Thumper (and Me)

 Just before Jen left for home last month, we noticed Thumper was limping. Our working theory was that, in digging into the compost bin and bouncing it up and down with his snout, he had managed to guillotine his paw and injure it. I got him some doggo aspirin, which seemed to take care of the issue. 

He would go for a few days without limping, then start again. Give him aspirin, limping stopped. Lather, rinse, repeat until this past Monday.

He suddenly became a tripod dog, not using the injured paw to walk on at all.  Aspirin did nothing. So, Friday (yesterday), we went to the 24 hour emergency vet (our regular one was booked up and waitlisted). We did the intake, a tech came out to the car and got Thumper, and home I went. 

Calls back and forth, talked with the vet. Basically, the x-rays showed no breaks, but one of the bones in the 'elbow' looked fuzzy. We didn't get the radiology report, so the vet released him, along with doggo Ibuprophen and gabapentin. I was instructed to get some Pepsid to make sure he wouldn't get an upset stomach from the ibuprofen. I was chuckling during his lecture, and finally told him that I've been on nsaids and gabapentin for quite a while, and was confident I could handle this. 

Thumper was pretty well stoned when we got home. The idea is to give him 10 days of rest, followed by 10 days of slowly bringing him back up to speed, assuming the limp is gone. The 10 days of rest is what the gabapentin is for.

So, that is Thumper, in a nutshell. 

I wound up not sleeping in this morning. In fact, I think I was awake at about 6:30 - 7:00. I gave up and got up, and started the day. Got Thump out to the back yard for a bit, then took him around the corner early afternoon. At about 2:30, I decided to go up for a nap.

When I woke up, it looked like early morning light. My phone said it was about 5:30, so I was expecting to get up and face the new day, in a while. Read my mail fiddled around on my dating site, and decided to get up.

So here I'm thinking it's Sunday AM. My phone told me it was still Saturday evening. And down the rabbit hole I went. I honestly was worried that something had happened to the internet clock, but the timeline as I remembered it didn't make sense either. I was confused. 

I bounced around with it for a while, until I realized that it was way too dark for 8:30 in the morning, even with the rain clouds overhead. It slowly dawned on me that I had taken a nap at 2:30, and a) either I'd slept for almost 30 hours, or b) it was in fact 8:30 on Saturday night.

Occam's razor prevailed, and so here I am, sharing this at (now) 9:30 Saturday evening.

I'm pretty sure this is another reminder that I don't have as much stamina as I did before my surgery. 

And, as any IFR pilot will tell you, "You gotta trust your instruments."

Thumper

Well. I took a week off to go out to Montana and see my daughter and the rest of the family. I hired a gentleman to come in twice a day to check on the cats, and walk Thumper. This would be the first time that I would be away for a relatively long period of time (ten days), and Thump would have to adjust to a new alpha human.

Steve, the guy I hired, is retired, and (I believe) does pet sitting to get out of his wife's way. He was a godsend. He did a bunch of extra stuff, like some cleaning up of poo in the house that I hadn't gotten to before I left, and got Thump some new toys to play with. In his written summary, he said:

"Thunper would let me sit on the sofa with him. (He) would let me scratch his back and rub his head with the walking harness on. ... He is learning to trust."

Funny thing was, when I got home and Steve came over to collect his check, Thump pretty much ignored him. I think he was letting us know who he thought the boss was!

A couple of days ago, Thumper and I went for one of our usual walks. As we were coming back in the alley behind the three townhomes, we ran in to our neighbor who lives on the other end unit. He and I started talking about some maintenance issues, while Thumper just stood there. At one point, my neighbor idly bent over and scratched Tumper on his back.

Thumper. Did. Not. React.

We have crossed the Rubicon. I don't know if this extends to the little kids who want to pet him or not, but it signals a major breakthru!   He has become much more comfortable with people than he has ever been since I met him.

He's becoming a real dog.

Catching Up

OK. This is a photo fueled ramble, pretty much in chronological order.

First, the establishing shot! Last fall, I got the patio cleaned up and the heavier bits of construction wood out of the elements.

Here's a random shot of Thumper campling out in the laundry basket. He has gotten calmer and more pet-like around me. I can approach, reach and scritch him with no downside. (Others can't - an elderly gentelman tested that out for us last week.) He's excited to see me when I come down in the morning/get home from work, and is generally more manageable. He still quivers, but less so than before.

We have become buddies.

Work is progressing on the walk-thru closet: 

Much more below the fold!

Update! Thumper and Me

Update: So, off we went to the vet last week.  Thumper was knocked out, blood drawn, and X-rays taken.  X-rays came back clean.  Initial blood word showed that, yes, his thyroid numbers are low.  Vet wanted to do a more specific test, which I ok'd.  There was enough blood from the draw to do it, which was good.

Bottom line: his thyroid is low, so he is now on a thyroid med.  After a month, the vet wants do do another test to see what's happening.

Started them med last Friday (7/20). He seems to be a bit calmer.  He's hopped into my lap a few times, letting me pet and scratch him. He also comes up to me for attention. If he's focused on something not me, I can get his lead off without lighting him up.  It's very clear that he is uncomfortable if I bend down and reach for him. Potentially hazardous to me. He seems to improve a tad every day, so patience and caution are the most important things for me to bring to the game.

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About a month ago, the day after my second cataract surgery, Thumper decided that he didn't want me touching him. I've talked with two dog trainers, who have done some informed speculating, and the consensus is, get him a physical.

So tomorrow, we are of to the vet. "How", you may ask, "can he get a physical when no one can touch him?"  The answer is, anesthesia. He will be knocked out, poked, prodded, x-rayed, and assessed.

And then we'll know if he is salvageable. By which I mean, 1) can he and I somehow get along better, being a happy, fun dog; 2) do I take my loss and return him to the shelter; or 3) is he so far gone physically that the only answer is putting him to sleep.

To recap, I lost Baxter, Benny, and Griffin last year. I've been depressed since Thanksgiving.  (I'm just figuring that out, and yes I have a Dr's appointment scheduled).

This truly and deeply sucks.

Welcome, Thumper!

Meet the newest resident of Casa Chaos, Thumper:

Thumper's Petfinder bio page:

Meet Thumper

Thumper is a 6 yr old Shiba Inu mix who was tied outside most of his life. He was surrendered with his canine son who was also previously tied out. His son has been adopted and Thumper is awaiting his forever family.

Thumper has made a lot of progress since being at our shelter since early January. He learned that toys are cool, fetch is a fun game, and that belly rubs are priceless! Thumper needs a patient person who is willing to visit him a few times to earn his trust. Treats and fetch are the highway to his heart! Thumper would do best in a mature home with a dog experienced family as he is still learning to be a "inside" family member. If you are patient and knowledgeable on how to slowly acclimate a scared dog into home life, he may be just what you need!

He's been here since about noon today, and, all in all, is doing pretty well. He was nervous at first - trembling with a bit of marking. Once he got water and food, and was introduced to his new bed, he calmed down considerably. He is essentially a six year old puppy, given that his only constant contact with people started when he arrived at the shelter. He knows sit, will let my sit and old him in a hug without struggling, and will actually come when he hears his name! Plus, he follows me around constantly, barks at people walking past house outside, and is good aboout watching/avoiding me when I'm moving.

And he really wants to chase Missy! (He hasn't met Nadia yet.)

Right now. I'm in bed with the cats, and he is in one of the crates that we used to get Suzu and Dakota back here ten years ago.

My sense is this is going to work out. He seems to really want to be 'good'; he's intelligent, and willing to learn.

More as this develops. And `two more picturs: