Friday, August 31, 2012

After a week with his wheels...

After a week with his wheels, Max has yet to master what they are REALLY designed for.. I'm still hopeful he'll figure it out.. or just continue to climb out of the cart and eventually walk off into the sunset with his buddies chasing some critter..

He's been spending about an hour at a time in the cart and then a few out. He has a couple of sores on his groin area (but he had diaper rash before that so I'm guessing the added irritation didn't help matters), and he has some sores on his feet where he's been dragging his front paws and ramming one of his back paws into the rear wheel.

I can only suspect that he is leaning to the side because of the feeding tube, although it in no way touches any of the cart, but maybe something inside of him feels funny or there's some extra weight on his side with his body all stretched out like that. He has started to eat a little on his own. Only baby food consistency and it's not yet consistent.  He did drink some water on his own and then decide to blow bubbles with his nose, so we can't leave him alone with food yet - at least liquid food, but he's practicing every day.

The cart has been fantastic for him to go potty in!  He has always let me know when he's had to go, now I just put him in the cart when he's ready and roll him outside and he goes out there - it's great!

When he's not tired he will move his legs with the cart. He's still knuckle walking, but if he's working hard enough he can get his feet into the right position. Left side is definitely stronger than the right, but he has had moments where he's had both front paws working perfectly for a few minutes, and both back legs doing the right thing.. although he sits to the side so one leg is up higher and that one seems to kick a lot more - like he needs a Kick and Go or a skate board.  Yesterday at the vet though, he had his front paws up in the sturrups and his back paws where actually running as we rolled back out to the car.   I'm hoping that the more he's in the cart, the more aware he is that he's not moving and the more frustrated he gets that he'll actually start to move it and figure it out.  He's definitely aware in the cart that's for sure!  He turns now when you call his name!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Max got his wheels today!

Max's Wheel's Arrived at 5pm today! The UPS guy was fascinated and watched me take it out of the box! He couldn't believe how light it was!  It took me a little while to figure out how to adjust it for Mr. Max.. but I LOVED it!  He spent about an hour in his cart at first, and didn't fuss at all about wanting to get out! I did finally take him out after an hour because he fell asleep in it!

Max's first 5 min in his cart trying to figure it all out
A little panic after going down the ramp! little legs were back peddling!

Getting the hang of it and just starting to try and use front arms


How are YOU doin?!


Checking things out and trying to figure out how to get from point A to B!

Tail wagging, feet kicking, finally able to push his cart just a little bit on his own!


OUT COLD!!!!  Didn't even wake up to barking or being pet!

Thanks Eddie's Wheels!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Look who's holding his head up all by himself!

Look Who's holding his head up all by himself!  And turning to the right side this time (definitely his stronger side... still working on the left side)  But he's practicing his self control and was able to hold that position for a good 4 minutes before he decided to try and get his nose to touch his rear end..   Now he's less than pleased with me b/c I have him on his side - feeding tube down and am trying to get him to repeat.. Not as fun when you have a tube pressed into you!


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Max's midnight workout caught on video

Keep in mind this is just the beginning of Max's new all-night work out plan... he doeosn't do this during the day.. just ALL NIGHT LONG!! I'm not sure what the thought process behind this is...  but he's sleeping during most of the day and seems to be working out at night...

And so it begins with a gentle head lift... lift, relax, lift, relax... lift... relax..
Then we progress to head lift, front arm lift and then we add the back leg in... right now we're just doing the left side.. just wait and see if I'm still awake enough to catch the right side going to...
Max has always been somewhat of a perfectionist.  He has always repeated things over and over again to perfect them... When he first came to live with me as a foster dog, he knew 36 commands cold.. you could whisper them.. or even mouth them and he would do them immediately on the first try.  Last year when he first started to circle and we first found out about the brain tumors, after he startedd the prednisone and the dizyness started to go away, he spent 3 whole days walking back and foroth against a line in the floor until he could do it without wobbling off the line.
I have no reason not to think that he's not practicing what it feels like to move each one of his muscles.  He's still the same dog and that same personality is still in there.    Just hoping that we cacn do this without him kicking me and having to take a shower at 5am tonight!!!
Max attempting to get up out of bed..

