Almost There

AP here:
I am happy to report that Tonka Man is almost back to normal. The blind boy is very OCD about his daily routine and he has not been right since he collapsed with his heart problem. Our usual predictable days have been anything but -and full of medication schedules, ice packs and warm compresses.

This morning he had the stitches removed and then he got to spend the day without the cone on his head. He was such a good boy today at the vet and just stayed real still while the stitches were removed. It is still amazing to me that just 2 weeks ago he had a hole in his heart fixed.

I also don't think he has had a good night’s sleep with that thing on and I know I haven’t since this all started.


Tonight he went for a walk with Nala, had a good dinner and then tore through the recycling bag to make a mess in the kitchen- so pretty much back to normal for the evening.

From Bad to Worse and Totally Unfair

AP here:
On Thursday Tonka went to see a very nice Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Cannap at Veterinary Orthopedic Sports Medicine Group about his intermittent lameness in his right front leg. The result of which was 2 problems that needed to be addressed one being his shoulder and what would be analogous to our rotator cuff and the other being his elbow. http://www.vetsportsmedicine.com/surgery/documents/RotatorCuffInjurya.pdf
http://vetsportsmedicine.com/surgery/documents/JumpDownSyndrome.pdf
I was very impressed with everyone and the facility and the technician Amy that took care of Tonka and measured him for the brace he would have to wear for 2-4 months after the surgery. I had them draw blood so we could make sure he was sound for surgery and scheduled it for April 6th. Tonka was fine for the visit and did not seem to be in any distress. We went home and the rest of the day was a normal day with all his normal routines. We walked with Nala that night and again everything was 100% routine for him. I on the other hand could not sleep and was stressing over the upcoming surgery
Friday morning everything was still normal and he was at the top of the stairs ready to go for our walk by the time I got dressed. We walked to the park and back and it was totally uneventful.Once home he laid down at the top of the stairs like usual and took  little nap while I got ready to go to work - all still normal. I put on 2 eggs to boil and went downstairs and fixed his bowl with his breakfast. This is his routine every morning.

He goes downstairs eats his breakfast - goes out the doggie door - goes to the bathroom - might dig a little/might not - comes up the ramp on the side of the house to the kitchen - might lay out on the deck for about 5 minutes/might not - stands at the door and barks once to come in - comes in and has either a tiny bit of egg or some sweet potato.

This is the routine and when enough time had passed and he did not come to the door and was not on the deck I went to find him. The first thing I notice was an untouched bowl of kibble which is not normal but not alarming. I went out the door and around the corner to where he has been trying to create a new monster digging pit behind the grill. I was really expecting to find him there with dirt up to his elbows caught in the act and I really wish that is where I had found him. I took four more steps past he grill and he was laying at a very strange angle with massive amounts of drool from his chin to the ground. I spoke his name and he snapped his head up in my direction but he was jerky and seemed panicky. I opened his mouth to see if he had anything half ingested but all i saw was more of the same thick drool. I ran into the house and grabbed a towel and the phone and yelled for CM. She came out while I was dialing the vet. She went back in and went thought the house and unlocked he gate while I got the ramp down in the truck. I got him up and to the ramp and again he was very jerky but I got him in the truck and took off for the vet. On the road he put his head down and went to sleep and I got my wits about me enough to start thinking seizure vs. anything poison related. There is nothing buried behind the grill and I know that because we dug all that up and put down a drainage pipe there so it is nothing but dirt. it seemed to fit a seizure as well - that thick nasty drool - the post ictal phase where they are really out of it. So by the time we got to the vet that was my diagnosis and I calmed down a bit (remember I only had 3 hours of sleep worrying about his upcoming surgery and rehab so I was allowed to be a little off my norm). We walked in and right away they were looking at his gums and checking him out before we even got in a room. They are the best there and Tonka loves them all and so do I. We were seen right away by Dr. Gerity and during the exam we were pretty much going with the seizure thing until she got to his heart rate. She came up from listening to his heart and looking at her watch to tell me his heart rate was 200 and for a big dog 100 is the magic number and that it was not beating normal. Even with 3 hours of sleep my mind started trying to make sense of this - he was just at a vet yesterday and they had listened to his heart and it was fine - that doesn't compute. She then told me he needed an EKG and chest x-ray and took him out of the room to the back while I struggled to make it all fit into something logical.
The news was no better when she came back in- his heart is in atrial fibrillation and the x-rays show an enlarged heart (not horribly enlarged but too big just the same). The biggest thing was to get his heart rate down so they put him on medication to do that. He spent the day with them so they could monitor his heart.
I called a few times to check on him and his heart rate was down to 120 and then to 96 so I picked him up and took him home. He is still in arrythmia so his heart is beating abnormally but as long as the heart rate is down and he remains quiet we should be OK till he sees the cardiologist.
I called a cardiologist and we have an appointment on Thursday for an echo cardiagram and his ortho. surgery has been postponed. One of my friends Buttercups mom is an amazing woman and adopted Buttercup who has a heart condition. http://www.traveldogbooks.com/?p=367 She and I spoke at length and she reassured me that the cardiologist we are going to will get him back on track.
So here we are- my big loving boy who wants nothing more out of life than to run and play and meet and greet everyone and everything has to be kept very quiet. No walks, no running, no playing, no excitement of any kind. If you follow the blog you will remember that anytime he has been in this situation it only takes one day to plunge him into a depression. At least with the other times I could take him in the truck and his friends would come out and meet him- with this he can do nothing.
This has totally blindsided me- of all things that could go wrong I would have never thought heart but better to find out now rather than on the operating table in two weeks.
Perhaps this is why Tonka loves everyone so much - he has an oversized heart!

