Support

So one of the great joys of the post-op dog (not) is the regular potty breaks. It's important the legs not bear much weight, even though they could. This brings us to the subjects of slings.

Here is the sling the hospital sent us home with:

As you can see it's pretty simple and hangs under the belly. It's easy to get on and off, you just have to slide it under the dog and hoist them up. The problem is that you have to be pretty quick at reading your dog and manipulating the sling or you'll get a sling full of pee (obviously more of a boy dog problem).

Yesterday we were elated to receive this cool gift from Hans at Lucy's Dog House:

As Paco is demonstrating in this shot, it's quite possible for a boy dog to urinate and wear the "Helping Hand" product at the same. And it's possible for them to do #2 easy enough. Check out the poop chute from the back:

(Yes, Paco is still peeing)

The only thing I don't like about the design is that the leg holes are snug. Not a bad thing later in the recovery process, but when the incisions are fresh I'd be concerned about irritating the wounds and causing the dog discomfort. And the fit is so precise it could be hard to get on while the dog is still fresh from surgery and really painful.

However, I think this is what we'll be using from here on out. As an added bonus, the silver finish makes Paco look part robot.

Thanks, Hans!

p.s. You might notice Paco's legs are in much better shape. . . Friday evening I started him on an oral homeopathic product called "Traumeel". The primary ingredient is arnica and there's lots of other good bone and muscle healing supplements. Within 12 hours the swelling was significantly decreased and 24 hours later the swelling and bruising were almost gone. No more cankles!