Louie the Neapolitan Mastiff

The days and months keep flying by! Louie is celebrating his 10 month ampuversary today! 🙂  This last month has just been a blur of doing all the things we love to do. Louie is an easy guy. He does not take walks out of the yard anymore, it just is too difficult for him to maneuver his large ,bulky body on 3 legs on a hard,paved surface. And he has not gotten over his reluctance to get in the car(since his amputation) so we just chill at home. He insists on helping me take care of the horses every morning( and to him that means play fighting with them, trying to pull the manure bucket out of my hands,grabbing the hose when I am using it,lying in front of each stall I need to get into,and his usual game of playing dead when its time to come inside. I never realized what a awesome sense of humor this dog has 🙂 And his love and devotion to me has grown in leaps and bounds since his surgery. He can’t stand to have me out of his sight and must be close or touching me at all times. And I must say that my love and devotion to him has grown just as much. That’s all for month 10. Just enjoying life and taking it one day at a time. Oh and one more thing……….there have been no more sad songs 🙂  except if I go outside and don’t take him with me. I have added a short video of Louie and his “girlfriend” Phoebe. Phoebe is a small white pony mule I rescued 2 years ago. She has chronic laminitis which when it flairs up can cause a lot of pain in her front feet. Since Louie had his amputation they have become kindred spirits and he will sit by her paddock even in the rain like the day this was filmed. They just stay near each other sharing silent words,or energy that they both seem to understand 🙂

This morning something happened that touched my soul like nothing else. I had just come in the house from feeding and cleaning the horses and Louie had been outside enjoying the morning with me like he does every day. We had been outside for about an hour. When we came in I gave him a Kong full of mini peanut butter milk bone biscuits and went into the bathroom to wash up. That was when I heard it. A quiet,sad,gut wrenching song…….what IS that I thought? I was getting chills up my spine and it was so sad it was hurting my heart. I listened and there it was again, so soft, so sad …… I opened the door and followed the sound and there was Lou on his bed softly singing(howling) the most gut wrenching song I had ever heard. His eyes were closed and he was lying down but in an upright position, softly,sadly,singing his song. In that moment I burst into tears. I felt as if he new his time was almost over,and he was so sad…. I know dogs live in the moment,but this was so primal,so different from anything I have ever experienced!  I quickly sat down next to him on his bed and rubbed his back and hugged him. He stopped as soon as he realized I was there (it was almost as if he was somewhere else while it was happening)I can’t get it out of my mind…..Lou is sleeping now, snoring loudly 🙂 and things are back to usual…….but……what was that? what was he saying? This journey has been full of ups and downs, but this truly was one of the worst downs yet……my heart is hurting still  🙁 

Well I don’t know what happened but last month I celebrated Lou’s 9 month ampuversary and it is really THIS month!!! I must have been lost in how fast the months are flying by. Anyway today is really 9 months since Louie lost his left front leg to osteosarcoma. He is enjoying every day and continues to live in the moment completely oblivious to all the dreaded and sad frightening things that cross my mind on a daily basis. He chews up the cardboard boxes that I bring home for him (because its one of his favorite things to do), cries whenever I go outside to let me know that he needs to come outside too. He barks at the UPS man and anyone else who has the nerve to walk by HIS house and yard! He plays with the horses,his stuffed toys,chases squirrels,eats good and gets plenty of treats from the entire family. He sleeps so soundly that his snores could wake up the neighborhood! So for now, that is all I could ask for. He is happy and doing all the things a dog loves to do. Last week he was hopping up the outside stairs into the house when his front leg slid through the open steps and he came down hard on his face and it took 2 of us to lift him out of that mess. He wasn’t hurt but is a bit leery of the steps now and will wait at the bottom until I have his collar in my hand and walk with him slowly to the top. This month Louie is featured on our Tripawd calendar   🙂  I remember when I ordered it and wondered if he would still be with me when May came around and I am so very thankful that I have been blessed with another month of big,crazy,sensitive,funny Louie.  That’s all for now.

Sue and Big Lou

Today is Louie’s 9 month ampuversary!! He still has a great appetite but he is running out of energy faster these days and seems to be more restless at night. We just try our best to spoil him and enjoy these days together. I found a toy he absolutely loves. It is a duck that quacks when you squeeze him. It lasts about 2 full minutes before he makes sure it doesn’t quack anymore 🙂  so I bought him 6 of them and have been giving him 1 every few days and he’s loving it!! So that’s our update. I am hoping and praying we have a lot more updates to come.

Sue and big Lou

Ever since Louie had his amputation, he seems to derive great pleasure from playing the same joke every day multiple times a day! Sometimes I find myself getting exasperated with him but it doesn’t last long because for some reason he enjoys playing his little game so much LOL ! The game is that whenever I tell him it is time to go in the house he drops to the ground and becomes a big,heavy blob of dead weight! Then he goes completely deaf and except for a slight wag of his tail you would think he was comatose. After pleading with him (and he always decides how long that will be) he jumps up and runs in the house usually blowing right past me in the process! I love this guy so much 🙂