Audo

As most of you know, Patrick and I have a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy named Audo. Here's a little bit about Audo and what's going on...

Patrick and I gave him a German name (Captain Audo Rein) that is unique and fits him like a glove!! We are also teaching him German commands! He can sit, lay, shake(with both paws), do a puppy push-up(sit,lay,sit) and will do just about anything for an ice cube! Audo loves the outdoors, especially this cool weather, and he loves going out in the boat. He loves kids and other dogs(Buddy the Basset Hound is his best friend) and is absolutely the sweetest dog I have ever met!! He gives the sweetest kisses, will follow me anywhere and is simply ecstatic to see me walk in the door(even if I just went to check the mail!!) He is like our son and is so full of personality, you would think he's a person! He has his own bedtime and will pout until I go in there and help him on the bed where he'll lay his head on our pillows. When it's our bedtime, he has his own crate in the bedroom(only b/c the bed isn't big enough for the 3 of us and even still he sometimes will sleep with us!) with a huge dog bed and his own personal fan! He also has his own couch in the house and a basket full of toys! (Spoiled right?!)

One day I noticed Audo limping around after he had been playing with Buddy. I thought maybe he had just pulled something and I thought nothing of it. This went on for about a week and a half and that's when we became concerned. I took him to the vet, he had a radiograph done and everything came back fine. I monitored him closely and he just wasn't getting any better. Patrick noticed that Audo started limping on his hind leg one night and I told him that I was taking him to the vet again the next day (which was Halloween) to find out what was wrong with our poor puppy. Once again, radiographs were done but because Audo is so active and can't sit still, the vet wanted to run more tests. That afternoon (after an awful day of worrying about my puppy) I went to pick up Audo and hear the news. The Dr. came in and said..."I have some bad news..." Immediately my heart sank. She showed me his graphs and explained to me what was going on and basically, Audo has case 4 hip dysplasia in both hips(which is the worst case). I almost started crying. All I could think about was our poor Audo and how I just wanted our little boy fixed! The next challenge I had ahead of me, telling Patrick the horrible news. We were absolutely devastated and our hearts broke for our little boy! We had no idea what road to go down next. What a great way to start out the Halloween weekend!! That Monday we were referred to a Veterinary Surgical Referral Practice(VSRP) in Cary and Audo had an appointment on Tuesday. The Dr. at VSRP basically said we have 3 options...1-do nothing, medicate and hope for the best(that wasn't happening!), 2-THR(Total Hip Replacement) which he wouldn't be able to do now, we'd wait til Audo was 10-11 months, have him reevaluated, THEN see if he's even a candidate for the surgery. There is a lot of risk involved and it's quite expensive, or 3- FHO(femoral head and neck ostectomy) basically going in and cutting the "ball" and a little more bone off of the "ball and socket". There is 0 risk and the key to this procedure is physical rehab. We have been assured Audo will be able to have a normal, healthy happy life. He will only have a couple of limitations but the main thing is he won't be in any pain and will never get arthritis! We would have to leave him in Raleigh for a couple of weeks at a rehab facility(which I'm not really happy about but as long as he's healthy and better, it'll be fine) where he'll be treated and then be able to come home!! Patrick and I will be able to visit as often as we like and when Audo comes home, there will be more therapy to be done, but that's something I will be able to do! After a lot of contemplating and talking things over with the vet, I think Patrick and I have come to an agreement with the FHO procedure. The sooner the better basically is what we've been told and Audo will be able to have both hips done at the same time! That way, his rehab and recovery time will be less, he won't be a full grown dog (meaning he will be more manageable at a lower weight instead of 100lbs!) and he'll have more time to be a happy puppy! We think this is best for our little boy, which is all we want! Audo's surgery will take place on November 24th. He has to be dropped off early in the morning, which means I'll be leaving the house at the crack of dawn!! They will keep him overnight then the VSRP will pick him up and take him to where he'll be staying for the following 2-3 weeks. He won't be here for Thanksgiving but at least our little boy will be here with us for his first Christmas! We will keep everyone posted as things progress. If you have any words of encouragement, they would be greatly appreciated and thank you to those that I've already spoken with!!

As a little side note, I posted a scrapblog on my page. It's really cool so definitely check it out!! Obviously I have too much time on my hands! Other than that...things are pretty good. Patrick is still in Florida. There's no telling when he'll get home! I just hope he's home for Thanksgiving and I hope he'll be around when Audo isn't here. I don't know what I'm gonna do if both Audo and Patrick aren't here! I'll go crazy! And as we all know, Christmas is fast approaching! Everyone is gearing up for the holiday shopping, family get-togethers and the beginning of a new year! The thing I'm most looking forward to is December 12th and 13th, which are the days I'll be graduating from ECU. Those are the days I've been waiting just about my whole life for! I absolutely can't wait to walk across that stage and be a college graduate! Well, I think I've gone on long enough! More to come...