Puppers has an eight week recovery period (minimum) ahead of her. Her CCL (knee ligament) was torn completely in two. The vet snipped the torn ends and put a bolt and wire in that will now take the place of the CCL. He also released her meniscus (she had scar tissue in the knee that was also causing problems). She had about a sixth of her body hair shaved off (the whole back leg) plus an iv (in the front leg). The scar is huge.

She has to be very confined for the next four weeks with small walks starting after that.

She needs massages and slow stretching movement performed on the leg by me several times a day. Stairs and jumping are a big no no for a good while.

She should get a good portion of her range of movement back, but she will never get back to 100%. She usually slides all over the floors in here because she tries to run on the slick flooring, so I stopped and bought three floor runners to help with that and put those on my office floor.

She cried when I had to lift her out of the truck upon reaching home today. She also growled for the first time ever as I tried to figure out how to lift her from my chest height to the ground, and then she acted ashamed and hung her head; I reassured her, shooed DG away (she may have been growling at DG to get away), and figured out a better way to lift her down.

I’m just glad to have more years with her, no matter how fast or slow she gets around!