zeke update

He slept thru the night fine, we all camped out downstairs last night so if he had to go out we wouldn't have to manage him on the stairs. Zeke is actually getting around pretty darn good. He jumped on me two times this morning, both times before I could make him stop. Its hard keeping a good pup down.

Either one or both of us is off thru Monday to stay with him and then he will come to work with me and hopefully rest peacefully in my office.

Oh, and I have to make a correction, he has staples not sutures.

Zeke is Home... continued

Well Zeke and I are sitting in the living room at home. We came back from the vet with several medications (antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, pain, and tranquilizers), a cone, and a few pages of instructions. Talk about being overwhelmed...

FIRST - No playing, running, jumping, or having fun for like 6 weeks -- any idea how long that translates into puppy time??? And its not like they handed me back a docile, weak, sick little thing! Zeke is up and getting around on his bionic leg. He doesn't seem to realize that his leg is broken and has a plate with several screws holding it together.

Secondly - we're supposed to keep him separated from Sadie unless they are being calm. Calm is not something these labs do very well. Just getting Sadie in the house and in her crate past the medicated Zeke was quite a feat. Oh, and did I mention the cat that Z loves to chase???

The solution is evidently tranquilizers, which seems kind of unfair, but its for the greater good I suppose. We'll be in a real bad spot if he re-injures that leg.

Barring any crazy stunts next appt is June 11th to get the sutures out.

This is going to be a loooong six weeks.

Zeke's Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zeke made it home and is finally resting.


The vet's exact words to me "He's going to be a handful."

last night's visit

Last night around 10:20pm we got to see Zeke for the first time after the surgery. It was definitely not what I expected. There was no cast, they actually put us in a room and let him walk out to us and he was putting a little bit of weight on the leg and getting around tolerably well. I figured the leg would be in a cast and they wouldn't want to move him for awhile the tech tells us that they want them up and using the leg as soon as possible so he is actually doing fairly well.

Here are a few pics, all from my camera phone so sorry about quality.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew they would have to shave him to get to cutting, but I hadn't really imagined seeing my dog with a 1/4 of his body shaved. So that was a little startling.

He did wag his tail some and seemed in a little better spirits, he was whining like he was in pain still. And he was shaking a lot, which we were told was because of the narcotics that he is on, it makes dogs nervous and so they shake.

Here is sort of a close up of the cut and the staples.

I'm supposed to call at 10 today to check on him and confirm that we can pick him up and take him home around 11.

surgery update

Zeke got thru surgery fine, the dr felt like the plate went on well, he is resting comfortably. He should get to come home tomorrow. We are probably going to go visit him tonight.

hospital visitation

I went to visit Zeke at lunch, right about the same time the surgeon called me. The break is 1/3 the way up his growth plate, and there may be another small fracture and alot of other stuff the surgeon said that I didn't really understand. He recommends doing a plate because puppy bones are too soft and sometimes pins don't stay well on them. So he is supposed to go into surgery this afternoon.

This time the tech brought him out for me to see in the waiting room. He stood for a bit and was whining like he was in alot of pain. Then they laid him down and he still whined. I took him his favorite duck, but he did not seem very interested in it.

The surgery should take about an hour and a half. And the Dr is supposed to call me when its done.

morning update

not much of an update just went to visit him and fill out some transfer paperwork. the tech said he got real agitated around 2:30 this morning so they gave him a sedative, when I was there he was awake but not moving around or responding much to me petting him. the tech also told me that he was able to get around on it and figure out how to do his business earlier.

I am supposed to hear something from the surgeon by 11am

The Memorial Day that was crap

Zeke is currently at the emergency vet clinic, staying overnight, and awaiting surgery from an orthopedic specialist for breaking his leg. The vet tells us it was a clean break in the middle of his femur. The ortho vet will be in tomorrow morning and will take a look at it and confirm how he is going to proceed. The hope is that it can be repaired with just a pin and not a plate, and that because Zeke is so young and still growing that this will heal and he'll be zooming again in no time. We will know more and I'll post again tomorrow morning after visiting Zeke and also talking with our regular veterinarian.




How did this happen? It all started with a brilliant plan to load up and visit a beach that was fairly dog friendly that neither I, nor Zeke's dad (Thumper) had ever visited. Thus began the Memorial Day 2008 nightmare. We loaded up the kids and all the beach peripherals and headed about an hour from home. We arrive at the state park and are sitting two back in line to pay the gate and Zeke's dad rolls down one of the back windows in our 4Runner so the kids can smell the salt air, I turned around and saw both Zeke and Sadie poking their noses out just like they would do on any other day. Thumper dropped me off at the bathroom and then parked the truck, when I got back, he asks 'where is Zeke?' and 'did you leave him at home?'


