Paco Needs a New Leg(s)

Paco is dead

2009-01-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

Paco has passed away. He died in a freak accident this past Saturday night, January 24, 2009. The whole story can be read here.

We are still reeling from the incident and we know we are not alone in feeling the pain of this loss. He was a damn good dog who was loved by many.

We ask that, if you want to do something, please make a donation to BADRAP (or your favorite pit bull rescue) in Paco's name. While he died far before his time, at 7 years old he surpassed the average lifespan of an inner city pit bull which is about 2 years, a statistic that desperately needs changing.

RIP, Little Buddy... hope there's lots of piñatas to kill in doggie heaven.

It's been a cool minute

2008-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Perhaps because there's nothing much to report. Paco's doing well and back to normal activity levels. He has slowed down a bit but I think it's mostly due to age versus leg issues (he's now 7 1/2!). He does favor one leg slightly. It's hard to tell, but if you look closely you can see the muscle mass on one side is about 1/3 larger than the other. Fortunately, his ass is not his defining feature.

We start a new supplement today to see if that helps his overall creakiness, which is barely noticeable now but we'd like to keep it that way.

In the meantime, if you want to see lots of videos of Paco in motion, you can check out our new Youtube Channel, PacoTV. Here's a tease:

http://www.youtube.com/pacocollars

Baby's Got Back(hair)!

2008-08-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last week marked the week Paco's hair finally grew in. I know this for a fact because we just had a barbeque two weekends ago and I was pointing out Paco's surgery line. Faint as it was, it did the trick as he was able to invoke sympathy (and table scraps) from everyone at the gathering.

And then we let him kill the giant unicorn pinata stuffed with tennis balls.

However, I tried to point out the line for visitors this weekend but, alas, it was nowhere to be seen. Not that we're complaining. In fact, this marks a huge victory in his recovery, as we had somewhat resigned ourselves to thinking our little company mascot was going to be naked from the waist down (aka "pants-less") forever.

Instead, it took almost 5 months on the nose to go from bald to beautiful. Check out the results:

Side view

close up (Paco wants you to know it smells like roses, just scratch and sniff)

And finally, annoyance.

It feels good to have our little guy back in one piece!

Cover Boy!

2008-08-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

So remember a few months back when I announced Paco was selected by his surgeon, Dr. Haburjak, to be the cover boy for their CCL injury flyer? Well, it's now in circulation, woohoo!

Check it out:

If you want your own copy to frame, keep around as bathroom reading material, or use for kindling I'm sure you could request a copy from www.vscdsurgerycenters.com

Paco Gets Gay

2008-06-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

And so do we. At the San Francisco Pride Parade.

We marched with the rest of the BADRAP contingency and won the unofficial costume contest (I say unofficial because I think we were the only ones participating).

Paco walked strong the entire time. Granted, it's not a long parade, but the entire event is pretty tiring for the pooches. Let's just say he slept well the rest of the day!

You can see more pride pix (and a sweet video) here!

Bonus Footage

2008-06-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Because Paco's mom is a little bit, ahem, technologically challenged at times, these videos were only recently uploaded and formatted for sharing.

Paco loves to fetch the stick at the lake. He's like a little otter in the water! And he can seriously beat any dog to the stick (just ask Pandora, she's eaten his waves before).

Shaking it off

And this is why Paco needs a bath when we get home (and why there's a brown ring around the tub).

(Okay, shameless product endorsement here: after all the abuse his Paco Collar goes through, it still looks great!)

Paco's Vacation

2008-06-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Paco went on his first vacation in 4 months. We went to his favorite place on earth, Pyramid Lake (the one just past Reno, not the one near L.A.). It's the place he learned to swim when he was a wee pup and we make a pilgrimage at least once a year. As you can see, he really pops against the natural palette.

I'm not going to give away our secrets, but we have a spot that almost nobody knows about and you're pretty much guaranteed privacy (unless it's a major holiday weekend). The end result was that only two people intruded our solitude the entire time. One just drove by in their truck and the other was a dirt bike rider who stopped for fifteen minutes to explore the rock formations. Other than that, we got to loaf around, and Paco got to relax and swim to his heart's content for days. Well, day and half.

