Maggie was diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma on her left knee. She had amputation done on October 20, 2009. Four days after surgery she had a low grade fever and was off her food for two weeks! Trying times.. I am grateful and so pleased with how she is progressing now.
So, can anyone tell me what a Cane Corso is??? For some idiotic reason, my Aunt Gina told my Mom I look like a Cane Corso when my ears are turned back…look at this silly picture my Mom took of me tonight! Can you tell I’m a tad perturbed?? Mom tells me that Fortis may have some idea about this Cane Corso thing???
Do I really look like a Cane Corso??
Me & Mom went for a great walk tonight…squirrel hunting! Yeehaw! I love squirrel hunting! Look! I see one now!
I see a squirrel now! Maybe if I just stare at it & not move, it will come down!
And here’s a video of my silly Mom trying to keep up with my Tripawd trot! Can you hear me laughing under my breath?! 😉 A runner, she is NOT! Me, I’m a very agile Tripawd(for short spans that is – still can’t handle long walks – boo hoo!) But I do enjoy my walks, even though they are short! And then after tonight’s walk, I got a massage! Works like a charm on my remaining back leg that sometimes gets sore from too much hoppin’.
And here’s me taking a break before we head back to the car…there’s my ‘real’ ears! Much better I say! 😉
Taking a break before we head back home...
And Mom thought she’d try to take a picture of us with her holding the camera…I got in a good kiss for her just as she hit the button…I love my Mom and she loves me…
A kiss for my Mom....
That’s quite the sun in the background………we had a nice walk….now it’s time for a little rest for this Tripawd…
Not sure WHY I’m going back in time, since these times weren’t the best of times for Mags but I found these two photo’s and thought I would add to her blog for the ‘history’ of her life and times as a Tripawd.
This first photo is obviously before amputation. She had just had her biopsy of her VERY swollen knee the day prior to this photo. See the swelling on the inside of her knee…that is from the biopsy. You can also see her muscle is atrophied up on her butt. It was a VERY long week from the time of the biopsy to the time of amputation. The day could NOT come soon enough to be rid of that swollen, VERY painful leg. I guess this photo just reminds me that I DID make the right decision for SURE! By the time her leg got this swollen, she was having a hard time in the yard on grass to get her foot placed correctly and not step on the top of it. A sad, sad situation…
And this photo was taken in November (surgery was October 20, 2009). The photo is dated 2007! My camera acts up on the date printed on it…so now I have it shut off!!! This was Maggie’s very FIRST walk after her amputation and recouperating from being so sick after surgery for 2 weeks with a low grade fever and not wanting to eat. This again, proves to me that Maggie’s life now is soooooooo much better! She’s a happy girl – even if she can’t do all the things she used to…she can, to a degree now AND without that painful leg!
Maggie’s treatments for her soft tissue cancer are as follows: each meal she gets Transfer Factors, mushrooms, Omega 3 oil, Vertex supplement for her muscles and Glycoflex III for her joints. She gets Sempervivum Tectorum LM3, Lapis Albus LM3 and Carc-P 200C+1 homeopathic remedies per her homeopathic vet, Dr. Charles Loops in NC. These remedies are rotated daily(twice a day) with two of them and then on the 5th day, she gets the Carc-P remedy. Each time I run out of a remedy, Dr. Loops sends another but increases the strength of it. ( www.charlesloopsdvm.com/ ).
I love my girl and I’m soooooooooo happy she’s still here with me! She’s been having pretty good times all in all…this was a picture I took of her last week…so I’d say she looks pretty content now 🙂 Sometimes she over does it and she has to have an occasional NSAID but all in all I’m very happy with how things have turned out for her. Yes, I’d LOVE it if she could do her walks like she used to be able to, for instance, BUT we do what we can do. We play agility(downscaled for her safety) and rally obedience or walk for shorter times and we just love that she’s still here with us and we get to spoil her even MORE than she was already!