Apparently Zeke jumped or fell out of the window, there are scratch marks on my door, but neither of us heard any thing at all.

The search begins, I start running back to the gate asking people if they have seen him; halfway there I see two park rangers and was going to ask them about locating him and there Zeke sits with them as they are getting ready to call our # on his collar. They tell me that some kids saw him and gave Zeke to the rangers. He is not putting any weight on his rear left leg but is not complaining at all when you touch anywhere on his body. Thumper comes over and picks him up the rangers are thinking a sprain maybe, but when we get him back to the truck something is definitely not right with the leg. I thought it was dislocated because we could just pick up the leg and lift away from his body.

We call our vet to get the # for the after hours emergency place (which happens to be right down the street from my office) and they tell me they are slammed and its like a 3 hour wait, but what other option do we have. Load back up and drive the hour back into town, Zeke wanted to lay in the floorboard but we all soon realize that is a bad idea, he starts yelping so we pull over and get him situated on the seat again. He is shaking most of the way but no whining.

Thankfully when we get to the vet the wait has been reduced, we sat there for about an hour before the tech took us back. She took a few vitals and then carried Zeke to the back so the Dr could examine him back there. It was so sad, when she asked Zeke if wanted to go back with her he started to give a cheerful little tail wag but he didn't even get a half wag out. That seemed like it took FOREVER. The Dr says she thinks its a broken bone and wants to do x-rays, but that could take a while longer and so suggests we leave and they'll call us. We got to see Zeke before we left, they had given him some pain medicine and he was acting much more like himself and I petted him through the cage. I cried, but we left him, so he could be monitored by people who know what the heck they are doing.

We got a call back an hour later, telling us the results of the X-Ray mentioned at the first of this post. One frustration is that I would like our vet's opinion, but the office doesn't open till 8am and he gets in at 9am, and if we are taking Zeke from the emergency place they want him checked out by 8am. The end result being we have decided to leave him there and let the specialist carry on when he gets rolling at 9am tomorrow, but supposedly doesn't do surgeries till the afternoon, so there would still be time for the ortho guy and my vet to talk.

I feel guilty for leaving him there. Sure there are trained staff at the clinic all night but wouldn't he be happier laying on a soft cushion here in his own home, couldn't they send him home with some pain meds and let me pet on him. And the vet gave us the option to take him home tonight... that makes the decision even harder. I cannot even begin to describe how stressed I feel right now and I can't stop thinking of how lonely Zeke must feel in that metal cage with all of those sick animals around him. It's probably going to be a long night for all of us.

Till tomorrow then.

cookout time

Zeke went to a cookout Saturday to celebrate a family member's birthday!
Zeke and his buddy













The man with treats has everyones attention!

Zeke plays with Leroy the pointer and some kids. And then Leroy and Zeke try to put the CHOMP on one another

close up!

all my shots!

Zeke is now 4 months old and made his last trip for puppy innoculations today, he has his tag and rabies vaccine certificate! Zeke was not pleased that the tag was heart shaped and a girly pink, but there is not much to be done about that.

He was 44.2 lbs! That's a big puppy.

Back from Bama

Zeke just got back from a family get together in Alabama, he had a blast, lots of human puppies to play with and lots of water swim in. And Zeke got his first boat ride.

Zeke featured on the company website

Zeke is featured today on the company website!

http://foxmusichouse.com/fox_rss2html.php

Trying to get the pictures was fun, Zeke wasn't really cool with being put on top of a piano. In addition to what is on the site, here is one outtake that I enjoyed because it totally would be Zeke's Emo MySpace Profile Pic -- if Zeke were emo or had a myspace.

A Mother's Day Hike

Severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings were the rage early this morning, but by 11 things had cleared up and the sun came out. We had an early mother's day lunch out and Zeke and Sadie snuck a few potato chips. Then we got our hike that was postponed yesterday. The whole family set out.

Sadie and Zeke start to head up the trail... but we don't move fast enough for them. It was a new trail that is still being worked on.

I think Zeke is a closet Vegan.

We have an ear-malfucntion!!!

Mom and Zeke on Mother's Day, awww how sweet! I didn't get flowers or a card--but it does not get much better than this.

Wheeeee! Look at how fast I am!

Time for a pit stop.

I

I think Zeke has had enough.

