Jake's Journey

Got home from work today and it was still hot and sunny… Took the doggies out to do their thing… Jake decided it was a wonderful day to sunbath.

He looks so happy and relaxed… not a care in the world! Look how handsome he looks in his Ruffware harness…

But… he’s not JUST sunbathing… he’s also guarding our tree from all the cute (well he doesn’t think so) squirrels!

Hmmm… Sun is warm… Getting sleepy…

… and Wolfie is just doing what he ususally does… playing with his destroyed Jolly ball…

Another hot, sticky and humid day here in Florida… so what does that mean? Pool Time!! Yay! This time Jake has his new harness on, so it was much easier to get him in and out of the pool.

So Jake goes in and swims after his favorite blue ball… But he swam to the other end of the pool and before I could stop him, he tried to jump up from the love seat (like he always used to before)… and he fell… with a huge thud right on his incision!!! I thought I was going to die! I swam over to him as fast as I could to help him get up… thinking he had hurt himself. But he just got up like nothing happened, and started to hop around the pool.

Wolf was happy just hanging out with Jake.

This time, I made sure I was next to the love seat, in case Jake got the silly idea to try and jump out of the pool by himself again.

The new harness is great, but it doesn’t help him float while he swims, so Jacques decided to put on a float belt we had lying around. It doesn’t fit that well, but it sure helped. Can’t wait until his K9 float coat arrives…

Just taking a break now from swimming… Jake is having a great time. Wolfie is such a camera hog!

Back to swimming…

Jake had a great time today… except for the fall which almost gave me a freaken heart attack! Jake decided he finally had enough of swimming for the day, and sat on the patio watching Wolfie swim.

Today is just 21 days post Jake’s amputation surgery. His Ruffware harness arrived today! I got home late from work and it was already getting dark… but Jake just had to pose in his new harness!

It fits perfectly… and it doesn’t seem to bother his incision.

Even Wolfie thinks it’s cool! Oh no! Does he want one too… ??!!

All that posing made Jake tired… time for some lovin’ from his mommy…

I just got home from work… and let Jake out of the study to go outside and do his business with Wolfie. I didn’t have to use the sling to help him walk… He (bunny) hopped all the way out all by himself and did his thing. Yay! I couldn’t find his E-collar before I left for work this morning… but he doesn’t seem to have licked at his incision today. Double Yay!!

If he keeps doing this well by next week, I won’t leave him in the study when we leave for work anymore. Hopefully, he’ll be OK. My biggest fear is that he’ll jump up on the couch (he is a big couch potatoe!) and that he’ll hurt himself when he tries to jump off when we come home… We’ll see how that goes.

Jake was alot more alert this morning. He was able to go outside without his sling. He was really interested in watching all the squirrels coming for their breakfast in our backyard.  Jacques put a silly hat on him… Doesn’t he look absolutely adorable??!!

Afternoon: The ‘boys’ went swimming this afternoon. This time, I was able to let Jake go on his own, once I helped him onto the pool steps. He was doing great!!

Here he is taking a break from all that swimming.  His ‘good’ side…

… and his ‘not so good’ side…

He got tired after all that excitement… so I dried him off and brought him inside to hang out with his ‘dad’ Jacques. Then Wolfie got to swim and play with me for a little while longer… Wolfie loves to dive into the pool… then run around and around… till his mom gets dizzy! ha! ha!

So this morning I went to the pet store and bought Jake and Wolf each a squeaky pumpkin toy for Halloween… They both enjoyed them alot!

Later on in the afternoon… it was finally time to go swimming! We don’t have the harness yet, so we used a belt to help support Jake while he went in and out of the pool. Wolfie was so excited that his brother was finally coming into the pool to play!

It was a little tricky at first, figuring out how to get Jake to hop onto the stairs… He was a bit nervous, but I could tell he really wanted to get in!

Once he got on the stairs, he basically jumped into the water and started swimming…

He did great! He had a little problem balancing his butt… that’ll change once he gets his float coat!

He was having a blast!

Just taking a little break on the pool steps… Watching his brother Wolfie swimming…

Now a little running around outside the pool…

After a while, they were both tired and just lounged in the sun for a while…

It was a great day! Jake slept like a log the rest of the afternoon and evening… hopefully having sweet dreams about swimming. Tomorrow we’re going to do it all over again!!

Today Jake went to see his favorite vet, Dr. John Lucado, to have his 2 week post-op exam and to remove his staples. Jake was so happy to visit with everyone at the clinic, and they were all amazed at how well he was doing and getting around by himself.

I asked doc how soon Jake can go swimming… and he said “as soon as you get home!” Yay! Jake will be so happy to finally get back into the pool… and it will be great for his recovery. But I’ll have to wait for Jacques to get home, because Jake’s special harness is only arriving the end of next week, and he’ll definitely need some extra help getting in and out of the pool for now.

So, when we came back home after his vet visit and car ride, Jake was really tired from all the excitement… so he took a nap, while I did some work on the computer.

When Jacques got home later in the afternoon, we all just relaxed and hung out on the patio… Jake and wolf played tug of war with the squirrel toy.

I also took a few videos of Jake and Wolfie… ENJOY!

So… today was a REALLY good day! Tomorrow I’ll definitely be taking lots of pictures and videos of Jake swimming in the pool again with Wolf.

The last time Jake went swimming was on Aug 30… then 2 days later he broke his leg and our nitemare began…

This morning we had a little scare… When I took Jake out for his final peeps and poops before leaving for work… I noticed he was soaking wet!  It seemed that he had peed himself… all over the sling, doggie bed, etc. I couldn’t tell if it was from the sling just slipping too low when Jacques took him out to pee  earlier… or if Jake was starting to become incontinent.

So I had to carefully wash him off (without getting his incision wet)… then throw everything (including the sling) into the laundry. I couldn’t go to work… I had to stay home and watch him to see if it was really just from accidentally peeing all over his sling, or if his cancer had already started to progress and he was becoming incontinent!

Tonite: So as of tonite… no other incidents… which makes me more confident thinking that it was just a problem with his sling placement and nothing more serious than that!

So when Jacques got home… Jake hopped over to greet him… then he went outside with Wolfie to do his stuff… He waited in the kitchen while I prepared their meal… then everyone ate!

So, tonite ended quietly… without any problems… Thank goodness!!! Tomorrow Jake goes in to see the vet to remove his staples… and we’re hoping he gets the go-ahead to start swimming in the pool!!! That will definitely perk him up and make him happy!!  Plus, hydrotherapy is one of the treatments recommended to recover from an amputation… so it’s all good!!

Today seemed long at work… Got home and Jake was standing, wagging his tail, ready to go out to pee… Some of his supplements came in today… We’ll start tonite.

My friend Doris just sent me this beautiful video… which made me cry, tears of joy and hope.  All of you following Jake’s Journey will definitely understand why…

Tonite… Wolfie and Jake were just chillin’ in the TV (blue) room…

What a difference a day makes. Jake seemed full of life when I got home today… hopping around the kitchen, watching what we’re making for dinner…

Now he’s sleeping again… Hope each day he gets stronger and stronger!