So from the first picture of her leg to this last picture of her taking a break after playing for a bit in the water, I’d say she’s a picture of health – well, minus a leg I guess! 😉
Tracy, the very proud Mom of Maggie the STILL AgileCowDog on 3 legs 🙂
What a great time I had yesterday! Time for more of my adventurous stories to tell you all!
Me, Mom, Papa and little sister, Haley, drove into my Mom’s dad’s camp to visit with her brother and family that came up from CT. AND they brought along their new dog, Trooper, a Parson Terrier, that I hadn’t met yet. My Mom thought things would go OK in that department as I’m pretty used to small white dogs as my Auntie Gina’s dogs are Jack Russell’s and I pretty much ignore them. Well, apparently, Trooper hasn’t been all that socialized to other dogs and when he saw me and Haley(of course we were barking our fool heads off – we’re good at that!) and he was screaming his lungs off as if we were gonna kill him!!! Hahaha! I, on the other hand, thought it was pretty darn funny! After all, I LOVE to be a Bully ya’ know! And remember the last time I saw a little white dog it was biting my butt!!! NOT this time! I was scaring the crap out Trooper!! Oh what fun…UNTIL Mom put me in Jeep Jail cause I was just being, well, too much of a bully! Oh well…it was fun while it lasted! I got to chase him twice!!! Yeehaw! The second time, he came blasting out of the camp and he didn’t realize I was loose – YES, a Tripawd CAN run!!! And run fast indeed 🙂
That was just part of the excitement! Although I think that was the icing on the cake for me for the afternoon!
I got to go chipmunk hunting! Here’s a picture of me about ready to leap into action! I like to stalk them and stare at them…and then if they run, I chase them! Hmmm…can ya’ tell I love a good game of chase! 🙂
Then here’s a not so great video as it’s blurry a bit..but Mom wanted to show my agileness down the steep bank to the Spring hole! I LOVE to jump into that cold spring! And then wander around and back up the steep bank! See Tripawds CAN do anything a Quadpawd can!
And here’s another video of me trying to dislodge an old dead tree trunk! I think I can! I think I can!!! Tripawd Power!
My Mom kept telling me I was gonna be tired last night after my sheenanigan’s…and yeah, I was…but Mom gave me a massage and I was all better after a bit of rest. Ya’ can’t keep a good Tripawd down for long!
Well, that’s all my adventures for now! Today, it’s ‘rest day’ for me to recover from yesterday…..so I’ll be snoozin’ in the yard and eatin’ bon bons until another great adventure heads my way!
That’s all from this neck of the woods, ’til next time, keep on hoppin’!
It was one gorgeous weekend here in Northern Maine! Got in lots of laying in the sun, playing with my Mom, walking, riding in the Jeep, eating ice cream and uh…one little b-a-d thingie I’ll tell you about in a bit!
Today, our adventure was to start off with a ride to the next town South and get some ICE CREAM! Wahoo! Much to my dismay, this is our FIRST soft serve ice cream of the summer. I’ve had ice cream at home but soft serve ice cream is THE BEST! Me and ‘sis ate ours up very quickly! For some darn reason, Mom wouldn’t share her ice cream with us! I almost got some licks in but I was GOOD dog and held back my tongue!
From there, we drove onto a dirt road that goes back to home – rather than going on the ‘paved’ road – we wanted to hit the ‘dirt’ and go for a walk, too, on one of my old stomping grounds roads I haven’t been on since being a Tripawd. Get a load of me in this photo! I put my seat belt on for the rocky ride on the woods road! Ha-ha! Well, to tell you the truth, I did that by accident – see the seat-belt around my neck? I can be a tad UN-agile in the Jeep at times and I plopped myself down and that seat-belt got me!