Then we all came home and picked ticks off everyone and Zeke got a bath... sorry no racy bathtub pics.

blocked

Zeke's plans for a fun day of hiking at the plantation got blocked by some monstrous thunderstorms. So he just wants to share some pictures of previous trips to one of our favorite spots.

Gearing up for the trip.

A little swim

practicing with the dead-fowl trainer.

Hopefully clearer skies tomorrow!

training frustrations

I've been looking for a trainer or training. The local PetSmart has classes and they say they offer private instruction. I spoke with the trainer there and I didn't get a good vibe from her. She says their private classes are really for addressing specific behavioral issues, which is contrary to a manager I spoke with a PetSmart who was very nice and helpful and said the private classes were for folks like us with crazy schedules.

They're are a couple of local clubs that offer classes, and I'd like to get involved with them, it just so happens that the timing of their new classes is either such that we would miss several of the first classes or on a day that is really hard for us to get there. We might be able to join one of them later in the summer.

I've been asking around for anyone who does private in-home instruction. Found one person in my area, but I don't know much about her. Several people that I trust have recommended a book called "Water Dog" by Richard Wolters. He has a whole series of books on training and God bless Amazon and their free shipping.

So the training frustrations do not stem from Zeke, I know that really I am the one who needs to be trained on how to handle him, Zeke is a super smart boy -- his mom just needs to learn.

First Road Trip

The weekend after we got Zeke he took his first road trip and spent Easter in West Virginia. Here he is on 3/20 in my dad's yard with Duck.

Asleep on the Job

Here is Zeke hard at work.

It takes alot of determination to sleep like that.

I am very lucky to get to bring Zeke to work, and he is making a good show at being superb door greeter. He is also an excellent thief, see example below... no more dixie cups for you!

Getting your paws wet

Taken April 13th at the creek. Just an opportunity to get in some water that wasn't really deep and see how much fun it is.

more coming home pics

Zeke and his tug toy

At the food trough
Duck #1
Zeke and Dad

Back to the Future

There will be a lot of going back and forth in time until I feel like we've caught up , because I don't want to be forever behind we're not going to stay in chronological order. That being said. Time to rant and rave about Zeke and his shenanigans yesterday.

Yesterday did NOT start well. Zeke decided to run across a busy road in front of my store in the morning to meet some guy who was crossing it. He narrowly escaped being hit by two cars, the man grabbed his collar and held him until the rest of the traffic cleared and I could get him. I thought I had swallowed my heart, I was shaking so bad, of course none of this affected Zeke.

Later in the day I find out that he has made a mess (AKA #2) in one of the offices. We haven't had any accidents in a very long time, so I'm not sure what that was about. I cleaned that up and we moved on.

After work Zeke and I went down to the local walking trail where there is a storm water run off and played in the creek/ditch. This is an on going effort to get Zeke comfortable in the water. And he did splendidly, only whined a little bit and then came out in the water with me, even swam across a couple times. As we were getting ready to leave he even tried to jump up in the truck, which is a first, we have been picking him up to load him. He failed miserably of course, but I was very very proud of his try.

He is also surprised me by showing off his ability to jump up on the love seat and couch. I think we are moving into that bravado stage.

Coming Home

We got to bring Zeke home on March 17th, just before Easter. The breeder, John, brought Zeke (then Andrew), one of his sisters and Anthony down when we picked him up. He slept alot and his sister tried to crush him as she attempted to eat a cookie.

So he got to come home and meet his new big sister Sadie, and his new kitty cat brother Mack. Everything was so new he was just kinda taking it all in. Sadie and Mack were both pretty cool, no one freaked out just checking out the new creature in the houe.

He got a new blue collar and tried out his new food dish. All in all I think we had a pretty good first night, we started him first thing with crate training. I think that has been the number one thing that has helped him be so sucessful with house training.

First post, about 7 weeks late

This the life and times of a chocolate lab, who is currently 14 weeks old.. so we're going to go back in time and try to get caught up.

Zeke was born on January 29th (So he hit 14 weeks yesterday). He had 8 brothers and sisters. We picked him from the litter because wanted a male and he had a nice coloring on his coat, he also wasn't the biggest or the most timid. This is the oldest picture I have of him; he looks pretty bossy in this picture. I believe he is about 4 weeks old in this shot.

His dad, Anthony, weighs about 75lbs. And his mom, Clare, wieghed about that before she had the litter, but she was a longer body type than Anthony. I have one good shot of Zeke's dad, but the breeder is only a few hours away and makes trips to where we live so hopefully Zeke can see Anthony and Clare on some occasions. Here is a picture of the sire Anthony.