Cookie: A Much Wiser and Tamer Beast

Wow!!! We did it! What I thought would be the worst summer in history turned out to be--not that bad. It was really great, in fact! We have come so far and it is cool to look back on it all. On June 4th, our dog, Cookie, had ACL surgery. Her ACL was torn and arthritis was already beginning to set in. We opted for the best surgery she could have and had a steel plate or rod thingy, whatever you want to call it, placed in her leg. The doctor told us that, after this surgery, she wouldn't even need an ACL because the steel part will do all the work alleviating any pressure on her ACL. The xray above is the steel piece already put into place.

This was then. Our poor shaved dog, stripped of all dignity, had so many staples in her leg and she was forced to wear a plastic hood on her head and live her life in the crate. Gradually, she gained more freedom as we up ed her physical activity each week by taking her for short walks on the leash. Each mile marker, 4 wks, 8wks and now 12, she received a good report and things were coming along just as planned. The doctor told us ahead of time that the chances of her tearing the other
ACL during recovery where high because most owners do not baby their dog like they ought and our dog was large and active with a capital "A"! This was going to be a challenge, for sure.

12 weeks later, the doctor has given us the "free and clear". We did it! He actually said that we make him look good because we have taken such good care of her. She is able to go freely into the backyard off the leash but we must still be extra cautious, limiting her playtime. The good thing is that we are already used to this so it is not really a problem. The doctor told us that we will never throw her a ball or a frisbee because she could be predisposed to this type of injury and she could still tear the other ACL. This sounds sad but Cookie never really played fetch well anyway. We can take her on walks, let her freely gallop in the yard occasionally and let her roam our home. We are really enjoying the new tamer Cookie and are glad we have been encouraged to keep our routine. When released into the backyard, she only walkes and sniffes around before sitting in the yard on guard. It's like she knows she is limited and must be cautious. The other weird thing is that she crates herself now! What!?! We tried relentlessly to crate train this dog when we first added her to our family. It was a complete failure! But I have watched her for the past two weeks as she crawls into her snug new haven and catch some zzz's. Even when we leave her at home and guide her into the crate she goes with ease and very rarely has an accident while we are gone. This is the dog who was taking doggie anxiety medicine just 6 weeks ago!!! Could this be what life is like with a normal dog? Could it be that she is maturing? Could it be that aliens came in at night and took her brain replacing it with a sloth's? I'm not sure but I like it!

So the Cookie countdown ticker has been removed and life goes on. The doctor said that he would not be surprised if she is back in a year or two with the other ACL torn. I don't think so!!!