Dobkinsdoeurope2014

Hi everyone
Today we leave for Barcelona Spain (via Dusseldorf Germany). We will stay for a few days before boarding the Azamara Quest cruise ship for a cruise to the south of France and Italy. I will be writing on my phone so blogs will be short. Hopefully I will be able to upload fabulous pictures. Of course I will need Wifi to post anything. Looking forward to sharing our trip with you!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dobkinsdoeurope2014

Hi everyone
Today we leave for Barcelona Spain (via Dusseldorf Germany). We will stay for a few days before boarding the Azamara Quest cruise ship for a cruise to the south of France and Italy. I will be writing on my phone so blogs will be short. Hopefully I will be able to upload fabulous pictures. Of course I will need Wifi to post anything. Looking forward to sharing our trip with you!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nov 12th 2010

Hopefully these will be pictures of Sadie doing her water therapy last May.

November 12th 2010

I am so sorry for not posting in such a long time. Honestly, I do not think anyone has found my blog right now but maybe someday, someone will find my blog who has a dog with hip and elbow dysplasia and a luxating patella. Hopefully whomever reads this will find it helpful. Overall Sadie recovered from her surgeries well. It was a difficult 7 months of recuperation. On May 17th we had our final check up. Sadie got the OK to go for walks. The next day we visited the Therapet wellness center. Sadie started doing water therapy with a woman named Janette. She would walk on the treadmill filled with water. We went twice a week. Later we went once a week and presently we go every other week. This past summer in Buffalo Grove IL, was a terrific summer-nice and hot. My sister who lives two blocks away has an above ground swimming pool. We took Sadie swimming practically every day. We would throw a ball in the pool and she would jump in and retrieve the ball. She would swim anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes depending on her mood. She loved it. We also did three walks a day. Right now we walk between 3 and 4 miles a day. One mile in the morning and evening and two miles straight in the afternoon. We also hike in the forest preserve on weekends. Sadie is doing great! I still do not let her play with other dogs. I am always nervous about her. I am constantly looking at her legs to make sure she is walking OK. Maybe after her year check up (after her hip replacement) I will feel better. I also notice since we have not been swimming, sometimes when Sadie gets up, she seems a bit stiff in her left front arm. It quickly goes away but I think it is because a little arthritis set in before her elbow dysplasia was discovered. I will post some pictures of Sadie. One will be of her first water treadmill and another will be what she looks like right now-playing in the yard.

Video: Sadie-two weeks after knee surgery

Sadie's knee surgery: Two weeks later

April 21st 2010

Sadie's staples were removed two days ago. I was worried because she still was not putting alot of weight down on her leg, however, she is using her leg so much better today. I am hoping that she gets better with every day. Sadie likes to sit outside (now that we have had some nice days). She will not stay out by herself. I chain her leash to a tree but she wants me outside with her. It is difficult because now I have to sit outside with her. She is happy just to lay on the grass and chew on one of her rawhides. It is so difficult to get her to go inside. I have to offer her a piece of cheese in order to get her to move! I understand how she is feeling. She has been cooped up for over 5 months (in a 5 by 7 area). She wants to be outside and she wants to spend time with her people. She loves people, dogs-everybody. During the winter, I would spend time in her little area. I would roll a ball to her, massage her, kiss her, and play with her. Unfortunately, I cannot spend every moment with her and she gets upset. She will bark at me if I am in the kitchen and especially if I am on the phone. She wants to be free. We have 4 more weeks of captivity to go-I hope this is it! My dog needs her freedom. This situation is making all of us crazy. Hopefully I will be able to post the latest flip video of Sadie and my daughter Sydnie. It was taken after she got her staples out and her Cone removed from her head.

Sadie: Knee surgery day 5 update

April 12th 2010
Sadie is putting a little more weight down on her leg. She still does not really use her left leg all that much. She had some fluid/swelling in her knee and ankle, however, the swelling seems to have gone down some. She started barking again (she hates being trapped in her 5 by 7 area). This would indicate to me that she is starting to feel better. She still does sleep alot and she looks real sad with her plastic E collar on. She has trouble chewing her bones and is crashing into everything. I might take off the collar soon. It appears that she can reach her staples-even with the collar on-I guess I will see as the week goes on. Overall she is making slow progress and seems in no hurry to use her left leg.