PUPdate on Culper

No one warns you how hard it is going to be when you get your dogs leg amputated. Then again, maybe it isn't. Maybe it is just our bad luck, of which we are in full supply. That outlook is a little bleak, I know. Believe me, I don't want it to be. You are here to find out how he is doing though... not here to listen to me complain.

Culper is alive...but he's not doing that great. We had to rush him to the hospital yesterday because his surgery site was bleeding a lot more than usual and he started going into shock.

All week he has been struggling. I thought he would bounce back better than he has been. Everyone basically says "Oh they do great!" "He should bounce back so fast because he's young, don't worry!" Nope. Not the case.

Culper hasn't been feeling better. He has been out of his mind, hobbling around on 3 legs. I'm pretty sure he busted his front leg and sprained it.

Everyday this past week he accidentally pees or poops when he gets up to move around. Sometimes he would just lay down and do it.. which resulted in all of us stressed. I have 3 kids, two other German Shepherds and a cat. I'm not usually a clean freak, but I have been this week.

Every time we thought he was doing better he took a crazy turn. The past two nights before we had take him in he would want to just sit outside all day long on the grass alone. Which is super weird, because that is NOT him at all! Culper wants to be by your side constantly. This made us worried, because well.. you know. When a dog does this, they usually are on their way out and are getting ready to die. They don't want to die around their people. They like to go off on their own.

Yesterday morning, his surgical site started to bleed more than normal. (It did drip here and there throughout the whole week.) He wasn't eating or going to the bathroom for me at all in 24 hrs. He fell down at my feet and started going into shock. Shaking uncontrollably and bleeding. My husband picked him up and put him in the car to take him to the vet, and now he is there.

They said that he has a few infections and we asked them to keep him for the rest of the week even through Monday. Bringing him back n' forth isn't good food him. We don't want to stress him out. He will get much better care there. I don't know what more I can do for him other than constantly clean his area?

We are trying our best. We want him to survive.. but only if he has the best quality of life. I don't want to keep putting him through shit. You know? I want him to be ok and not suffer.

To top it all off... Culper is our youngest daughters best friend. I know...tell me about it.

So let's go back to how no one warns you. They don't, so I will...

These dogs bring so much joy, but when they get sick or are in pain... the stress is SO high! They look at you constantly with those eyes that say, "Fix it, Make it better!" and you can't. The expense is annoying. I think Culper is the most expensive dog we've ever had, but you pay whatever you can to see them healthy. You don't know what they need. They pace back n forth, fall on their face, pee and poop all over your carpet. You tell them to go get in their bed over and over. You wash their bed daily. You scrub the house all day just to stay awake all night making sure everybody is fine. Everyone is crabby from not sleeping, and don't get me started on the SMELL. The smell in the house is terrible...I'm glad it's spring and we can now open windows. Even shampooing the carpet daily doesn't get rid of it. We are a week and a few days into this...and now he's back at the hospital. We have no way of knowing if he'll make it out of this. If he does, is happy and healthy, then I WILL consider us lucky. If he doesn't...I will consider us lucky for knowing him.