Dudley

This was said to me this morning by a woman who we have joined up with in pack walks at our usual spot multiple times. I’m starting to get the feeling that it physically pains her to see Dudley out walking with other dogs. She knows the whole adoption story, that he was at the rescue for 2 years because no one wanted to adopt a 3 legged dog, that we do acupuncture once a month and yet she still is concerned about Dudley walking. It is just the oddest thing to be shamed for having my dog interact with other dogs when he has a “disability”.

I’m sure that many of the community have experienced the same type of interactions. Ironically the last time we all walked together, she commented on how happy Dudley is. I have decided that the next time she expresses her concern, I will just respond with “Why?” She’s a nice enough person but I joined up with her little dog clique because of a friend who walks with the group. Dudley will slow down when we are heading back to the parking lot and sometimes he takes a break but he’s fine. He isn’t in pain and the other dogs don’t pick on him.

I almost want to say to her, “I worry about your dog when he’s down running on the mud flats and not responding to your dog whistle. Or when you panic if another dog gets too close to your expensive lagatto romagnolo.” It’s one of those things that I just have to shake off, because Dudley loves walking with this particular group of dogs. We had just gotten past the bully breed stigma and now we have to deal with the tripawd stigma. It’s almost like I shouldn’t be bringing him out in public…which just made me chuckle to myself. Since I am as stubborn as my dog, I will just continue to parade him around until those who doubt he should be out walking change their minds…or don’t. Dudley isn’t a delicate flower who will wilt 🙂

Dudley has been a bit of a grump lately. He seems to have seasonal dry grass allergies and has a few spots that are slightly irritated on his stomach, chest and the areas of his front legs just above his paws. My acupuncture vet suggested a strong black tea wipedown after going outside. I also attempted a diluted ACV wipedown but he had such a strong reaction to it emotionally that I said “Hmmm…he associates the smell with a bad memory. ” He literally jumped off his bed as soon as he smelled me opening the bottle of vinegar and hid underneath my computer desk. He had a pretty serious case of skin issues when the rescue pulled him from the street, so he most likely associates vinegar with that memory.

My co-worker had suggested a product that she has been using for her dog with skin issues and I ordered a bottle. It’s a leave-in conditioner with aloe, mangosteen, etc and has really good reviews. We don’t do baths often but he does tolerate them although the sight of a 3 legged dog trying to shake off water and dry his butt sent my youngest nephew into a giggling fit. My sister doesn’t have a fenced yard so Dudley was on a leash and was flopping about everywhere. I also forgot how much odor comes from a wet dog and said to the nephews “oh no, your mom is going to say something about the smell as soon as she walks in the door” And of course, the first thing she said when she came home from work was “has Dudley been farting? Why does it smell wierd in here”…

This summer has been good to us. We’ve gotten a lot of dog pack walks in, spent time with the nephews and developed a closer bond. We are coming up on our year anniversary of our “gotcha” date and will probably have a little party over at my sister’s house for the Dude. This weekend, there is a wooden boat show in the town my sister lives in and they have a dog pageant, which is pirate themed. I found out about it at the last minute and probably won’t subject Dudley to a costume when it is going to be warm. He doesn’t deal with any sort of clothing or harness that goes around his body well…so we will figure something out for next summer! I do love a peg legged tripawd! He’d probably tolerate a pirate hat and an eye patch…for the win!!!!

Speaking of Dudley’s intolerance for things going around his chest and waist…I have a confession to make. The harness that was gifted to me by the foundation didn’t work for Dudley. I’m sure I could have forced him to wear it, but he is such a stubborn boy. I would have regifted it back to the community but there was this situation that just made me think that it was meant to be. We’ve been walking with a really nice young guy who has a GSD who is developing hip issues. His dog is named Koda, which is the same name of my GSD that I had before Dudley. My Kota passed away last summer and it just seemed like the right moment to pass the harness on. I told him to try it out and if it worked, he could keep it. We saw them a week later and his Koda was wearing the harness. He told me that his dog loves it and you could even see that Koda felt more confident wearing it. This young man gave me a set of booties that he had bought for his dog that didn’t fit proper in exchange. I totally would have moved the harness back into the community but it felt like it was the right exchange.

I’m going to purchase one of the light weight harnesses from Ruffwear for Dudley to see if it works and if it doesn’t, I will definitely see if anyone from the Tripawd community can use it. Part of the issue with Dudley is that if his leash gets caught underneath his front leg, he just stops. I think he has probably stepped on his leash before and had a fall. And of course, his brain says that anything underneath his body is restriction. Factor in the stubborn Dudley and his mind is made up. He must have been a cat in a past life!

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to my 18 year old scrappy street cat last week. My wallet had decided that she was more important with our acupuncture sessions since she was older than Dudley. So she had a year of successful acupuncture sessions once a month for her arthritis and chronic respiratory issues. Now that she is gone, we are moving Dudley into her spot to provide treatment for his leg and shoulders. He does amazing with the acupuncture…I need to bring a pillow or a book for the 25 minute session because he completely freezes up once the needles are in. My acupuncture vet did probably 30 needles along his spine, back leg and shoulders and Dudley was completely still, after one complaining groan. He battles falling asleep the entire time. I don’t have to keep him company like I did my elderly GSD mix. He just stays on the floor and huffs at random.