Before Mom let me out of the Jeep, she could see by the look in my eyes, I was gonna be devilish….ya’ know the look…eyes are much brighter and mischievous looking… So, off we go, on our walk…me loose of course, cause no one wants to keep up with my Tripawd trot when I’m tied and thankfully, they feel badly for me and don’t let the leash go tight to ‘drag me down’…so therefore, I get to be loose! Yeehaw! And today, oh, I was feelin’ my oats! After a bit, I smell something….sniff, sniff, sniff…off the road I go into the ‘bushes’….in the meantime, Mom is yelling at me(and I’m not listening – called selective hearing ya’ know)! It’s VERY close to bear baiting season and we think there was the start of a hunter’s bear bait in there…the trees were taped off like something down there and my sniffer was going and if I hadn’t finally listened to my Papa to get my keister out of there, I may have found out!So, back onto dirt road and walking along….then my Mom starts running to me…little did I know, she really wanted to grab a hold of my harness before I saw the pickup that was coming at at us! Now, have no fear everyone, this is a very old dirt road and people that drive on it are driving very slowly, sight seeing like us…but when I saw sight of that truck…yeehaw! the bad dog in me came out! Or Guard Dog, whatever you want to call it! Just before my Mom could get a hold of me, I took off in a Tripawd Blast toward the pick-up! Again, my ‘selective hearing’ button was turned on and I didn’t hear a THING my Mom said to me!! I got to the truck and got to show off my guard dog barking capabilities…I’m so mean, ya’ know! And what do you know, there was a dog in it too! Oh! Oh! Oh! Over to that window I go to go see and BARK at that dog! Oh crap…here comes Papa to get a hold of me…dag nabbit…now I’ve been caught and NOW I’m leashed 🙁 Two strikes and I was out of being loose! Don’t I get another hit before being called out? Isn’t it supposed to be 3 strikes??
Oh well – I did a good job in scaring that pick-up and dog away! After Papa chatted with him(he knew him)…they drove off…THERE! Did my job…gone! Off my road, I tell ya’!
Here’s a telltale picture of a very hot me after my run towards that pickup…. Hot? Naw, I’m not hot OR tired!
So, later in the evening, I turned into a “Good Dog” again to make up for my bad moments earlier. Here’s me and Mom playing agility! Look at me go! Running so fast!!!! I’m a Good Dog, yes I am!!! (well, sometimes I am 😉
So, if you wanna join my “Bad Dog’s Club”, drop me an email and I’ll send ya’ an application!
It was a beautiful weeknd here in Northern Maine! I’m soooooooo lovin’ this summer! I lay around in “MY” yard and do my usual patroling…although I do it laying around more since being a Tripawd. I let my little sister do the ‘sounding off’ and if it needs my attention I’m all there to do my ‘guard duty’ as a good dog should!
Here’s a little clip of me last night playing around with Mom. I tripped up on the last hoop in this clip. My freakin’ Mom cued me late for the hoop and I caught it with my rear foot. But no worries…all was well…I was OK 🙂
Here’s a picture of me and my little sister after our play/training session 🙂 Don’t we look content? We luv playing with our Mom!
I had a pretty good weekend all in all. I went on another Rally Obedience trip with my Mom and little sister Haley. Road trip! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….I LOVE road trips! The heat though…..YUK! Totally unbearable for everyone 2, 3 and 4 legger’s!
I competed two times on Saturday and once on Sunday showing the world that Tripawds can “sorta” do what 4 leggers can do. There were just wayyyyyyyyyy too many “sits” required in one course on Saturday – my Mom counted them and there were FOURTEEN sits in one course! And I DID do them all but not without some protest to them all! WTH?!?! Sunday’s course was much more bearable for this Tripawd and less sitting! I qualified twice out of three runs…going over time on the run I didn’t qualify in ’cause, well, I was protesting on those freakin’ sits! Gawd! My Mom isn’t too sure Rally-O is cut out for me…but that’s OK she says…we can play it at home and make the courses shorter and more to a Tripawd’s style of less sits please! 🙂
We stayed at a great cabin that we stayed at back in May! It was very cool and I remembered it well. Knowing all too well, I am, of course, allowed on the bed! Wahoo! The owners even leave a sheet out for us doggie’s to put over the bed so we don’t get the bedding too dirty.
