FHO Surgery and a week after..

Bailey Frost diagnosed with HD March 18, 2011
original X-Rays


FHO Surgery was recommended and selected
http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/fho.htm

Surgery was completed on Wednesday May 25th.
Post Surgery X-Rays


When I came to pick Bailey up it was suggested by a vet I leave her overnight...
So I picked her up Thursday morning...she had some drainage and she was too sore to be wiped/cleaned up.

Her temp. was good, minimal swelling...
Here is the incision day after surgery..




after getting to her bed she stayed in it for most of the day, i applied some ice packs to the area....


She also had her dewclaws removed....

everything was going well....she was getting around even went off leash outside on a sunny Saturday...



and than Sunday came....
I decided that her bandages needed to be changed, so left the house to pick them up....when i came home some 40 min later..

she pulled all of her stitches out.....at first it did not look so bad, skin was actually holding shut, she pulled them 4 days too early...but as she tried getting up top part came apart....when she hopped around the gap kept getting bigger and within 5-10 min from time i came home we were back out heading towards animal hospital....i actually did panic...thank god for my husband who lifted her up and put her in a Jeep and off we went....spending our Sunday evening in a waiting room..


some 4 hours later.....and a lot less $ in the bank account...Bailey got "zipped" up...


hours after anesthesia...and with a "permanent" E collar now on her neck...she was very goofy....she wanted to go play with other dogs, she wanted her ball, she wanted to run on hardwood floors...so after stern "BED" command, she finally lied down..



She was restless most of the night.....so i did not get much sleep either....i do think that her new bandages look great on her..LOL..

so, how did you guys spend your memorial day weekend?

Fear - Bailey

I did not think i would be having fear issue but here it is....

just discovered that my dog is fear aggressive towards: skinny, tall guys  (discovered this at SAR training/introduction/orientation on Saturday)....WTF? it was the worst time for her to show that......never had issues with her...she has been everywhere with me,  kids can approach, women, chunky man - no problem what so ever...but tall skinny man and she becomes a fear biter (two man at the training were disliked by her as soon as they approached, ears back, tail straight, feet wide apart, whites in her eyes and she kind of lunges towards stretched out hand)...has not bit yet...i am just taken back...and very surprised (mildly put)....

k-9 handler on site said she is scared of these type of man, and not to correct her because if she is corrected when i can tell she is getting nervous she will know not to show her fear but lunge and bite without warning....

since this is my first time dealing with fear biter who is also handler sensitive (which i can and been working with), and i guess somewhat nervous dog in new areas/locations, where should i start? any suggestions?..more exposure to public?

few key points...she is okay in crowds, down towns, around people, in stores, around most dogs, around kids, good with women....it looks like once someone focuses on her and come up face to face with only 2-3 people around she gets nervous, direct eye contact with a stranger makes her unsure, with me and anyone she knows she has no issues with eye contact and holds eye contact very well...if she approaches them (strangers) she is okay ...tail wag, sniff, not totally comfortable, little shy but still comes forward and greets....

also, I been warned by a vet that her being in constant even low level of pain would make her self consious or nervous...could that be true? but than why is it selective few not every stranger?....

I swear this dog will be the death of me she is like a treasure chest of bad surprises...between health issues, personality and now temperament...

Liver vs Me

So, on Friday I stopped by a butcher and bought 10 pounds of LIVER..beautiful looking liver:


I cut it into chunks and rinsed one bowl at a time till it was clean looking....


Each dog got about 2 pounds ......took me forever to get it cut, rinsed, and be ready to be served.....

NONE of my dogs would eat it!!!!! Bailey licked it...Misty picked it up and spit it out...Dozer would not even touch it and Frankie looked at me like...are you freaking kidding me?



So....i brought bowls back in rinsed them

....and cooked each bowl separately...



they ate it.......Dinner of Friday night...


Saturday morning.....vomit everywhere.....
So I pulled my knuckle bones out of the freezer...


defrosted them...


and served....








and I cleaned/rinsed vomit off the patio and picked it up all over back yard while they enjoyed their bones.....

I am never doing liver again.......

Bailey vs. Hailey (American Idol)

Ok, so I been watching American idol...not every time but every few weeks, I noticed that some times my dog would get out of comfortable positions and would leave living room, than come back...never really paid much attention when or why....until yesterday...

So here is my dog watching American idol.

...as comfortable as she can be....until Hailey started singing....


she started rolling, rubbing her head on the rug..grunting...




and than tucked her face under my foot....ear folded up and everything...and did not look out till Hailey stopped singing...





i could not stop laughing....i thought, NO WAY..there is just NO WAY! so when Hailey started singing again...she did it again....tucked her head under my foot....so by the time 3rd song came around..I muted TV and sure enough she laid there watching


until i turned the sound on...so she got up and left....and went to her bed..LOOOOL...

Hip Dysplasia

In February of 2011 I noticed Bailey limping after long periods of time when she played, ran after tennis ball, hiking, etc. I had contacted vet who was not able to see the limp while she was walking, during that time Bailey had hit her foot and dislocated nail on her right hind leg, nail fell off within a week and two weeks later she had a new nail. Vet and I both decided limp was due to toe injury and I was given mild pain meds which I gave Bailey for 11 days during that time no limp was noticed. Week later she was back to slight limp, it was actually unnoticeable to most people, you would have to watch her and her weight placement on her hind legs. We went to a different vet in March and even thought this vet did not see her limping either I insisted on x-rays.

Results were shocking. My vet called and asked me to come in for consultation (something you never want to hear from a vet)

Close up.

After initial shock and tears, and thinking the world had ended...I posted her results on pedigree database website...received support and assurance that these are not the worst hips in the world.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/bulletins.read?mnr=472907



Her right hip has severe hip dysplasia, I was referred to ortho specialist who suggested FHO (femoral head and neck excision) I found most useful information and post surgery images on this web site.
http://www.vetsurgerycentral.com/fho.htm

Other options were pain meds for the rest of her life or total hip replacement.
I had made a decision for FHO and scheduled surgery for May 25th, 2011.

I had done a lot of research and found tons of horror stories....however one story by Laurel had me convinced and I read and re-read her blogs and story of Jake more than once...
http://laurelsdogs.com/


After all the research I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst...surgery is tomorrow...ehhhhh.

Bailey 3 months - 14 months

9 months flew by, Bailey grew into a beautiful sable German Shepherd.

 3 months

4.5 months

5.5 months

6 months

9 months

10 months

13 months

14 months (post surgery)

Welcome: 1st Post "Unwanted Puppy"

Welcome to My Life with My Dogs

It all started on June 29, 2010

Bailey came into our life without a warning ...her weight was 19 pounds her ribs and spine were visible, approximate age was 3 months, maybe less. Copper BB in her right hip, ticks all over face and neck. Not very social nor very confident, but good eye contact, erect ears, light sable pattern. I already had 2 GSD's 7 year old female Misty adopted from Humane Societyat in 2006 and 3.5 year old male Dozer also adopted from Humane Society at the age of 7 months in 2007.

1st day in a new home

Next day after bath, brushing and a few good meals she looked a lot better and we went to the Pet's Smart to buy new leash, collar and puppy food.