Scout's neck disks responded so wonderfully to the neck brace. Unfortunately, Scout did not! I had let his fur grow out over the summer and his fur long when the brace was fit by the vet. After 8 wks in the brace, his fur had grown so much, Scout was actually being buried in his brace. It got to where, I could not keep the brace down on his neck. It would continually ride up, over his ears and keep them folded in.
I took him to the local vet to have his brace reset. All the vet could do was tighten the brace, which is something I had to do almost on a daily basis. If you have a Yorkie, you know how hard it si to keep a Yorkie inactive! It is next to impossible. Yorkies have a tendancy to have their own minds. They are very independant, spoiled to have their way and some are like Scout....he will throw a fit so quick if you do not listen to what he is telling you.
He had enough of the brace. It was hot in August, The heat was unbearable, the fur had grown, he was miserable. To the point of not wanting to eat. He had an ear infection we could not clear up. Both his ears were extremely dirty due to not being cleaned regularly. I could not get to his ear canal because it was blocked off by the collar.
I finally made the decision to remove the collar. I reasoned that if it did not work, we would have to go and have his neck reset and the collar put back on. But it would be during the cooler months, and his fur would be cut beforehand.
The morning I removed his collar, there was the most wonderful celebration by a dog I have ever seen! I told him it was coming off as I took the velcro and pulled. He knew momma was not going to put it back on, it was staying off! Hallalujah! This dog almost did cartwheels..if there is such a thing as doggie cartwheels!
He shook, he almost danced, he kissed, he ran, he was beside himself with such joy! I really never have seen a dog celebrate before. This was a first. The only thing I regret, I did not get a video of the event. No one can experience what I did that morning.
After removing the brace, Scout never received another dose of pain medication. He never again needed it! One of the things I saw him do when the brace was removed was use his back legs to scratch his neck. This was a brilliant moment. He actually could use his legs in determined movement. He also did something he had never been able to do before. He was able to clean himself after going potty. Before then, I had to clean him myself. Scout cannot lift his leg to go to pee. He always had pee pee on his underside due to his stance and capability. Now, no more pee pee underneath, he was able to direct himself somehow down towards the ground!
These things were amazing to me. No pain, he could actually move his legs in a way he wanted them to go, and he could clean himself! Wow! He was such a brand new dog. He was thriving in all the encouragement. He seemed to burst at the seams with pride in his new abilities!
He has never looked back.. He continues to this day to build on his new found abilities. He can now stretch full length on his own. He does this frequently too. He has a walk I call his 'big legs'. He knows exactly what that phrase means. It means he is walking to the best of his ability and his momma sees he is doing it on his own. He wants to be a 'big dog' like his older brother, Pumba. Pumba is a 35lb. Boston Terrier who is a 'bully' type Boston. He has large muscles on his chest. I always tell Scout he is being a 'big dog' like Pumba. He knows what this means and he tries to emmulate Pumba as much as possible.
I am so incredibly proud of Scout and his accomplishments. This little 8lb dog has worked so incredibly hard to gain his mobility and be as close to normal as he can be. He does not see himself as handicapped in any way. You can tell, if he wobbles or maybe trips over something, he gets embarrassed. He wants the younger dogs to look up to him.
I cannot get over the fact that some people do not believe how smart dogs are..they deny dogs have sense, or feelings, or a soul, even! I truly wish one of them could come and stay one day with Scout. He would make them believers. He has taught me so many things, I can't even begin to list the lessons I've learned watching him. They say dogs are grateful to us for taking htem in and giving them food, water and shelter. In this instance, I am so eternally Grateful to Scout for him choosing us and allowing us to be a part of his life.
