Gretchen & Banjo enjoying a nice sunny day.

Recovery is getting harder to deal with for all 3 dogs, they all want to play with each other, so we have to stop it quickly so that Daisy does not injure her recovering leg.

When we are outside with Daisy on a leash Banjo will point Daisy and then they try to attack one another. They are also doing sea lion play over Daisy’s cage. But they all really want to do the normal play.

She is doing really well though, she is using her leg when she walks, but when standing still she will hold it up. We are doing her massage and range of motion exercises every day, and she is now eating both meals daily.

We are now two weeks down and only have between six to ten weeks of restrained recovery left. Please return soon for updates on Daisy’s recovery.

From left to right: Gretchen @Germanshorthair, Phi @3Phibotticelli, Samantha @Samthewatcher, Sadie @SadieTime333

Not to say that Gretchen does not have her little quirks or doesn’t demand attention, she just does not demand as much attention as Daisy and Banjo.

Gretchen does have a little quirk that can absolutely drive you nuts at time. Gretchen is very food oriented; it is pretty much what she thinks about all the time. When waking in the morning she expects breakfast right away, and then throughout the day she expects multiple treats. She actually sits next to the treat drawer and whines at it. As soon as it hits 4 pm Gretchen has decided that it is time for dinner, and she will stand by the kitchen crying for dinner until you feed her. You would think that this would end her need for food for the day, but I have to say that it doesn’t. After dinner Gretchen will then let you know that she is in need of a bone of some sort until she finally receives it. Once Gretchen is satisfied that she has received all the food that she feels is needed for the day she will then finally relax. Want to talk about a major foodie.

Gretchen is also a little OCD, she gets obsessed over laser lights, flash lights, bubbles and bugs. Gretchen just loves to play laser, follow the flash light around and jump around for bubbles. We have to hide the Laser, flash light and bubbles on her, if she knows where they are she will sit and stare at the hiding spot and bark until you redirect her attention or pull it out and play again. If you redirect her attention she still remembers where you put the items and will go back to them and start barking again, even if this was days ago, she remembers.

Gretchen is such a loving little girl; she is a dog that wants to always please. She hates getting into trouble, it hurts her feelings and she pouts until you forgive her.

This is our Gretchen in a gist, not to say this is it, but this is what she is about.

]]> http://daisyandgretchen.com/index.php/2012/05/08/who-is-gretchen/feed/ 0 http://daisyandgretchen.com/index.php/2012/05/07/daisys-tplo-surgery/ http://daisyandgretchen.com/index.php/2012/05/07/daisys-tplo-surgery/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 23:09:35 +0000 Heather http://daisyandgretchen.com/?p=576 On May 1, 2012 Daisy had surgery to repair her ruptured ACL. I know what you’re thinking, but Daisy doesn’t play football, she ruptured her ACL while running in a field. The surgery that Daisy had is called Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO), in this surgery the tibia is cut and rotated and then a plate is installed to put her tibia back together. With this kind of surgery the recovery is about 8 weeks of restriction and then full function is achieved at about 3 to 4 months after surgery.

Now that you know a little about the surgery let’s talk about Daisy because that is what we are all here for. The day before the surgery Daisy had to go into the vet to get a pain patch, to help with the pain after surgery. They had to shave a spot on her side to attach the patch. Here is a picture of her bald spot, at this time she was a little worried about her hair growing back, but we told her it would be ok.      

Then on Tuesday Morning she was back off to the vet for surgery. Due to the busy Monday at the vet Daisy’s surgery got pushed back to the afternoon and she would have to stay the night. Surgery lasted about three and a half hours and the whole time we were sitting on pins and needles waiting for the vet to call and give us the good news. Finally at 5:30 pm the vet called to let us know that Daisy was waking up and did really well during the surgery, but they also found that she had torn her meniscus, which he had to cut the dangling piece off. They let us know that we can pick her up at 10:30 am the next morning and would leave a list of instructions for the next 8 to 12 weeks. She realized after her surgery that the little bald patch on her side was nothing compared to what they shaved for surgery. Here is a picture of her right after we brought her home.     

The first night home Daisy didn’t sleep at all and neither did any of us. It was really sad, she cried all night long. So we called the vet the next morning and got stronger pain pills. By the way, sleeping consist of the whole family playing campout on the family room floor because Daisy cannot get on the bed. Then on Friday (May 4^th) she wasn’t back to the vet for her first check up, she got the all good from the Vet. We were all happy about that. The vet then took the bandage off so the cone had to go on. (Oh no Bruises for all.) Luckily it will only need to be used for a week.      

Since then we have been working on Massage and Range of Motion and she is doing really well, she is even putting weight on her leg already and we are only using the sling on slick surfaces where she can easily slip.

Today we got to go sit outside in the nice weather for a little while with no cone. Mom was right there making sure I didn’t mess with my leg.      

Tune in for the next Daisy update.

When Daisy and Gretchen were puppies, they didn’t know how to keep their food in the bowl while eating. Here is a picture of the mess they would make while eating when we first brought them home. Look, we didn’t even have real bowls for them yet.

Daisy and Gretchen were born in July, so when we brought them home is was still warm, so they would go to the tile in front of the fire place to rest and keep cool.

Well mom showed us the package and Banjo and Gretchen tried to open it up right then and there. But mom and dad said no and took the package away, but we could still see it. So Gretchen spent the evening whining at the box because she knew there was something in there for her, and Banjo would sit near the box and bark at it. So finally mom had to put it out of sight and smell.

     On Easter Morning mom brought the package back out and let us have at it.

In the package we found that Grandma had made us yummy cookies, yay! What a wonderful Grandma!

Then a little while later mom gave us a new toy, which we had lots of fun playing with until Gretchen was able to sit down with it for a bit.

     Now we have another dead toy, Oops!

But that was not the end to our Easter excitement; dad shared some ham with us and boy was that good, then for dessert we got to share a strawberry cupcake.

What a wonderful yummy day.

Happy Easter to all!

On the way home from getting Daisy and Gretchen, Gretchen found her way up to my shoulder and then found my ponytail holder. She pulled the ponytail holder from my hair, and lost it under the seat. From then on every time they are within reaching distance of my ponytail, they manage to steal the ponytail holder right out of my hair. Sometimes they go to extremes while trying to get the ponytail holder, like climbing my back if they cannot quite reach. Even though these 2 girls are 9 they are still up to their same old puppy tricks.

We were gone the majority of the day on Friday, which left the dogs up to their own devices. They are in the garage and had access to the back yard while we were away. You would think between the three of them they could entertain themselves. Play in the back yard, chase bugs, watch the birds, sunbathe, run around…

Not sure what happens while were away, but when we get home, it’s like we made them sleep in the garage all day long. They come in jumping, barking and mouthing our hands and arms, along with a couple of little bites (bites using just the front teeth, causing instant bruises on human skin). And then everyone has to go pee real bad, like they have been holding it all day long.

After everyone is fed and has gone potty, the craziness does not end, they all continue to run around like crazy dogs for the next 3 hours.

So the question remains, what do three German Shorthair Pointers do while the humans are away????