Here are some choice pics:

On top of the rock

Crazy swimming face

(there's a small stick in his mouth, hence the really weird expression)

Showcasing his native style

Group shot with Paco doing his best Zoolander impression

Dirt Face (aka. "Pig Pen")

Dinner

Feasting like a wild animal

Dead dog after a weekend of fun

Abracadabra!

2008-05-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

So I've discovered a trick to disguise the fact that Paco is practically naked from the waist down. Just add shirt and, voila!

Studies have shown that the human mind is good at "creating stories" that make sense when there's missing information. For instance, the reason we always fall for the woman getting cut in half trick.

In another study, they had a stranger go up and ask for directions. While giving directions, two construction workers carrying a large sheet of plywood would walk in between the two people and the direction-asker would be switched out for a new person. In almost every case, the direction-giver never noticed the switch, even when the new asker was a completely different race. The theory is that the brain just reasoned away any inconsistency and filled in the gaps. For instance, "Huh, I thought he looked different when we first started talking. Oh well, I'm just unobservant."

So, since I've had Paco in the shirt, nobody's noticed his hairless ass.

[To be fair, it is growing back. . . slowly. There have been two comments in 24 hours to substantiate this. Last night Aaron said, "It's not so disturbing anymore," and today Jane said, "It's looking a lot fuzzier," so we're making progress]

My dog has no pants

2008-05-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

So SFGATE just started a "Pets" section because, you know, pets are important. Since the option to write your own blog was available, I decided to take advantage and write about my favorite subject: Paco.

My dog has no pants.
Posted 5/12/2008 4:49 PM PDT

Recently my dog underwent TPLO surgery. For those of you unfamiliar with our story I urge you to read up on it here.

So, while I commend the medical staff at Berkeley Dog and Cat for prepping us for just about every post-op obstacle out there, they failed to address some secondary complications. For instance, the public embarrassment.

Right now it looks like my dog has no pants.

This was fine when I had to carry him down the stairs, help him walk with a sling, and have him confined to a crate or tie down 24/7. If anything, the fresh shave job emphasized the fact that he was crippled. It brought his pathetic state to a new level and squeezed sympathy out of even the most hardened hearts.

But now we've been cleared for light exercise. This means we get to start taking walks again, Paco can come in the car, and life begins to return to normal. The only problem is that nobody seems to have told his butt the news. It looks as pathetic and naked as before. And the fact his muscles have atrophied due to 6 weeks of no exercise only brings the point home.

Call me shallow, but I take pride in how my dog looks. I keep his weight down, his muscle tone up, and deck him out in fancy collars. When we roll down the street, I'm used to people hanging out the windows and yelling, "That's a nice lookin' dog!" and, if I'm lucky, they add, "and you ain't too bad yourself!"

But that's over now. I see people eyeballing us, as we make our slow return into the public realm of the street. I see their reactions as they take us in, get excited and prime themselves to hoot and holler, and then their faces fall as they try and make sense of the naked behind as it comes into full view. I can only wonder what's going through their heads since, to a lot of folks, the idea of surgery on a dog is ludicrous.

I suppose we have to choice until it grows in. Until then, I think I'll make him wear his pants more often:

Poor Paco

2008-05-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone's going to the beach this weekend. Well, everyone except Paco. After careful consideration, it seemed like a better idea to just leave the little guy at home rather than bring him to his favorite place in the world and then not let him enjoy it.

I swear he can tell. The pout on his face is almost as big as the time I made him get in the Animal Control truck.

Call me cruel but it's still my favorite threat when he's acting naughty. Hey, my mom always threatened to send me away to the gypsies so it's in the blood. . .

Water Dog

2008-05-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we went to the vet for Paco's 6 week post-op check up. Not only was his healing just where it should be, but the doc cleared him for up to 1 hour walks several times a day. . . woohoo!

Obviously, he's not there yet, we'll have to build his muscle back up, but today marked the beginning of our guy's comeback (he was too high from x-ray sedatives to do much of anything yesterday except look pathetic).

A recent road trip to Seattle yielded a genuine cattle-sized watering trough, one I recognized right away would make a perfect Paco sized hydrotherapy tank. Today was a beautifully sunny day so we decided to give it a go. Nothing tells a story like pictures, so here goes:

Jade and Dango moving the tank into a strategic location (aka. out of the way)

Paco suits up with safety in mind

Awaiting the dunk. . . not amused.

