Second Week At Home

 Our second week has been progressing well, everything except getting him to eat.  Titan is starting to use his leg a little more and gets around easier outside.  He is asking often to go out now and is able to stand a little easier on his own each day.  When he first stands he still holds the sore leg up and won't put any weight on it.

(Titan waiting to go outside)

Once he gets outside it's another story.  He moves so fast now and we have to keep him on a short leash to make sure he doesn't get too excited especially when someone walks by and he wants to bark and run along the fence with them.  He still doesn't put all of his weight down on that leg but he is at least using it to hobble some what so the muscles are getting used. 

 The food department hasn't improved.  We decided to start the raw food diet this week because he keeps turning his nose up to his kibble.  We were very excited about this and had high hopes he would dive right in and start a normal eating routine again.  After speaking with the lady at Country Lane Raw Foods (http://www.clpr.ca/raw-food.html) and hearing about all the benefits of this diet and how easy it is we got a few parcels to try.  For Titan's weight (160 lbs) he will have to eat 3 lbs of raw food a day.  The 3 lbs tube will be cut in half and he will get a half in the AM and half in the PM.  It looks like this:

(My arm to compare size)

We will start him off on the chicken and after two weeks of his body adjusting we can add in the other proteins and extras he needs.  This diet will be cheaper for us in the long run, and for the same price of the kibble which lasts us one week, this raw food will last us two weeks.  We were told if he doesn't go for it right away to just leave it down and eventually he will eat it.  The kind lady said "No dog will let themselves starve".  I just looked at Mike and smiled because she hasn't met our Titan.  And of course our Titan had other ideas and turned his nose up once again.  The good thing is we don't have any more medications to give him now so we don't have to force feed him and hopefully after a while he will be hungry enough to try it.  He's going on day 2 of not eating and I am getting worried.  You can see that he is losing weight and I have given both a dish of raw food and a dish of kibble and left them out.  He won't eat either one.  He will take chicken and things we are eating from us so I do hope he will stop his hunger strike and eat his own food.  If this continues we are going to the vet.

Otherwise Titan is starting to act like his normal self again and lets Ares snuggle right up with him. They even try to share the little baby mattress we got Titan, and almost manage to fit on it together.  And when Ares isn't around Titan finally feels comfortable getting himself on and off his bed for sleeping so we've started calling it his low couch and he seems content to sleep there.  He does still look longingly at his big couch and I know it won't be long before he's up there again.

We've also started some games to keep Titan busy through the day.  The snuffle mat is coming along.  I wasn't able to finish the whole thing and only got half done with the fleece I have, but so far Titan loves it!  We use beef liver treats or hot dogs for him to find.  He loves to use his nose and looks so proud when he finds one.  We also use some boxes to hide treats and he has to figure out a way to get them out.  He likes this game too because he can tear apart the boxes and get some frustration out.  And of course we review all of our tricks and try some new ones.  There is lots of grooming as well which calms him down and puts him to sleep.  Titan is still sleeping often which I am ok with for at least one more week to really give that leg time to heal up nice.  

 (What it looks like from the bottom, the weaved pattern)

 (Enjoying finding his hot dog treats)

 (Tearing apart the box to get his treats)

So from what our guide from the vet says and from what we can see Titan is on track with his recovery.  Everything except for the eating.  So this week if we can overcome this hurdle everything will be great!  Here's hoping! 

Titan's leg week 2:

(The stitches are starting to come out) 

(The swelling is pretty much all gone now, just need the fur to grow back in)

(The sores on his elbows are healing up nice and shouldn't bother him much longer)