Dozers Journey – English Mastiff Tripawd

Dozer’s Journey

Dozer’s Journey Update!

Well it’s been 25 days since my Dozer became a Tripawd! Thankfully, he is doing so much better now that he is off the pain meds and I feel so much relief in seeing his improvement! I was getting worried about him because at first he was doing well, then about 7-10 days after surgery I noticed he was unsteady, shakey, not eating or drinking, going off by himself alone in another room. I had amputation regret thinking, oh no, what did I do to this poor guy! I was hand feeding him and giving him ice cubes and squeezing water into his mouth because he just didn’t want to get up all the time.

At his two week follow up appointment at Tufts, they told me the cancer was nowhere else, YAY!!!! He was cleared to start his chemo and I was given the OK to stop the pain meds. His incision had healed very nicely, the surgeon at Tufts did an excellent job. I didn’t have any problems with his incision, which was scary to see the first time because his scar was quite large as he is too being a mastiff.

That night even after his 1st round of chemo he ate and drank, it was a relief. I can see him gaining more confidence, we started going for little walks, he wants to keep going but I have to remind him he has to get back home too. Every day we go a tad further and last night I had to walk even faster to keep up with him, being a Tripawd is not slowing him down. So happy I made this decision!

I bought a ramp for him to get in and out of my truck, but of course he has no interest in it. I had a ramp built on my back deck so he doesn’t have to use the stairs, no interest in that one either. But now that his incision is healed I am going to put the Ruffwear WebMaster harness I bought for him on him and try to get him familiar with ramps. I’m hoping the handle on the harness can help me direct him up and down the ramps.
Stay tuned……….

I am so thankful for the Tripawds community, it truly helped me when I was second guessing my decision, having access to read the forums during the middle of the night when the vets are all closed. Such a relief to know what Dozer was going through was normal and eventually things would get better.

Meet Dozer

As was everyone else I was devastated to learn my big beautiful boy had bone cancer. My son brought him to the vet for me, I assumed no big deal, he probably only twisted his leg on his walk the day before. Then my son called to tell me the news I thought no way, not again. You see I just lost my husband only 4 months ago to cancer after only a 10 day diagnosis, I am grieving for him and Dozer is helping me, I need him, here with me, on earth!

My vet recommended two different places, the first one told me that normally large breed dogs do not do well with amputation and gave me recommendations. I went home and decided to do some research. Thankfully I came upon videos of large breed 3 legged dogs from a wonderful website called Tripawds. It brought a smile to my face since learning of Dozer’s diagnosis to watch all those dogs still getting around, their tails were wagging, they were running, playing, living life. I felt so much relief to see that I was not being selfish by wanting Dozer to have a leg amputation, he would still have a good life as a Tripawd.

Well meaning people said, let him go be with my husband, don’t do that to him. Then there are others, the animal lovers, you can certainly tell the difference between the two, they get it, my dog is family, I don’t give up on family.

I then contacted the other place my vet recommended and upon talking to them felt more comfortable and hopeful, we made an appointment last Friday for tests, a checkup and their recommendation that Dozer is in great shape and eligible for surgery. Yesterday my Dozer successfully had his left front leg amputated. They called this morning to tell me Dozer was up walking and looking good, he is expected to come tomorrow.

Stay tuned…..

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