D-u-n-k!

Fear

The tub fills with water

Paco begins to float and kick his legs

The moment Paco realizes he's floating and trapped

Panic

Determination

Resignation (notice the lack of frantic splashing. . . he's finally in a groove and swimming steadily)

Putting the whole ordeal behind him

It was so much fun we decided to give Mae Mae a turn. . . what can we say, if you're a regular dog visitor at the studio you are subjected to a certain amount of torture (and my jeans were already soaked).

She has no idea what's about to hit her

DUNK!

In the groove

Paul demonstrating how Mae Mae keeps moving her legs even when levitated above the water. . . what a weirdo.

None of the animals in this post suffered permanent damage and some of them got to cuddle next to a heater the rest of the day.

TPLO Poster Child

2008-04-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

So Dr. Haburjak (Paco's surgeon) called me the other day asking for a favor. Basically, he is in the process of creating a new informational brochure for clients and wanted to know if he could use an image of Paco since, well, he's an actual patient.

I told him I'd call him back after I ran the idea past Paco. It took a little sweet talking, but once I emphasized how many dogs he could benefit by helping educate about the TPLO procedure, Paco reluctantly agreed with the concession that we use a previous image (since his ass is still mostly bald he is being a little bashful about modeling right now).*

Dr. Haburjak agreed to the terms and selected the following image to grace the cover of his new brochure. Keep an eye out for it in hospitals everywhere! (well, at least Berkeley Dog and Cat)

*this conversation may not have happened exactly as described. . . or maybe it did.

Ass-trophy

2008-04-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

So looking at Paco's hind end the other night I was saddened to see how much his butt has atrophied. He now has the hind end of an old man or someone who has lost a lot of weight very quickly.

I tried to get a good photo but, alas, none could really illustrate the drastic change he's undergone in just a few weeks. I'm confident he'll regain it once we begin the exercise, but we're still a ways away.

Until then, I decided to pay homage to his dearly departed ass. Here's a side view of the magnificence:

And here is a rear view. Note the roundness and the feeling it invokes in you to want to squeeze it:

Lastly, a shot my friend Molly took. I don't know why, I don't know when, but it happened:

(And to those who think dressing an animal only satisfies the whimsy of the owner, I'd like to point out how utterly naked my dog is from the underside. . . almost to the point of being disturbing).

Non-Conehead

2008-04-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Paco has graduated from Conehead to Non-Conehead, woohoo!

Yep, our little guy tends to be a compulsive licker/fusser so, heeding the advice of a good vet friend (thanks, Jenny!), we kept the cone on extra long to make it through the itchy-post-suture-recovery-stage. The result? A completely healed dog who has no reason to obsess over his incision site.

Yep, now he can point his mouth towards other things, like fun interactive toys filled with treats like this one:

For those of you familiar with this "indestructible" toy you'll notice Paco has already removed that annoying barrier of a rope (which most normal dogs use to carry the toy around with them). Oh well, who can fault him for taking creative shortcuts?

Paco Pals

2008-04-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

Doggie guests are a common thing in our house. Since Paco has been recuperating I've kept his dog interactions to a minimum. . . and when I say "minimum" I actually mean "not at all" since he's prone to getting really, really excited.

Now, we have two special dog guests, Muggy and Lola, that stay over a couple times a week. Their owner is a firefighter, so they get to spend the night when she pulls a late week 24-hour shift (someone else watches them earlier in the week).

Yesterday I was running around getting ready to take the girls on a walk. I'd just pottied Paco and his x-pen was ajar. I started to suit up Muggy but then got sidetracked doing something else (my hair). Taking advantage of the opportunity to go into "forbidden territory", Muggy snuck into Paco's pen and cuddled up with him. I came back to this sight:

It was so cute I left his pen ajar all night and Muggy cuddled with him off and on. . . you know, until she remembered that wasn't really a dog and actually belonged on the bed with the rest of the humans.

Paco Pants

2008-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Looking at Paco day in and day out "without pants" was getting a little depressing so we got him some pants. Check 'em out!

(disclaimer: we took off the sling for the pictures only)
Dorky, yes, but at the Target closeout price of $1.48 (yes, one dollar and forty-eight cents), we couldn't resist. Even Pirate approves:

Despite the horrible embarrassment, Paco has been doing quite well. His legs are getting stronger and he's able to move more easily. We've even worked up to assisted walks down the driveway and to the corner a couple of times per day. Look at him go!

