Buddy the Rescued Rottweiler

Mary and Buddy just returned home from CSU in Ft. Collins. Buddy did extremely well, and the good doctors up there are very pleased with Buddy’s performance so far. (Not that he really had to do anything other than let them treat him, but even that can be a challenge sometimes I guess)

We’re very thankful that we have such a world-renowned care center such as CSU nearby (yeah, we consider a 3 hour drive to be “nearby”), and even more thankful for the various studies that they have on a regular basis.

All told, Buddy spent the night in the kennel, had a pre-treatment diagnostic exam that included a very high-tech weight distribution monitor (used to determine just what percentage of his weight he’s currently placing on the affected leg), had various visits with some specialists, and then received 2 radiation treatments that required him to be sedated. When Mary handed me the bill I noticed that it was $1351.00 for this visit, but when you take the study discount the total cost for everything that they did was $105.00.. NOT BAD!!

When they walked in the door, you’d have thought that Buddy had been away forever and was seeing his long-lost family for the first time.. He was so happy and full of pure energy that it was really amazing to watch.. (Remember, this is the dog that when he first came to us all he would do is lurk in a corner or attach himself to Mary’s side) He was running all over the place, playing with both Nikki and Sasha, and wagging what’s left us his tail (or nub, as we call it) like there was no tomorrow.. Anyone who doubts the power of positive reinforcement just needs to look at the before and after behavior of this dog!

Buddy really dislikes having his picture taken by me, so this was the best picture that I could get of him once he calmed down:

You can see the lump on his right-rear leg pretty well in this picture. We expect that it will start to dissipate pretty soon, but it’s clear that he’s not experiencing much pain in it at the moment, so that’s a very good sign.

So now Buddy goes about his normal life for about a month, and then we repeat the treatment again…

So far, so good!!!

This entry was posted on April 30, 2010 at 7:54 pm and is filed under Colorado State University, Palliative Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.