is healing well. It has been 4 weeks since the surgery. His splint came off last week. Two more weeks and the bandages will come off altogether. He sure needs a bath and a haircut. I’ll be anxious to see what he does with the bionic leg.
It frustrates me that I have to pay $60 per year to be able to embed videos on wordpress.. So, hop on over to the following link and check out a short video I made of Berkley getting around on three legs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtUcHt68iCI
Off and on throughout my life I had an occasion or two to have a dog. Generally I liked cats better because they were so much more independent. As a school teacher, it was hard to have a pet that required a lot of attention. School teaching was so all consuming. It is definitely not a 9 to 5 job. But I digress….
In the last years of my teaching career I decided I wanted a puppy. You know, one of those little tiny things you could carry around with you in your purse. I knew I would have to wait until retirement so I would have time to train him/her and give him/her the attention he/she deserved.
Bill got Simon the year before I retired. Simon is a black lab. Labs are lovable, playful, hyper, and they shed! As Simon grew (and grew) I was even more determined to get a very small (non shedding) dog. I thought I wanted a Westie until I found out they grew to 15-18 lbs, too heavy to carry around.
After I retired I looked around for several months until I saw an ad in the paper for a nine month old shih-poo (half shih-tzu/half poodle). I answered the ad and fell in love on the spot. The owners couldn’t spend the time they wanted to with him so they were getting rid of him. I took him immediately and Berkley joined the family.
I have really gotten attached to him and love him dearly. He weighs 14-16 pounds (no purse for him) but he doesn’t shed! He is six and a half years old now — middle age by dog standards. I was devastated when he was recently hit by a car. With surgery, though, he will be fine and should be able to lead a ‘normal’ life. Doc says he may have some arthritis and he has enough metal in him to pass through security.
Before the run-in with the car
First day home
Progressing to the patio
It’s amazing what can happen in an instant.. good as well as bad.
I missed Snapshot Sunday yesterday partly because of the events that unfolded. Don’t remember what I was going to use even if I had one picked out. This is the one I will post now…
From the hospital to the surgeon
on three legs
All it took was an instant for Berkley to be hit by a car. What an emotionally draining two days. There are still many days of uncertainties ahead of us as he faces surgery and recovery. Everything right now is day by day or even an hour by hour. The hard part is leaving him at the hospital for several days. But, the doctor feels things will work out for the best and he will lead a normal life.
Going back over the entire incident, I keep running over things that I could have done differently to prevent this. But hindsight is always better than foresight.
I love my Berkley and am glad he is going to be OK…
… of course, I mean my new granddog, Webster. Bill and I had our second opportunity to ‘babysit’ this weekend. Wes was officiating at the wedding of his nephew so he and Susan were in Dallas and we had fun with Webby.
I think we wore him out…..