Tonight, after his session, we went for an evening walk back into the woods across from my house. Dudley did a full loop of around 1 mile without having to stop and rest or tiring out. He usually will tucker out halfway through and slowly meander back, smelling everything and taking a break. It was so good to see him being able to poke around, run up to me as I walked ahead and also see that he felt good. He does have some restrictions that I have recently become aware of needing to reinforce, however. Dudley has an obsession with fern diving. He will burrow into the sword ferns in the woods and roll about underneath them. I thought it was so cute to see him going bonkers and snorting dirt, leaves, etc. He wasn’t rolling in anything stinky, just enjoying the glorious smell of the forest. And then we were walking back and I noticed that his muzzle was extremely irritated. He has a bunch of welts on his face from fern diving that thankfully didn’t turn into open sores. So that will not be an option for his version of forest bathing!

I had the last 2 weeks off from work and we went out to our spot along the river (the unofficial dog park) every single day. My neighbor would bring his 3 dogs out and meet us there as well as meeting up with at least 3 or 4 other dogs that were early morning walkers. I am amazed at how social Dudley is considering his background. He loves dogs, people, anything that will pay attention to him. His foster mom said that he must have belonged to someone at some point before he ended up on the streets in Houston. Dudley is a very conflicted dog…he loves meeting new people but with me, it took almost a year for the bond to really set. He’s not snuggly with me, but he watches me constantly. He’s happy to see me, but it’s more of a half hearted tail wag. We are getting there though!!!! I can turn around from my desk and see him staring at me…and he is doing amazing at riding in the car!!! He has graduated from sitting on the floorboards to riding in the back seat <3 We even went for a short car ride with my 7 year old nephew in his booster seat with Dudley sitting in the back seat next to him and it was fine!

Dudley is a special dog…very distinct personality and we have had a massive learning curve over the past 9 months. Whatever his supermutt breed mix is, it involves every single stubborn dog breed possible! He doesn’t want to wear a harness, doesn’t want to ride in the car, doesn’t want to go outside when it’s raining (we live on the Oregon coast), doesn’t want to go out to pee before eating breakfast, doesn’t want snuggles, doesn’t want to share his bed, doesn’t want to drink out of his water bowl unless it is brought to him, doesn’t want to poop unless he can be in the bushes…all of that, we have overcome somewhat after 9 months!

If I time it right, car rides are now awesome!!! We still have the struggle of getting him out to the car if he doesn’t want to go, but he will load up. He is now in the back seat instead of on the floor boards because I have a little car hammock that keeps him from falling when he loses his balance. We have a routine where we go out to the LNG tank to meet up with other dogs in the morning and he loves it so much!!! We have met so many people and dogs that are amazed at how well he does with 3 legs. I think I could do a drive with him in the car for an hour with no problems.

At first, it was cute that he would run up my neighbor’s hill and sit on their doorstep to be let in to hang out with their dogs. I stopped letting him do that because it was encouraging him to run off from me. I can tell him to wait when we are out at the unofficial dog park area and he will. Still horrible recall but he doesn’t completely run away. The new leash I got for him is working so well! When I mean business, I go to the short leash handle and give him a little bit of a firm hand and he responds. I’ve found that when he digs his heels, if I walk back to him, we can reset and move forward.

We went to an afternoon music performance with my parents at the public library in a nice grassy setting and Dudley did really well. He loves being around people and dogs and was able to relax for a bit before he started groaning and whining along with the music.

I can see the shift in his posture with the amputation and will be paying attention to the changes. He had some issues with his paw pads but after applying paw balm for a few days (many grumbles on his part) things are better. I’ve learned his limitations, he can do a mile walk on flat ground with a little bit of zooming around with dog friends. He is getting better about taking breaks when he needs to and will flop down on the ground if the humans are chatting. He is doing so good and I love having him educate people about tripawds as well as rescue dogs and pitbull mixes. Still have people clutch their small dogs and children when they see him but most of the time, our reception is nothing but positive. He has the best smile and is just a big block of cheese.

We finally got a few more walks in out at the LNG tank. Dudley has been out and about and educating people about tripawds. Everyone loves him and asks about his missing leg and comments about how amazing he does with lack of said leg. He is just the happiest boy and is so good about being around other dogs and people…don’t worry, he still tests me every day…ha ha!!! He’s even started playing more, both with me and other dogs. It feels good to be able to let people know that amputation is not the end of the dog’s life! We had an older fellow say “looks like your dog has a bit of a limp”…and I said “no, he’s just missing a leg”…he thought that if a dog needed to have a leg amputated, they should just be put down. He was amazed at how well Dudley got around and we may have changed his mindset. And then we meet the people who have had amputees and they share their dogs story with me. I’m more amazed at how trusting and loving this dog from the streets is of humans. He’s getting better with car rides since I coaxed him into riding in the back seat with a sling style car seat cover from Molly Mutts. https://www.mollymutt.com/rocketman-car-seat-cover/ I think we will be able to do a camping trip this summer with my siblings and nephews if the car ride is less than 2 hours.