Day Two

I adopt special needs dogs and thought I was prepared for a paralyzed dog .... I was wrong.

Things I have learned today:

1) Pee. Carl really has a large bladder.  I lost count of the number of times he peed on my arms this morning.  By this afternoon I had bought a diaper - life is much better.

2) Skin damage.  Carl had some abrasions on his legs where he drags them, that were made worse just on the carpet.  He has a cart for outside, but what about inside?  A bit of lateral thinking and some leg protection materialised in the form of foam pipe insulation and velcro.  It keeps Carl's legs a bit too straight, but has really done the trick both inside and outside (when he really needs to go to the bathroom and there isn't time to get him in his cart).  I have muddy, scraped up insulation but dry, protected legs.

3) Carts.  I've had a dog in a cart before, but she could use her legs and stand for short periods making getting her in and out of a cart relatively easy.  It is so much harder when you have limp back legs with a front end jumping about, just wanting to go.

Carl is a real live wire.  I thought a walk might wear him out - what was I thinking.  Two miles later he is running and I am struggling to keep up.  I was thinking of teaming him up with one of my older Labs for walks but they'd never manage the pace.