A Day at the Beach!

We returned from vacation yesterday and already we want to go back! Daisy had more fun on the beach than all the rest of us I think. She ran up and down the beach all day long. The first day she saw the ocean she barked at every wave. After that, she was used to the waves but then came the dolphins...so there was something else to bark at! Lucy tried to keep up with Daisy running back and forth but she wore herself out pretty early on. Lucy did so well considering her accident nearly 3 weeks ago. She knows the key words that dogs tune in to... 'Treat', 'Outside', 'Mom' , 'Dad', and 'gramma'! The vet said it could take 6 months before she is totally healed and as good as she'll be but I think she's doing amazing now - imagine how much better she'll be in the upcoming months. If I can figure out how to post the video of the girls barking at the dolphins, I'll do it, along with other pics that I took.

She speaks! She jumps!

Lucy went back to the Dr. today just to be checked over again since the accident. At the animal hospital they were all amazed at her progress. It was all about 'Lucy!' No more antibiotics or eye ointment, no more follow up visits. Yesterday she barked for the first time since the accident. Today she went up the stairs on her own and jumped up on the sofa all by herself too! There are times when she looks like the old Lucy and then there are times when the lights are on and there's no one home. The Dr. said it could take 6 months or more for her to get healed as much as she will heal. I think she's perfect and I'll take whatever she'll give! Thanks everyone for the kind words and thoughts.

Daisy's turn for a boo-boo

Today Daisy took a trip to Frey Animal Hospital to see the groomer and left with 2 little staples in her hind leg right above her heel - which I think must be fairly painful when she sits. (The groomer accidently cut Daisy with the scissors.) They put this blue collar on her but it didn't take long before she had it off. It was so big for her, she kept stepping on it and pulled it off. Before I even dropped her off at the groomer, I had already made up my mind that I was going to look for a different groomer for the little girls. When this incident happened with Daisy it just cemented the decision.

I also took a picture of Lucy today sitting in her kennel. She actually ran through the store today trying to keep up with Daisy. She's doesn't know her name yet - or maybe she's just ignoring me - but she's catching up on other things. I'll take Lucy in to the Dr. on Thursday for them to have another look at her.

Sensory Perception

Lucy continues to make improvements. Yesterday, she responded to the word 'treat' - so we know her hearing is better. Rick was cutting up some cheese last night while making dinner and each of the girls waited patiently for a little piece. When he told them to 'sit', Lucy sat down. We're not sure if she understood the command or maybe she was tired of standing. Also, last night she actually started using her little nose to sniff around. If she starts sniffing around sometimes that's a sign that she might need to go outside and do a 'doo', which she has been very good at. She's still not her bouncy self, but I believe it will take more than 6 days for her to heal, so I'm going to be very patient with her. All the signs are good - which makes me a little angry when I remember one of the veterinarians told me I should euthanize her. But I'm not going to waste any energy on those thoughts any more. Lucy Lucy Lucy! How good it is to have you with us!

Baby steps!

I just took this picture of Lucy and Daisy this morning with my camera phone so the resolution isn't the best - but I think you get the picture! (pardon the pun). This was a good morning for Lucy! She had breakfast and then we went outside to take care of other business. I put her on the cement driveway and after she stood for a moment, Daisy was jumping around her and trying to coax her into following her. She paused a little bit and then started walking back towards the garage. When she reached the garage door she stopped and did her job, then continued walking into the garage and stopped at the bottom of the stairs that go inside the house. That's a big accomplishment! She's resting now, which she does quite a bit. I'm okay with that - I think it's her body telling her to take it easy. Her cognitive skills are still very low, but today is only day 5 after being clipped by a pickup truck! You can see in the picture her front legs have been shaved down to her feet - giving her a chicken drumstick look. Also, her sides around her tummy have been shaved, leaving a strip of hair down the middle of her back - it's the Mohawk look! We're so thrilled to have her with us we don't care how she looks! But she shivers a lot and so she'll be wearing her t-shirts and sweaters until her hair grows back. Thanks again everyone for the calls, emails, and stops at the store! I'll try to keep this blog going on Lucy's recovery with ever notable change.

She's home!

