your boys are adorable!!

AWww, Ryder's smiling in that second picture. I've never seen a "homely and unkept dog" with such perfectly trimmed ears ;)

The boys are handsome as ever, and it's nice to see Ranger getting spoiled rotten just like he deserved. :thumbup:

Awwww such cute pics. :animal36 Both your lil boys have such a darling face. Ryder does not look homely to me at all. You should see Cassi after I clean and brush her hair, she'll immediately will run to her bed and rub her whole head on it until her face is all messy again...yep she's my little messy girl. :p I'm so glad to hear that Ranger is on the mend.

Ryder Update and Acupuncture
 

For anyone who has wondered about acupuncture, I think I really believe in it!!!

I took Ryder in for a session this afternoon, and although he didn't like it to begin with, he started relaxing several minutes into it, and after she took the needles out, he fell right asleep!

His back feels much more soft- not so tight, and he himself seems much calmer :confused:

I have to say, it was also SUPER REFRESHING to find a vet who believes in a raw diet!

We talked about his issues, and she feels that while it could be congenital, it is most likely from an injury from when he was younger, and he recently aggravated it. As I didn't have him until he was a year old, I guess we wont really know. I also asked if there would be a better choice of medication in case this ever happened again, and she feels that Metacam might be a better option as we might only need it for two days to relieve swelling, as opposed to the 7-day course of pred which is pretty much the minimum.

We are going to go back twice next week. Hopefully my boys are on the mend!!!

Oh, and Ranger is doing FANTASTIC today. He FINALLY went poo last night, and so far today has been alert, happy and walking REALLY well. I am only letting him walk just a tiny bit, every hour or so, but he really wants to do more. I am seeing a long recovery ahead of us!!

YAY for Ryder! Oh Amanda I am SO glad the acupuncture seemed to have helped! That is just so wonderful! And also very happy to hear that Ranger is having a good day :D

Awww, I am so happy to hear your update girl! :hug: I have been thinking about them today! And Hot Rod and Shelby too....I WAKE UP thinking about these kiddos! They are always on my mind.

That is GREAT that Ranger is doing so well! YEAH!! :cheer: He and Tate both went poop the same time after surgery...3 days, LOL! Funny little stinkers! :p

That is so awesome that the acupuncture worked so well for Ryder...WONDERFUL NEWS! :D I am just thrilled for both of them! :D Give them both gentle hugs and kisses for me...we love you guys! :hug:

Good news...yea!!!

That's great your boys are doing well. The acupuncture therapy sounds like it was just whay Ryder needed. Glad to hear that Ranger is doing well also. All the babies are on the mends!!! :)

Marci rocks!!!
 

First of all, I have to say that some of the people on YT that I have formed friendships with throughout my time here have turned out to be more caring and supportive than my everyday-see-all-the-time friends. I am amazing and SO THANKFUL for each and every one of you!!!

We (we meaning RANGER) got a package in the mail today of an ADORABLE little Easter bunny and Easter duckie. Since we are a good Catholic family, we felt it was very fitting for Easter-eve. Especially since the Easter Bunny hasn't been able to get out of the house to do any Easter shopping!!!

Anyway, here are some pics. Yes, I know they are mostly of Ranger's head, but he wouldn't take his mouth off those toys long enough to look at me. He first claimed the duckie, as it was first out of the package. But then when he saw the bunny he was CLEARLY confused as to what to do! He solved the problem by pilling the bunny on top of the duckie, and then topped it with a bully :D As Ryder is NOT a dog, he really had no interest in the toys, as you can see by his smiling face in the photos, he is much more interested in my sitting down and forming a perfect sleeping pad for him to settle in (ie my lap). He then realized the off-limit recovery house was open, and made himself at home on Ranger's therapeutic bed and his 9" beef tendon, which was pretty funny since it's about 2x as long as he is!

If I must say, he is looking much better than the other day :p He sure is feeling well. We started weaning him off the pred on Thursday, so he didn't get any yesterday, but will get a dose tonight, and then Monday night and we're done. The vet wants to see him twice next week for acupuncture to see how he does completely off the pred. I do really like how the acupuncture increases blood flow to the area, so if nothing else, that is certainly a huge benefit.

Ranger is now entering "leash-only" territory. Until today, he has been walking well on both legs, albeit gingerly. Today, when I had him out, he took off running :eek: with his bully and a toy. Again, EEK!! I grabbed him as fast as I could and his little tail was waggin' waggin! I think we're over the pain period and on the way to recovery!!

More pics :p

That is TOO cute! I love the way he piled those toys up to fit them all in his mouth.

Your boys are doing so well. I am so happy for you. You couldn't ask for a smoother recovery so far. :)

Here's a few of Ranger's legs and some more of him with his new toys from the other day. His legs are looking really good, no swelling and the redness is gone. He's my little punkin' head!!

YAY so glad he liked the toys- and lucky for Ranger that Ryder doesn't want him to share :p and how great that they arrived JUST in time for Easter :D Give both the boys hugs and kisses from Layla and I!

Happy Easter!