TPLO DIY

2008-04-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

First let's clarify, I'm not advocating you perform your own TPLO surgery at home. But for anyone who has ever needed to rehab a dog at home you know it can get expensive for you and boring for the dog, so I'm sharing a few tricks that have been proven life-savers for us.

First is the grocery bag sling:

It's something lots of experienced folks told me to do. Just take a cloth grocery bag, cut open the sides, hem it up and, voila, insta-sling for you and free advertising for your favorite establishment (disclaimer, Whole Foods is not our favorite establishment). Even if you have a plethora of slings around already, it's a good idea to have at least one more in the case of pee-on-the-sling.

Next is the tie-down. Take an eye hook, screw it in your wall. Take a sturdy clothesline material, preferably plastic coated metal wire, attach it to a snap hook, and clip to the eye bolt.

Measure out enough room so the dog can get up and turn around, but not so much they can get any momentum should they choose to break into a run, attach a snap hook to the other end, and clip to dog.

If your dog is at all crafty and has figured out how to tip over an x-pen (not that we know any dogs that fit that description), then the tie down can be your best friend. It also allows you to put eye hooks and beds in multiple rooms, thus creating multiple "rehab stations" so your dog can safely be with you wherever you are. In fact, if you're going to run a multiple dog home or ever consider having overnight doggie guests, a foster, or plan on adding a new canine to your pack, a tie down system can be your best friend. If you don't have some eye hooks already scattered around your home, I highly recommend doing so now.

Lastly, we bring you the "habi-trail":

It gets boring for the dog to be in the same space day in and day out, so change it up! Think hamster cage. Here we see how a crate has been turned in to a cave. Some days we'll make the x-pen larger or smaller depending on what's going on. Hey, if it works for rodents. . .

InnerSpace

2008-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we went to the vet for suture removal and 2 week check-up. According to his report card, he's doing great. The incisions look good and he's healing well. His spirits are also in good shape, as evidenced by the fact that he broke out in song the second he saw the vet building (despite the whole tranquilizer I gave him an hour before we left).

I asked if I could see his x-rays and they sent me home with a disk. Despite initial technical difficulties, we finally got these downloaded. Check it out:

Before

After

I wonder what else happened in surgery as the first x-ray shows his sex as "M" and the second shows his sex as "N". . . one can only assume he went from "male" to "none".

Gladiator Paco

2008-03-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

So you know when your dog gets really excited and kind of holds their ears in a really weird way? Okay, maybe your dog doesn't, but I know plenty of dogs who get really excited and then their ears do weird contortion things, shoot backwards, stand straight up, etc.

So night before last I let a friend crash in my room while I spent the night, um, elsewhere. I figured it was cool since I had drugged the dog at 9 and all my roommate had to do was provide one late night potty break.

So the next morning I return (friend still soundly sleeping in the bed) and Paco is so excited it was like I'd been gone a month. Limited in his expressions, I can tell the level of excitement as both of his ears are doing that weird contortion thing. Normally his ears shoot backwards at a weird angle but the cone is shooting them forward and I realize, "Hey, this is what Paco would look like with cropped ears."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is I think what they call a "Gladiator Cut".

Support

2008-03-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

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!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

-- luv, the world's gimpiest bunny

Progress

2008-03-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

So Paco continues to make progress though the looks get more and more pathetic. . .

His appetite is great, he's going potty regularly, and he's getting a little more mobility in his legs. He's even got his own little habitat all set up (aka just about every inch of floor space in my room).

If he looks strange it's because he has peanut butter all over his face. The bruising and swelling in his legs is pretty bad so tonight we experiment with internal and external arnica.

In the meantime, the studio is awful empty without our little mascot around so we've replaced him. Meet Pandora (you might recognize her as Dogster's "Dog of the Year 2007"):

Her underbite reminds us of our little guy but the similarity is not so striking that it makes us feel guilty. In fact, Paco and Pandora are nothing alike. . . Pandora is much quieter, more polite, less intrusive. . . hey, maybe we should make this change permanent. . .

