Once again Tonka and I have settled into a new routine that now includes hanging out at lunchtime during the week.
Our day starts at either 3 or 5 depending on how well he sleeps during the night. The first thing is to express his bladder which can be done either on his side or standing. Due to his inability to go to the bathroom on his own he needs to be manually expressed and also flipped over every 4 hours to prevent urinary infections and pressure sores.Scouts house has some great instructional videos on the subject and if you ever have to do this (hope you don't). You should also get your Veterinarian to show you (hands on) because it is not as easy as it looks. It has taken me a month to finally get the hang of it and I really have to thank Carmel Berger from Greater Annapolis for helping us get it down.I also have to thank Tonka for being such a good boy because the minute he hears the pee pad crinkling he lays down and relaxes for me. Once that is taken care of I sit with him and have my first cup of coffee and tickle his toes to make him move his legs. Then it is time to go for a walk so I help him get up and get him in his wheels. We typically stay close to home during the week since he is still building up strength in the wheels and I don't want to push him too much. We stop at the 2 closet bus stops so he can say hi to his kids and get some hugs and head pats. Once home it is breakfast time and then time to go back out and go to the bathroom. I will spare you the unpleasantness of making your dog poop but needless to say it is best to keep him on a routine so that's what we do. We then wheel back into where his cage used to be (had to take it down as it was too hard to get in and out of anymore) and again he is such a good boy I just say "get in your house" and he goes right to the corner. I then take him out of the wheels and get him situated for his morning nap.
I then get ready for work, express him once more and out the door I go. I have several cameras throughout the house so I can watch him during the day at work to see how he is doing. Lately since he has been more mobile and he sometimes turns himself over and scoots around a bit (all very good signs).
In about 4 hours he usually wakes up from his nap and starts listening to see if anyone is home. If he doesn't hear anyone he starts talking and getting antsy. So I leave work and drive home everyday at lunch to get him up and over to the water bowl, and then express him and flip him to his other side. Since I am there we have lunch together and then he settles down for his afternoon nap. Other than the nasty commute it makes for a nice break in my day.
In the evening I express him first thing when I get home and then get him in his wheels to take him out to the truck to go to the park.
Out to the truck - out of the wheels
Help him up the ramp - lay him in the truck
pack up the ramp and wheels
off to the park
get to the park- backup to a low point
take out the wheels and setup the ramp
climb in the truck and help him stand up
get back out of the truck and help him get down the ramp
express him
put him in the wheels
pack up the ramp
park the truck
walk around the park with his friends and when we get done we do it all in reverse.
Once home and back out of the truck and in the wheels we have dinner and then out to go potty for the evening.Then its into the TV room and packed in ice packs for the evening till bed time. At around 9 he starts talking and if I don't move fast enough to help him up to get to the other room for a drink he will attempt to get up on his own.
I help him to the water bowl and express him one last time for the night and get him comfortable on his memory foam bed. If it is a good night he sleeps for at least 3 hours before I hear him on the baby monitor whining for me to come flip him to his other side. Our journey keeps changing direction and we just go with the flow.
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