On night two at the cabin, my Mom and I were standing outside chatting with my Mom’s friend…I was minding my business when all out of nowhere comes this smallish white dog off of another cabin’s deck – they had rope across the entrance…but that was pretty stupid…that wasn’t gonna keep a dog in if it wants OUT! And this dog wanted a piece of me literally! He was trying to bite my butt! My Mom had to kick him off me!!! WTH!??!?! He wasn’t very big either but I can’t really defend myself very well on three legs and this dog trying to bite my bee-hind!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Phew! Mom to the rescue!
My Mom took me and little sister to our chiropractor we haven’t been to in a while – since I’ve been a Tripawd. I was out alot above my shoulders and my lower back/sacrum area…which these area’s all stand to reason being a Tripawd, she said. She also did cold laser on me… a general nerve awakening for my body. After that, I crashed completely! 🙂
On Sunday, my run in Rally was MUCH better! Less sitting on this course! Yay! My Mom was very proud of me 🙂 I did a good job! But she still says Rally is probably too much for me…she says my “job” may be to stay home with my Papa and keep him straight while she and little sister Haley compete in stuff. That’s OK with me too although I DO LOVE road trips and cabin stays(without the dog biting my butt though!)
When we got home today, Mom gave me and little sister a bone. I proceeded to bury mine while Haley chewed on hers. Mom had to unbury my bone! Imagine! She said if she didn’t, me and little sister would get into a fist fight about it later. Well, a while later, I was headed out back with Mom…and little sister next to me, when all of a sudden SHE goes into a hysterical fit and now attacking ME! WTH!??! Am I some sort of magnet to getting beat up lately??!! Apparently, Haley thought I was going to go steal her bone that she hadn’t finished yet!(and Mom apologized to me later cause she told me she should of picked it up after Haley was done chewing it.) So Mom to the rescue again and peeling Haley off me! My gawd! What the heck…do I have a sign on my Tripawd butt that says “bite me”!??!??!
Anyways – after the smoke cleared..we’ve all kissed(well sorta!) and made up…I’m now VERY happy to be on MY futon and resting comfortably after a long, hot and exciting weekend(in more ways than one!)
Holy CowDog, what a weekend! My favorite(and only) Auntie Gina and two of my cousins came to visit us for the weekend and play! What a great time we all had! I showed off my Tripawd talents, if I do say so myself!! hehe! We hiked, practiced Rally-O, did my physical therapy course and swam!
Look at me go!!! Just out of a water hole all refreshed!
Saturday, I got to go for a walk with the whole crew…my Mom took us on one of my favorite roads, which is good walkin’ for a Tripawd like me! I got to show off my ability to find nice water holes to wade in and cool off – oh and get a tad muddy in the process! And ya’ know what…I can beat those little Jack Russell’s now…now I am in the lead ’cause they can’t keep up with my new gait that I have ~ aka “Tripawd Trot”!
Me & Cousins Gem & Cue(just a pup behind me). Gem & I used to compete together in agility - we grew up together and learned the ropes of agility together..
Then I, once again, got to show off to my Auntie and cousins my little “Tripawd Agility course” aka my physical therapy tools… Here’s a video of me!
And this morning’s walk was just as cool! Before getting out of the car, my Mom could tell I was gonna be a ‘bad girl’….I was feelin’ my oats big time this weekend! But she let me loose…once, I took off growling and sniffing some sort of wild animal smell…never caught up to it…but it was great fun runnin’ and showin’ off!! hehe! Then jump back in some water holes again. My Auntie Gina said I was showing her Jack Russell pup some bad behaviors by not listenin’….me? not listen? Naw, it’s called “selective hearing” Auntie Gina! 😉 Plus, I’m spoiled to the hilt these days!!!
Here’s me swimmin’! Well, not really swimmin’….I was never a swimmer with four legs either…but I’m a good wader and stick chaser!
It was nice for Auntie Gina to see me as she hadn’t seen me in two months…she said I was MUCH stronger than the last time she’d seen me! Guess my Mom’s physical therapy stuff & our walks are making me stronger!