Cankles

2008-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

So one of the more unpleasant side effects of the surgery is that Paco now has "cankles". His hocks and ankles are so swollen with fluid that there's almost no distinction where one part ends and the other begins. I kinda want to get him some control pantyhose.

Just look at the shame.

The only way to relieve the problem is to massage them by by hand frequently in an effort to redistribute the liquid. It feels a little strange to rub the squishy, hairless parts of my dog, but it also feels cool, like petting a Sphynx or Xoloixcuintle.

Massaging him this morning I remembered that, ironically, when Paco was a puppy, I used to tell people he was an Ixcuintle. It wasn't a far stretch, since he was missing a great deal of hair due to mange (mostly on his head in an awesome imitation of male pattern baldness). I started the lie one day after a five year old girl recoiled in fear after I informed her she was petting a "pit bull". I mean, how can you be scared of a 5 lb puppy, regardless of what it is? But she was.

From that day forward, for several months, we lived the lie. At the time I figured it was either my puppy's socialization or the truth, since it isn't easy for folks to give pit bulls a break (or even a chance, most of the time).

Eventually, though, I realized there was no shame in Paco being what he was. He couldn't help it more than I can help being Mexican-Irish. We turned a corner, decided to turn our handicap into our strength, and we haven't looked back (or lied) since.

Speaking of keeping it real, I wasn't going to include a picture of Paco's ham-hock-esque cankles but Paul insisted that we "keep it real." Here you go:

Seriously, doesn't it remind you of the pickled pigs feet in corner stores? Not attractive.

The Homecoming

2008-03-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

I called the vet this morning with fingers crossed Paco could come home today. Needless to say I was ecstatic when I got the news he was doing great and could go home as soon as noon. . . we made an appointment for noon.

The appointment was a review of all the drugs he now had to take as well as care instructions for the next few weeks. I don't now who was more excited, me or Paco. Though I vote Paco since he managed to pee all over his fleece sling the second we walked out the door. Fortunately, they supplied us with a new one.

He was also excited to be in the car again.

Part of it may have been the drugs. Just look at those eyes.

Thanks to the advice of seasoned post-op owners, I set up an x-pen as a recovery zone. Much easier than trying to cram a gimpy dog in a crate.

Then there was a quick trip to the store to pick up some essentials: canned pumpkin, yogurt, rice, and chicken. The post-op drugs are no joke. Check it:

(stop reading now if you have a queasy stomach or detest TMI)
The drugs can constipate a dog for days, so it's essential to have the right stuff on hand. We've been lucky enough to have some pretty awesome information and support come our way so we knew what to expect. And, I'm proud to report, Paco had a BM tonight. Woohoo!

The day after

2008-03-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

So when I called to check on Paco this morning I got the somewhat bad news that they want to keep him overnight again for observation. He had been throwing up all morning and refusing food. Not so good.

I got there at the beginning of visiting hours today to check in on the little guy. He was happy to see me but was in obvious discomfort.

After talking to the staff for a bit, it sounded like Paco's throwing up might be more from excitement than anything else. They changed his iv, he threw up, and then he promptly got excited and threw up any time someone walked in the room. If you have the pleasure of knowing Paco, that makes sense.

He wasn't eating but the tech brought in some food to see if he'd take some from me. At first he was disinterested, but then he tried a bite. And then he cleaned his plate and begged for more.

Even though it's obvious he's in a lot of pain, he was really excited to see a familiar face. He was wagging his tail and whining until he eventually passed out, at which point he was escorted back to his kennel. The incisions look good and clean and the only thing I regret is not requesting an awesome Kid N Play-esque pattern in his ass.

Maybe when it grows in. . .

Sad Sack

2008-03-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Seriously, what else would you call this?

So the surgery went well and without complication. The surgeon called late this afternoon to report everything went smoothly and Paco was coming out of the anesthesia well. I almost cried I was so relieved.

I dropped by this evening to drop off his dinner (boneless, skinless raw chicken. . . yum!) and chatted with the staff about his progress. They reported he was really groggy and had a hard time settling but he was finally asleep. Since he needed to rest, I couldn't visit him but I talked the staff at Berkeley Dog and Cat into sneaking off a picture, result being the sad sack you see here.

I don't know what's stranger: the bones on the bandages or the fact that Paco looks like he's not wearing any pants.

