There is a chance of her gaining control back, but she ends up being easy to express the next time so we're really not sure.

We had a great weekend! We drove 5 hours to visit my best friend and her husband, and Layla just loved it there! The drive wasn't so great, but they have carpet in their new house and she just loved running around while we held her up in her sling! We even took her for a walk around the park in her stroller. She got lots of looks and eye rolling and I have to bite my tongue to not tell everyone "She's paralyzed" So I just held my head high and hoped that she would too! The drive home was great, she actually fell asleep in her carrier for about an hour. I was amazed!

And yesterday morning we got another tail wag :D She started pooping not long after though so maybe that was why.

We haven't captured it yet! It happened again just as we were sitting up in bed to look at her when we woke up.

I don't know if Layla is getting more motivated from spending more time out of her crate and with her family, but something amazing is happening with her!

Layla usually goes into the treadmill, the vet moves her back legs for about 3 minutes, and then she starts on her own. Today, however, Layla got on the treadmill and started walking with all 4 legs immediately without any help! She did 7 minutes before her back legs went out, and the vet said she loves when they turn the treadmill off and she gets to move around by herself and explore. So she thought it would be good if we could get a little kiddie pool for her to walk around in at home. She said as long as it's about chest height she'd be okay without a life jacket. There's 6.5 inches of water at the rehab place for her so that would be what we'd put in, and it would have to be warm water. But she could stay outside with us on warm days and walk around in her pool by herself! No sling and no help from mom and dad.

I think if her nerves heal to the point that she regains sensation and can send messages to her legs, it won't take much to have her walking again. Her legs are already remembering how without her brain even helping :)

Thats GREAT news :) Now that it's warm out you can have her in the pool enjoying outside everyday. Hooray. I hope she keeps getting more and more movement of her back lets.

Lindsey,
That is FANTASTIC!!!!! I bet you and Scott are so thrilled! I am so proud of your 'lil Layla, she is such a trooper!

Belle says way to go, keep up the good work.

warm woofs to all of you!

What a great idea!! I can already imagine the fun she'll have being outside with you two on sunny days. You have to get some video of her in the pool - I wanna see her walking. :)

She is happy when she gets to be out and about. It's good for her mentally. I caught bronchitis and missed a few days of Layla updates. I am so happy she started walking on her own on the treadmill. Sometimes time heals things, so as long as you are able to include her in outings she should stay mentally alert and not depressed. Anyway, I'm ecstatic to read good things about Layla. She's happy, she has a family that loves her, and she is trying to heal!:)

I bet she'll have tons of fun in a kiddie pool! I saw Petsmart sells them for $10 around here. Just remember to watch her while she's swimming around. :)

Glad you're getting more tail wags. If you keep her nearby whilst sleeping, maybe set the camera up before you go to bed so you can reach over and flip it on as soon as you wake up?

We found a pool someone was selling for $5 but it was already sold :( I guess we'll keep an eye out for one of the hard-plastic kiddie pools, because most seem to just be inflatable these days. I will check out Petsmart for one too.

Unfortunately, the only kind of video cameras we have are either on our cell phones or our regular photo cameras, and they both require us to go through menus to get to the video option! My brother does have a regular video camera though, so maybe I should ask him if I could borrow it for a few weeks...

When we picked Layla up last night, her vet was waiting for us. She told us that if any dog had to be paralyzed, Layla's such a great dog for it because she doesn't even care. Some dogs get depressed, but Layla is still the same happy little dog she's always been. Maybe it's because she knows it's just temporary? I know that Layla doesn't know the word "can't" and she has so much will and energy... I am happy with her as she is but on the inside I'm still believing her body will heal, and I believe that she is willing her body to heal.

Hi Lindsey,

I haven't posted for a while, but I have been watching your thread for updates daily. I am so happy with Layla's progress and you and Scott must be thrilled as well. What an amazing little girl you have and you guys are the best parents a dog could have. Keep up the good work and I just know that Layla will keep progressing. I think of you and Layla often.
And yes, I was at PetSmart a couple of days ago and they had doggie pools there.

Thanks for the information! I will stop by tomorrow before I pick Layla up from rehab :)

While at rehab today, Layla is also having some lumps aspirated. I noticed one back in about Febraury, and a couple more have shown up since then. Please say an extra prayer for her today :)

Sending extra prayers for sweet Layla...:)

More prayers for little Layla.

On your phone, do you have a shortcut that you can put the camera/video feature on? Maybe make it easier for you to start it up? IDK, just an idea. Borrowing from your brother would be a good idea, too.

I do have a shortcut to the camera menu, but then I have to go down a few options to "camcorder" and then I have to choose which kind of video I want to take, and then I get a warning telling me about the type of video, and THEN I can start! My brother apparently has lost the charger for his video camera too :rolleyes: We'll figure something out!

Layla did just as well yesterday as she did on Monday, walking without any help! We asked if we could get a video of her walking and she said "Why don't you just come in and watch one of her sessions?" so we've set it up that on Tuesday we will take her in at 4:00 and watch her for her 40 minute session :D Then I can take video myself! Maybe with us there she might tail wag too. I hope she will! Her vet also said that while she's on the exercise ball, Layla is the only dog she's had that shows that type of motion in her hips. She takes video of that too. I'm so proud of my little girl!

Just checking back in on little Layla. She is such a darling and making great progress. She is definately a fighter....not about to be giving up! Mom & Scott be so very proud of how far she has come...you both have made this possible and are wonderful!