This has been an absolute great summer so far for me! Last year at this time, we were trying to figure out why I was sore in my rear leg at times. It was thought that I had an ACL injury, so I was on a leash for a couple of months….talk about a VERY boring summer(and painful)….but that’s all in the past now…TODAY, I’m having an absolute blast showin’ off my Tripawd Talents and how, yup, I CAN do most anything you four leggers can, yes I can!!!
This is as deep as I go! Even when I had 4 legs!! I MUST touch bottom!
(oh, Mom just reminded me I didn’t go on the hike on the Mountain Trail with the others on Saturday’s second walk…pffffttt…she says it’s too steep and long for me…well, let me at it…maybe I CAN do it Mom! Oh, I know, Mother’s know best 🙂
‘Til the next blog post – that’s all from this neck of the woods!
Holy CowDog! I just gotta report on my walk in the woods today! Mom decided to take me on a new woods trail – well, not new but been over a year since I have been on it. I was sooo excited right from the start…which made Mom leave me on my flexi leash, “just to be sure” I would be a good girl and not run off! Me? Run off? Nawwwww…never! 😉
Just a little bit into our walk and what do I see but a really BIG bird with some babies!!! It was a Turkey! Turkey’s are new to this area just the past year or so and that was my first encounter! Holy CowDog, I wanted to chase that big ole’ bird…but darnit, I was tied…
Shortly after that, Mom let me loose – she was tired to trying to keep up with my Tripawd Trot! There are good things that have come about being a Tripawd and one of them is I get to be loose a whole lot more on our walks now! Yeehaw!!!!
So we’re bee-bopping along having a great walk, I stop and gnaw on some fresh new grass, take in the smells…do a little hillwork and then we take a little break before turning around to go back. The crappy part of being a Tripawd, or at least for me, is my walks aren’t very long anymore….but that’s OK, I guess I’m OK with it…especially on today’s walk!
So, we start heading back from the same direction we had begun…my Mom is getting a little paranoid cause she can’t see around the turn and she’s lookin’ at me like she thinks I’m lookin’ at something. She moves to my side of the trail to see if she could see what I was lookin’ at…and just as she did, I BOLTED like lightning, I tell ya! Yup! I can FLY when I wanna!!!! My Mom just caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a deer!!! Yes, Mom, it was a deer! I was in hot pursuit!!!!!!!!!! Whoopie! Yeehaw! Been a long darn time since I’d chased a deer! Shhhhhh! Don’t tell the game wardens as they’d be after me!!! But maybe they’d feel bad with me bein’ a Tripawd?
Oh don’t worry you Game Wardens, I didn’t catch that ole’ deer…in fact, as fast as I chased him, I came back to Mom not 5 seconds later….with the BIGGEST, HAPPIEST smile on my face! Wahooooo!!!! FUN!
Mom said there’s another good thing to being a Tripawd….I don’t seem to venture too far off the beaten path now..well, geez, Mom…the woods was REALLY thick where that deer went…I lost sight of him…you know after I loose sight of a moving animal, I give up! What’s the sense? I’m not gonna chase an imaginary deer like my stupid little sister would! 😉
And the adventurous walk doesn’t end there! So, by this time, you can imagine my Mom put me back on my flexi leash…dag nabbit…oh well, walk was almost done by then. She makes me take a break for a bit, so I layed down and she told me what a foolish, foolish dog I was. There was a day way back when, she would of gotten mad at me for doing that but for some reason now, it just makes her smile when I’m bad! 😉
We had just gotten done our break and started walking and NOW here comes a four wheeler! Imagine that! On a four wheeler trail! haha! But seriously, Mom never sees ANYTHING on her walks in the woods with little sister, Haley…rarely ever…and my walk tonight was VERY adventurous…I think it was planned all for me! So we stepped aside for the four wheeler, they stopped to chat – I have no problem chatting…well, it’s called barking ’cause you are an intruder on my trail barking – but Mom stuffs treats in my face and I stop 🙂 Those people said they hadn’t seen a thing on their ride…my Mom told them all we’d seen.