We brought her home tonight around 5:30! Hallelujah! She isn't her same self of course. My son said tonight that we have a 'Forest Gump' dog. For the first 40 minutes at home all she did was walk around the inside of the house....truly...that's all she did. She walked circles, always going to the left, around every inch of the house. She isn't very steady on her feet so she fell down a couple of times and when she found her food dish she leaned against the wall and just put her head down in her dish and ate and ate and ate! Daisy tried to get Lucy to play. Daisy would bark at her and jump around Lucy to get a response, but Lucy really isn't interested yet. She doesn't respond very well to her name, in fact, hardly at all yet - but it's early. I read online that canine head traumas can take weeks or months to recuperate. We're okay with that because she's had such a remarkable recovery so far. She's had one potty accident in the house so far. We're just keeping a real close eye on her and I imagine that's the way it will be for a long time. No jumping on the furniture and no stairs. We feel very lucky to have her with us. There are some wonderful powers at work letting us bring her home, including the medical and spiritual kind. More updates later, but she will be at the store again soon! Thanks again everyone who called, emailed, and stopped in at the store. Lucy would love all the attention, if she could understand. :)

Update on Lucy

It's early - real early - Saturday morning. There is thunder outside and it's raining. Lucy is still at the animal hospital and I worry that she is frightened. I saw her yesterday morning. Then my mom and I went again in the afternoon. Rick, Daisy and I went to see her last night and saw small changes in her again. She tried several times to stand up, but she wasn't very successful. She would get up on her legs and then slowly lean over to the side and go back down. She just seems exhausted, plus she has a splint on her rear leg where they put a 'line' in her to hook up her fluid, so it makes standing and walking even more of a challenge.
She's been shaved in areas so the vet and vet techs can work on her without hair in the way. Her little legs have a poodle cut - she still has the little puffs of hair on her feet but her legs have been shaved. And there is a huge patch of hair missing from one side of her tummy, where they hooked up her heart monitor. Because of her head injury she doesn't seem to recognize us or key words that before the accident would have had her ears pivoting around. Things like 'treat', 'outside', 'Daisy', 'gramma'. We're hopeful that with time she will regain some of her old self, but if that doesn't happen, we're okay with that. I think of people that have had massive head trauma and the amount of time it takes for them to recover. Bob Woodruff is the first one that comes to my mind. He had an amazing recovery, but it didn't come overnight. I remember the ABC special about his injury and how he slept for a long time and the rehabilitation he had. I'm hoping Lucy wll have that kind of promise. We've got a lot of time and a lot of love for her so we'll just take each day as it is. It's weird the way things happen - Earlier this year I was knitting a sweater for Daisy because she is always so cold with her thin hair. I was using a pattern from a book and following the directions for the smallest size - which still ended up way too big for Daisy, but guess what - it fit Lucy. I thought at the time, she'll never wear this, it will be too hot for her. But now with some of her coat gone, and because of her condition, she does get the shivers. So tomorrow I'm taking the pink sweater with the stick pearl buttons with us to the hospital. If they release her, she'll have some protection and look great too. It hasn't even been 72 hours. I wonder what she will be like a year from now - so someone remind me a year from now to read what I wrote in my blog today.
Thank you everyone who wrote, called or emailed about Lucy. Maybe next week you'll see her at the store in her new pick sweater.

No more moosey Lucy - we're calling her Lucky Lucy!

She isn't out of the woods yet, or even out of the hospital, but she shows small improvements in her condition every time I see her. At this point her accident is less than 48 hours old, so I'm very optimistic about her recovery. This morning the Dr. told me that if she can swallow on her own - which she is very soon to happening - that she might go home in another day. There is a long journey to a full recovery but I'm hopeful that she has that chance. The picture was taken this morning - Daisy being very vigilant over Lucy. Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers. Keep them coming!

Lucy needs your positive thoughts

Lucy was struck by a pickup truck on Wednesday around 12:30pm. She is in critical care at the Eastern Iowa Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Cedar Rapids. She has head trauma. Her condition seems to change every time I visit her. Tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see her awake and blinking her eyes - and even licking her little lips. We took Daisy with us for every visit today. Even though it upset Daisy to see her little buddy like that, I was hoping it would help Lucy if she could smell Daisy there with her. When we got home Daisy scoured the house looking for Lucy and cried all the while. Lucy is such a sweet thing and I need her to come home to us. I'll try to update the blog with news of her condition, until then, please think positive and say some puppy prayers for her. Thanks to everyone who has come into the store with kind words and prayers.