I haven't been on in a few weeks and just got caught up on you and Layla. She's doing so well. I know all the prayers are making a difference.
We will keep praying and she will keep improving!.
How did the lump or bump aspiration go? is all ok?

Go, Layla, go!:D

We should find out the results of the aspiration today, so I'll be glad to have some closure on that issue. They've worried me for months even though the vet in our town just brushed them off as cysts that "all dogs get".

This morning the animal hospital was soooo backed up! We waited forever! But Layla had tons of fun doing laps around the waiting room and sniffing everything :) Her daddy played with her for a bit, and then she got scared and wanted to snuggle with mommy :D So we had our little snuggle time. One of the receptionists came over to pet Layla and tell her how pretty she is, and that she sees a lot of dogs, but they're DOGS, and Layla's just a precious little thing and the prettiest dog in the world :love: She told us that Layla has her own little cage downstairs, with her name on it and a note saying it's reserved for her :) And it's right at eye level and she just loves that and is so social and wants to greet everyone who comes by! When it was finally her turn to go, her favourite animal attendant took her leash and her sling, and Layla's little butt zoomed out of sight without even a look back at us! I think she knows now that we are just giving her a day of fun with her new friends and that we'll be back :) Before she left I whispered to her that she should do really good and practise walking for mommy and daddy to see it on Tuesday :)

Oh my gosh, she is just toooo cute!!!! My prayers are still out there for Layla. This is such a GREAT story of inspiration and motivation and the will of these little stubborn babies! :)

Keep up the good work Layla... I know you will walk again too! I just know it!

Linz,
This little mangy mutt (sweet baby LOL) is my Moms dog Mimi (I say Mutt lovingly, she is a porkie? yoodle? lol yorkie/poodle mix yorkiepoo). Mimi was a year old when a guy at the store just GAVE her to my mom. She was very timid (still is) and neglected. Mimi was the guy's wives dog and she left the guy and Mimi was left behind with 2 larger dogs. The guy was traveling a lot and had no time for Mimi. My mom fell in love with her at the pet store where the guy was dropping her off for grooming and asked to hold her. The guy just told my mom she could have her. Poor Mimi was attacked by a larger dog months later while on a walk with my step father. The vet did not think she'd make it through surgery but she did. Then they said she would MAYBE walk again but never jump or climb stairs again.

Well she does it all.... runs, jumps, climbs, walks... everything! I know I told you this, but it was MANY pages ago and I wanted to reiterate how special these babies are and how strong and will full and stubborn they are! So, like Mimi, Layla will thrive.

have a great weekend!

Thank you! Mimi is too cute! All the great miracle stories I've been told are constantly running through my head. Layla is already exceeding expectations and every day her vet tells us "She's such a cool little dog and I'm so glad to be working with her"
Statistics can tell me so much, but Layla doesn't know the statistics and she doesn't know the meaning of "can't" or "will never"
Even if her nerves don't heal, she'll find a way to keep going :)

I hope Layla is still doing well and having some fun with her family.:)

Layla was sooooo playful this morning! I put her on the couch to do some standing exercises but she just wanted to smush her face into the pillows, roll onto her back, play-bite and swat my hands with her paws :) Scott came over and threw a toy at her and it was the first time she played with a toy since she went down! She bit it for awhile and threw it back at Scott lol! She wasn't interested in it after that, but it was the first we saw of any interest in toys in months!

Last night we went upstairs to play Wii and Layla was crying her little head off, and we couldn't figure out why. Usually she'll just sleep in her crate while we're doing other things. After about 10 minutes of her crying I got down beside her crate and she jumped into my arms and pulled herself out. That's when I noticed her tail up in the air. I asked Scott if she was pooping (I couldn't see with her front end grabbing at my arms like crazy!) and he said no.... so he tried expressing it and sure enough little bits started coming out. I think she was having troubles with it and it felt uncomfortable and that's why she was crying. It's a terrible thing for her, but the fact that she may have actually felt the discomfort of not being able to get her poop out is such good news to us! Maybe she really can feel it! After Scott got all of her poop out (I really have the best guy ever :D) she went back in her crate and fell asleep.

Oh, and the next time she woke up, she sat up in her crate, looked at us, and wagged her tail again :)

I SO love the Layla stories!! :) Lindsey, I really hope you are keeping all that you have written....you might some day want to write a book about this! It is all such a heartwarming story to follow. You and Scott's love and devotion has touched me SO many times and brought happy tears to my eyes. Layla is a lucky girl to be SO loved!

Lindsey,

Your latest update is so absolutely heartwarming, her progress makes me smile so much. I am so happy for all of you. The hard work and devotion is definitely obvious. Keep up the outstanding job!!! Continued prayers!! :thumbup::):D

Lindsey,

I loved reading that. She is doing so well. What always makes me smile is how happy you've made Layla!:D

Thank you so much for the continued thoughts and prayers! It really doesn't take much for us to make Layla happy, but she makes us happy every day! I would feel so empty without her.

Ladyjane, after you mentioned the book thing I had to tell Scott... it's on my "bucket list" to have a book published someday. I love to write. I think this is my new inspiration!

My Yorkie often yanks her rt back leg up when walking, but after she warms up she is fine. Last week she started to run & Yelped. She kept her leg up all day. Thought she might have just strained a muscle or something. Layed around & was better. A couple of days later she did the same with left back leg. Now she is fine as long as she doesn't run. She doesn't seem to be in pain except when taking off to run. Have vet appointment tomorrow, but was wandering if any of your yorkies have this problem?