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Jake's Story

his accident, amputation surgery, and recovery

Adapted from a post made to several Internet mailing lists on Tuesday, March 3, 1998:

Some of you already know this story; and others might be wondering why I haven't been posting to the list all that much during the last couple of months. Or not. Anyway...

On December 30, 1997, while Jake was away for training, he escaped from his kennel, ran into the road in hot pursuit of a small critter of some kind, and got hit by a car.

He was still lucky in many ways. Someone was home and able to get him to the local vet (10 minutes away) immediately; and he was only half an hour from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's great veterinary teaching hospital where he was transferred to spend a couple of days in CCU. He had no major internal injuries, just cracked ribs and bruised lungs. He was not so lucky in that his major injury was a brachial plexus avulsion. The nerves to his right front leg were torn, leaving him with no use at all of that leg.

Also, during the course of x-raying and ultrasounding every part of my dog, we also got the surprise that despite the fact he had OFA'd Good at 25 months, at this point in his life (almost 6 years old) his hips weren't so good any more. It did not appear to be caused by this accident; in fact, there was a fair amount of arthritis so changes must have been going on for some time. This was a big surprise as Jake was (and still is) an active and agile dog. If his hips were hurting, he certainly didn't show it in his actions and activity level.

What happens sometimes with a brachial plexus avulsion is that the nerves are just stretched, and function returns in a matter of days, weeks, or months. Despite our hopeful attempts at physical therapy and appropriate vitamin and nutritional supplements, we weren't that lucky. Infection also set in; he had a few really bad days where I was actually wondering if it was time to send him off to the Rainbow Bridge.

After a neurological consult at UW-Madison at the end of January, the decision was made that there was almost no hope that he would ever regain function in that leg, and due to the onset of infection, the amputation was the best course of action.

And it was. He was released from the hospital three days following the amputation, in good spirits and getting along well on three legs. The doctors told me he was actually better off than many canine amputees since he had gotten used to not having the use of that leg during the month we were waiting to see if there was any sign of nerve regeneration.

It's now about a month after the surgery. The incision has healed nicely and his fur is growing back where he was shaved for surgery. He's gained back the weight he lost during the crisis period. For his hips, he is doing well so far on Cosequin DS. He no longer needs daily doses of Rimadyl as the Cosequin is starting to take effect. Jake has adapted nicely to being a house dog again, and gets along well with his two "sisters" Heidi and Missy. We haven't done a face to face with Oscar yet and don't know when that might happen, as I don't think it's going to be the highlight of my day introducing two males who have some history of male aggression.

After some power struggles, I believe Jake has finally conceded the alpha male position belongs to my husband. During this time, there was a rather interesting struggle over the premier symbol of alpha malehood, the TV remote! Of course, there is one higher position in the home, and that is the ALPHA MOM.

The power of rottweilers to adapt to whatever situation you throw at them is amazing. Sometimes I think Jake misses his leg less than we do. If you ever saw his courage test you know how fast he was. Well, he is now working on being the fastest thing on three legs.

Something else that is amazing is people; and I mean that in both good and bad ways. First the bad: the ever-present rottweiler rumor mill and its mindless, heartless followers. So here's the truth: Jake is alive and well. I am not suing or blaming anyone as Jake is an escape artist and this was an ACCIDENT, period. Yes, there is such a thing as an ACCIDENT!

Now the good: the folks who took care of Jake for me until he could handle the stairs at my house on three legs; my co-workers, even the ones who are afraid of large dogs, who welcomed his presence at our office during the week after his surgery (especially Greg, who brought meatloaf for Jake); those who gave moral support; those who offered to help with my other dogs; those who offered to let me handle their dogs in a trial. There is a lot of good out there, too, and I was happy to see that.

As many of you know, Jake is my Schutzhund dog, so this has been upsetting on a number of levels. The main thing, though, is that he is alive and well to just continue being my dog. I feel that I failed him, by letting "things" get in the way of working on his titles last year. I know he doesn't really care... and Jake is still High in Trial in the most important event of "being my dog."


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