They'll wake him at midnight to see if he'll eat. Tomorrow will determine whether or not he gets to come home or if he needs to stay another night for observation. I'm hoping for progress 'cause we want our boy home!

Paco goes under the knife

2008-03-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

So today Paco got dropped off at the vet. On the way, I let him do his favorite thing in the world. . . ride on my lap.

I know, I know. Super unsafe, that's why he's not allowed to do it, but it's a leftover love of his from puppy-dom and I just couldn't say "no" today.

He *loves* going to the vet because he's convinced everyone behind the counter has a treat for him. Normally this is true, but not this morning since he had to fast for surgery. Still, he couldn't help trying. . .

It's like he's saying, "Hey there, big leprechaun, forget the gold, do you have a pot of chicken for me?"

He will be going into surgery soon. They'll call when he's out. It's a really nerve-wracking day.

Move over, Lance. . .

2008-03-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

Paco's in town!

So the good news is that we're halfway there. Thanks to everyone's generous donations we are well on our way to raising the money needed to get Paco's legs fixed.

The bilateral TPLO surgery is scheduled for this Monday. Neither we nor the vet saw any reason to put it off since Paco is in pain every day.

The bad news is that now we have to raise the remainder of the money in a hurry. As an added incentive, we've begun the "Save Paco" campaign. Now, any donation over $25 receives a complimentary PACO bracelet, ala Livestrong style but with the added bonus of being made of leather (which makes them *way* cooler). As before, any donation over $50 also receives a special gift and $200 or more earns you the Paco Collar of your choice.

The figure of $7,000 may seem pretty outrageous (and it makes us want to vomit a little bit) but if that's what it will cost to get Paco up and running again then it's worth it!

The verdict is in. . .

2008-03-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

. . . Paco needs bilateral TPLO surgery. He's currently at the vet's office undergoing pre-surgical tests (x-rays, fitting the plate, etc). Fortunately, he loves going to the vet's office.

All it took was a quick walk down the hall for the doctor to make the recommendation. Fortunately, due to his size (47 lbs) he's a perfect candidate, though the surgery is fraught with more complications.

If you've ever wondered how a dog with two bum back legs moves, check out this clip (truly a cinematic masterpiece of staggering genius. . . no pun intended):

Because both of his back legs are equally bad, it almost looks like he's walking normally. However, if you watch carefully you can see that he's holding all of his weight in his front two legs. You can tell when he bobs forward and looks like he's gonna topple on his head, like those toys that keep going back for a drink of water.

We schedule surgery later today. . .

It's my dog in a box!

2008-03-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

No, not like that. More like this:

Paco remains in good spirits although it's evident he's in a great deal of pain. Even though he has to use his back legs to balance while pottying, he cannot bear weight on either one. More and more it looks like well have to get a bilateral TPLO. The fear is that neither leg is strong enough to support a fraction of his weight during recovery. I guess we'll just do whatever the vet says on Monday.

Right now we're a little overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. The one shining light in this whole situation is seeing how many folks care about our little guy. When we see the doctor Monday we'll know exactly what we have in store, how much more we'll have to raise, and when we need it by.

It's a stressful and sad to see such an exuberant dog in such obvious discomfort, but knowing the situation is temporary makes it a little easier (although it's hard to convince him of that!).

The saga begins. . .

2008-03-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

As much as we hate to admit it, our company muse, and reason for living, is getting older. This week Paco blew out one, and possibly both, of his ACLs.

Now, having weak knees is not a new thing for him. Two years ago he suffered a partial tear but, with rest, relaxation, and an improved diet he was able to make a 100% recovery. Unfortunately, this go-round the prognosis is worse than before and it looks like our little guy needs TPLO surgery. Currently he can't even stand on or use either of his back legs, has to spend 24 hours in the crate, and we have to carry him down to potty. We have a doctor's appointment first thing Monday morning (it's the earliest they could squeeze us in).

Now the hard part. . . coming up with the money. TPLO surgery is not cheap, running around $3500-$4500 a pop, so this is where you come in: if everyone who is touched by Paco donates what they can, then he'll be right as rain in no time.

Any little bit helps. Donations over $50 will receive a special gift and with a donation over $200 you get the Paco Collar of your choice!

We're also planning a benefit soon. . . details to follow.

Let's help get this boy fixed!