When I got home I just boasting to little sister, Haley, what I’d done and seen! Wahoo! Yup, THIS Big Sister had a terrific walk tonight! But phew, I was due for a break! Here’s me taking a break after my eventful walk!
The following is a letter I sent out to my agility list. Another totally, supportive dog family of mine!!! 🙂
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To Northeast Agility Enthusiasts Competitors – Greenfield, MA Trial
I just wanted to let everyone know by the use of the NADAC list to hopefully contact everyone how much I appreciated the “welcome back” this weekend after a 10 month hiatus from agility.
During the morning briefing on Saturday, Erin told us there would be a new award given out in honor of Chester and Yola – Erin Wadja and Lynn Smitley’s now deceased first agility dogs. As Erin was speaking of this new award, I started thinking about my first agility dog, Maggie, who is still with me today but as of yesterday, has been a Tripawd due to soft tissue sarcoma on her left rear leg, for eight months now. It was a rather tough road for Maggie and I during her recovery to say the least but she is well now albiet lacking a lot of stamina and a leg. She is a fighter through and through, not wanting to leave this world with me yet!
Then as soon as the thought of my own first agility dog popped in my mind, Erin stated that she wanted to welcome me back from my long hiatus. I was extremely touched and then I was even MORE touched as many competitors then took off one shirt to then show another with a drawing of Maggie on their shirts from www.tripawds.com that I belong to!!!! Unbelieveable….I looked around behind me and even more people with my beloved Maggie on their chest – as a Tripawd!
As Saturday continued, I was in tears many times watching people run their own dogs with Maggie hugely displayed on their t-shirts. Maggie wasn’t there with me physically but she was everywhere I turned that day! I especially loved seeing her run courses again 🙂
I wanted to just publicly thank everyone that bought a t-shirt in honor of my dog, Maggie. What a hugely touching gesture you all did for me and what you did in support of Tripawds.com as well for purchasing the t-shirts from them. I found Tripawds.com two months after Maggie was amputated and I had dearly wished I had found them before and during her amputation. I felt scared to death of what I was about to do my first dog, my first agility dog, amputate her leg. Would it be the right decision and what/how would I treat her cancer and all the anxieties that seem to come with the recovery of Tripawds. I am grateful for the Tripawd family and I am also sincerely grateful for my extended agility family.
Thank you all…you left me speechless and in total awe! I want to also thank Claudia MacGuire for giving a donation to Tripawds.com in honor of Maggie for their current fundraising event to help “Keep the Lights on in the DogHouse”. An amazing couple, Rene and Jim run Tripawds, started it as they owned a 2 year osteosarcoma survivor Tripawd, Jerry, the founder of Tripawds.com. If you ever get a chance, come on over to the forums and the website and peek around. I hope none of you ever have to deal with cancer and amputation in your dogs but if you do, may your first source for information(after your vet of course) be Tripawds.com! And I have NO connection with the site other than grateful of their support and educational resources, in my journey with Maggie as a Tripawd.
Last night, in an attempt to include Maggie with agility practice that Haley and I were doing…I pulled out some hoops to put in a straight line to weave! These are a ligitimate agility obstacle in NADAC’s class called “Hoopers” and also in the new Wag It Games that we are training for. Maggie hasn’t weaved a set of weaves(be it hoops or regulation weave poles) in well over a year. And do you know what, YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD AGILITY DOWN! Memory of an elephant!
She also did a couple straight tunnels ~ she was some happy to be included into agility practice 🙂 After all, she thinks she is way smarter than that little bratty sister of hers & had to show her how it’s done!
In this first video, you’ll have to excuse the end where my husband is recording his shirt! He didn’t know how to shut my camera off.
What FUN Maggie and I are having this summer….quite a contrast to last summer where it took FOREVER to figure out what was wrong with the poor girl. She sure deserves some FUN!!!! 🙂
