Spencer is kicking butt. He is. And I know it. I don’t regret the amputation at.all! But… when we first decided to do it I felt sad at the thought of his amputated leg being thrown away in the trash. And since the surgery, I have had little flashes of the same thing. Not like I’m *crazy* sad about it; but a little twinge of sadness about the thought of his cute paw being thrown away. I know that along with it went that NASTY tumor; but anyway. Like I said. Just my crazy coming out.
On a not so crazy note… Spencer walks down to the bus stop with me each day. I generally don’t have him on the leash for this walk (though I do carry one in case we encounter other dogs or something and I need to get it on him). On our way back from the school bus a squirrel ran by and Spencer TOOK OFF after it. I seriously thought he was going to try to climb the tree! At least for sprints, he has his speed back for sure!!
(ok, edited my CRAZY type-o!!!)
Squirrels are like doggie crack around here. The laziest slug dog in the world (Dakota) suddenly becomes an Olympic athlete when a squirrel shows up.
Glad you’re coming to terms with the little lost paw–it takes some time to get used to the vacancy, doesn’t it? For me, Dakota’s tumor was so honkin’ huge that I really never wanted to see the leg again. Once they shaved it and showed me what the skin looked like, I was just sick. I am surprised the sucker didn’t burst.
Kiss Spencer on his nose and tell him “good work” and please keep the neighborhood free from evil squirrel influence!
Shari and Dakota
spencer…back to chasing squirrels??? way to go big guy!!
charon & gayle
Hooray for Spencer! Get those pesky squirrels, Spence!
Try not to think about that missing leg. (And don’t get me started on crazy, cuz I got bags of it over here!)
Hope Spencer continues to do well and love chasing squirrels!
Jackie, Abby’s mom
Nine months later and I still have twinges of sad for my Rio. I’m sad for what she’s had to go through, and I’m sad that the evil cancer has taken so much from her. But I’m so very happy to still have her with me, and when I start thinking too much about what’s gone, I really try hard to focus on what I still have. That always makes me feel better.
As far as squirrel chasing, Rio has always stalked and hunted the critters in our yard. And it’s a true thing of beauty to watch her race after the squirrels….
Micki and Rio
You’re not “crazy”….I think we all have had those twinges time and again…I still do, two years later with Maggie.
But then, it’s the stories like him chasing squirrels that make it all worthwhile and a joyous occasion!!! Go Spencer!
Tracy, Maggie’s Mom
I had that crazy for a while too – I had repeat dreams of stealing back Sam’s paw from our surgeon and I carried it on my key chain like a rabbit’s foot. It was so real some mornings that I would need to go look at my keys – ha! In reality that would have been really weird – Sam has huge paws so I’m not really sure how that would have worked….hmmmmm….
I love that squirrel chasing is going on — we need to spell it in our house because just the mention of it sends both boys into a frenzy of running and chasing!
Way to go Spencer! Tell him to let Sam know if he catches one of those little buggers!
xoxo Sue and Sammy
OK, that made me LOL. I had a flash of Spencer’s huge paw like a rabbit foot and it was quite funny in a gross sort of way!
OMG Spencer’s Mom, thank you for putting that in my head. 🙁
I never gave that leg a second thought until now about what happened to it after it was amputated. I knew the leg was just there being sent for biopsy and even the surgeon said he opened the bone to look at the condition of it. But I never thought about the leg with the curly poodle hair and the cold paw with nails just being thrown into the trash all by itself when the doctor’s were done analyzing it. That just gives me shivers.
We can’t dwell on that stuff. I think I was just nervous about what my reaction would be to her missing a leg even though I was prepared and making sure I looked at lots of photos and also was strong when I went to pick her up. And I was so excited that the ugly tumor was off!
What is it about squirrels and dogs? Cadence is that way with rabbits. Oh the delight for her when a rabbit wedges itself in between the slats of our fence and Cadence gets to run it! Poor rabbit though!
Cadence’s Mom
If you are crazy, then we all are! LOL! Just before Butchey’s amputation I used to kiss his leg and say “If you’re gonna miss it, you better kiss it”!
Crazy is good!