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

And a Bark!

Max enjoying a change of scenery!


Woke up this morning at 4am to a Bark... Max's Bark! Max has not barked in over a year.  He needed to go potty and I guess I didn't wake up with his kicking so he tried the next thing he could.. As soon as I turned on the light and got his pad in position he went.  Let's see if he does it again. Max used to bark NON-STOP!  At one point I finally bought him a bark collar that would spray citronella in his face when he barked... what did he do?  He figured out a way to twist the collar so it would spray anyone standing next to him and he would run through the house barking and spraying everyone he ran by..

Max practicing standing.  Back legs crossing and knuckling and head started to get tired..  but he's getting there - front arms strong (at the moment)



Max & Buster #2 hanging out

Get me off my mom's lap!!! (sorry video is sideways!)

Monday, August 6, 2012

Max is Standing!

Hello everyone!
I am happy to report that Max can now stand up on his own!  (Provided he has something to lean up against!!)  He can hold himself up on all 4's, and is starting to try and make an effort to walk (but that hasn't been working out very well yet)  Can't wait for that Eddie's Wheel's cart to get here!!

Video's to follow as soon as I figure out how to video him and be close enough to catch him if he falls!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Max sits up on his own

Max sits up on his own.. sort of.. he managed to put himself in this position and curl up and take a nap while hanging out on the couch watching the olympcs.. Normally he's laying on the side that's up..


Friday, August 3, 2012

Frankenstein

Max had a busy day today!  He woke me up at 5am with a good hard kick to let me know he had to go potty... apparently right then... so then he took a shower and had a blow dry...  and then he had an appointment at the vet for some electric acupuncture!   We re-measured him for his Eddie's Wheels Cart  and then he came home to nap and work out some more.  Around 4pm he let me know he had to go potty again while he was working at his "desk" so I picked him up and though... maybe we can figure out a way to get him to use the toilet.. without him being able to hold his head up longer it wouldn't work, so I then took him outside and held him up on the grass so he could stand... it started to get hot.. nothing... finally I brought him back in the house and no more than 3 steps in I started to feel a warm stream of liquid running down my leg... At least HE knew he had to go and he knew how to tell me had to go... I just have to give him a little more time.

We also ordered his quad cart from Eddie's Wheels Today!  It should be arriving in about 2.5 weeks! Can't wait!

Max Napping during his electric acupuncture

All hooked up, Frankenstein style (and yes! If you turn the dial too much his arm will move!)

Max getting measured for his Quad Cart from Eddie's Wheels - he's cheating and standing on his tippy toes

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Max the Toddler

Sorry I haven't written in a while but Max has been hard at work. He was measured for an Eddie's Wheel's cart but the measurements were apparently all out of proportion so we need to have them done again. Since then he's been doing his exercises with his peanut ball that Dr. Lessinger suggested and right now he's working hard - very hard  - on lifting his head and turning it to the left and then back to the right.. In the process he's also been throwing himself off his desk.. Once he managed to get back up on his desk but I have squshed him in with 2 beanbag chairs - don't need him breaking his neck at this point.. and of course.. Max being Max has figured out how to get up and over the bean bag chairs..   EXCELLENT!


This is good but also what I was worried about - when he can be more mobile and gets up but can fall over because he's not super stable yet... Practice Makes Perfect though - he just needs adult supervision. Yesterday we sat on the front steps and he practices pushing himself up with his right front arm.. and he was doing pretty well!  He even tinkled standing up yesterday with some support! (It was not my plan but maybe he had it all planned out.. We'll have to keep working on that!)
Anyway - still making steady progress!  Max is now getting electric acupuncture 2-3 times a week and I think the increase  has really made a big difference in his progress. The electricity makes his muscles flex and relax and kind of jump starts them... now if we could just get him to start eating on his own!  He'll eat liquid if it's syringe fed, and he did lick a peanutbutter molasses cookie until it was soggy and then Buttercup ate it, but if food is put in front of him he's not going for it, but he is sniffing it. 
He can hear everything, and he's still grunting and huffing when he gets frustrated, and every so often we get a whimper. I know he's really frustrated but he's trying so hard and hopefully that will all pay off soon! Max doing the Butt Dance..