Hail Storm

So tonight I found something worse than rain. AP and I were finishing our walk with Nala and Henry and it started raining and thundering which was bad enough but then frozen water rocks started falling from the sky. AP called it hail and it really hurt and we had to stop at Mr. Bob's and stand under the awning until it stopped. Water - not a fan in any form (except at the beach).
AP took a picture of it but she said it came out a little fuzzy.

HAIL

So Helpful

AP here:
My last Pyr and other dogs that have lived with me were always very eager to "help" in the yard whenever there was work to be done. Tonka has never really cared much what you are doing in the yard unless it involves digging or sticks then he wants to "help".
 http://blinddogsrule.blogspot.com/2009/07/july-26-2009.html.
This past weekend it was nice enough to finally pick up the zillions of sticks and branches that the ice and snow storms had brought down. I had been picking up the big branches and storing them in the top corner of  the yard in a pile (you can't leave big branches for a blind dog to get hurt with). I got out the rake, some big trash bags and a ball of string to tie up the big stuff in a bundle.
Tonka came outside but stayed at the bottom of the yard while I raked up two bags worth of little sticks. I measured out enough string for the first go round for the pile of sticks and laid it out on the ground. I piled the branches onto the string and pulled the ends up, tied a big know and started measuring out string for the second go round a little further up the pile. All of a sudden Tonka was beside me pulling at a branch and trying to drag it out of the bundle. I tried to get him to back away from it but it turned into a wrestling match and it takes way too much energy to win a wrestling match with a blind 125lb bear so I broke off part of the branch and gave it to him. That seemed to make him happy and I turned back and bent over the bundle to tie the string around the top part. When I stood back up (we are talking seconds later) Tonka was no longer interested in his piece of stick and had successfully untied the first string.

There are moments when I seriously consider that he is just faking the blind thing.

Round 2 of wrestling commenced and I managed to keep him back long enough to tie the first string back and lift the bundle. I started walking to the gate to take it around front when I noticed it was getting hard to move froward. Tonka- being oh so helpful had a branch in his mouth trying to pull it out and was successfully pulling me and the bundle backwards. I dug in and continued forwards. This would have been a very funny video - the two of us playing tug of war with a bundle of sticks.
I finally won and hurried to the gate and out to the curb leaving Tonka in the back yard with a few sticks that had fallen out during the battle.

Bundle of Sticks

Quit pulling my Ear

I am a clean boy- although if I had my way I wouldn't be but I am a good boy and I allow myself to be groomed. My ears are cleaned, my eyes wiped, my nails trimmed and my coat brushed all without too much fuss. Lately my left ear has been bothering me so I had to go to the vet today because I won't let anyone lift up my ear. I have been shaking my head a lot and scratching at it so AP made me get in the truck and go to Greater Annapolis Vet Hospital to see Dr. Woodburn. He looked way down in my ear with a scopey thing and then swiped my ear with a long Q-tip and looked at it under a microscope. He came bck and declared that it is a very good looking ear and there is nothing in it but a little wax. He sprayed my ear flap with some some stuff that should make it feel better and said I probably have an allergy. I don't like being sprayed but I guess it will be one more thing to add to the list of daily grooming. I sure hope it works.

Help my Friend Sylvia

My friend Sylvia needs some help. She is such a sweet girl and deserves a forever home like me.

Sylvia has lost two chances for a forever home when she struggled on steps within the houses. Upon examination and x-ray, AGPR learned that she has a severe case of arthritis in her left hip due to hip dysplasia and is in pain, which she’s been bravely masking at her foster home.  In order to correct the problem, give her a pain-free existence and a chance to find a loving and permanent home, Sylvia will need surgery. AGPR needs to quickly raise $3,000 to pay for the surgery and rehabilitation. They are already about two-thirds of the way there. Please look into your heart and consider a donation to Sylvia’s Fund for Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue.
You can send a check or money order to:
Appalachian Great Pyrenees Rescue
8976 Battlefield Park Rd.
Richmond, VA 23231
Please write “Sylvia’s Fund” in the memo line.

You also can donate quickly and securely via our PayPal account. Just go to http://www.agprescue.com/fundraise.html and click on the “Make a Donation” button.

Thank you for helping my friend Sylvia live a full and happy life.

Sylvia and a friend

I Want Out

It snowed a lot more last night and AP had to shovel the driveway and clean off the cars before we went for our morning walk. I thought that was completely unfair. I wanted to get out front in all the action so I politely knocked on the door to let her know I was there..


Hey!




Hello!

  When knocking "politely" didn't work I decided I was trapped and tried to dig my way out.



Help!




I'm trapped

  Since no-one seemed to cared that I might die here- it was time to try and chew my way through.



Can't get a grip

 Somehow I ended up in trouble for just trying to get free - humans are totally unfair!

Making a Snowman

I have been out playing in the "whole lotta" snow in the backyard. AP was trying to save the trees that were bent all the way to the ground and confusing me. There is not supposed to be a tree on my potty spot. She decided I should learn how to make a snowman so we started at the top of the yard and pushed the snow down the hill. It got really big and I was trying to bite it so we ended up wrestling in the snow instead of making the snowman.

Making a Snowman

You have to push!

Take Cover

AP here: Tonka and I woke up today to snow on the ground which was supposed to just be rain. We headed out on our morning walk and we were having so much fun at the park. Tonka was shoveling snow with his nose in between playing duck, duck, goose and it started to rain a little. The next thing I know its pelting down ice, and not little pieces of ice -big hunks of ice - that hurt. I looked over at Tonk and he was blinking his eyes really quick and shaking his head with a panicked look. I grabbed him up by the collar and we ran for the woods. We got under the trees and it was still coming down so we ducked under the jungle gym and hid out for awhile until it eased up.



Hiding Out



Under the Jungle Gym



Walking Dog

AP got a new watch for Christmas that talks to flying things in the sky and lets her know how far we walk. She says this will give us an accurate measure of how far we walk in a year. *She has already forgotten to press the button 3 times in 4 days :)
She started using it on the 1st and as of today she says we have walked 57 miles. I think I need my paws massaged...

Crazy Tonka Man in the Snow

I had so much fun this morning in the Snow

Bissell Most Valuable Pet (MVP)

AP is trying to win some money for my rescue. She entered me in a contest run by the Bissell Vacumn company and first prize would be $10,000 for AGPR. They could sure use that money to help more Tonka dogs like me. The contest is 12 weeks long and AP will send them a picture every week to put up on the Internet on the Bissell website.

Today is the first day to vote for me for week 1. If you would please help, you can register and vote at  http://bissell.promo.eprize.com/mvpcontest/registration.html

If you can help out would you please vote for me- my entry number is 212 this week. You can search for me by name or by the number 212 once you are logged in. There is another dog named Tonka but I am the big white one all curled up sleeping like an angel in the picture.

If you follow my blog then you know sometimes I am not quite so angelic :)

You can vote every day, once a day for me and I would really appreciate it.
Thanks again

Tonka can't READ

AP went to therapy dog volunteer training, apparently people need to be trained just like dogs. She came home and was bummed out and we had a long talk. I was really excited to start classes so that I could pass my test and become a READ dog. The READ program is where dogs go to school and kids (my very favoritist things) get to read to them. http://www.therapyanimals.org/R.E.A.D.html
Once I passed the test I could go once a week for nine weeks and sit with different kids while they read stories to me. Unfortunately the other requirement is that I would have to have a bath - every week- for nine weeks. Now if you follow my blog you know that there is one thing I really do not like and that is water - especially baths. It takes 2 people to bathe me and I don't make it easy. It's not my fault I just get freaked out. So AP said she wouldn't put me through that and that we would have to look at other options. I'm bummed out that I don't get to meet new kids but I'm very glad I won't be getting a bath every week.

Dragons

AP here:
Don't you hate it when you take one animal out for a walk and come back with another? I start every day walking the big white dog they call Tonka - this is Tonka going for a walk - head up, tail up eager to go.

On the final stretch heading home the beast on the end of the leash transforms into another creature entirely. The leash is stretched all the way back behind me with a beast moving so slowly time could be moving backwards.

I turn and look and I see at the end of the leash the beast they call DRAGON

Draggin Butt to be precise

Head down, tail down moving as slow as possible - prolonging the journey  - Mr. Draggin butt does not want to go home!

Peanut

I met a new friend at the beach. His name is Peanut and I got down really low so that he would know I was a dog and not a bear because he is a little guy.