Anatolian Shepherd Dog

I wanted to give everyone an update on Raven after her surgeries that took place earlier this year. She is improving! She is now allowed off leash out in the yard. She is so happy being able to be on her own and able to patrol the fence and lay out under some shade trees as she pleases. About a month ago she was finally weaned off of all of the pain medications and she's been doing well so far. She still gets her GlycoFlex every day and gets her adequan injections every 3 weeks. She'll be on the GlycoFlex and getting injections for the rest of her life. She has her good days and then days that she seems a little sore from overdoing it a bit too much. She tries to run but she's not very good at that anymore. She either bunny hops when she does run or her legs give out some when she tries to start running so she doesn't run at all. It's like she knows what she can handle at that time. Normally if she runs, she's sore later that day or the next day but then she's back to getting around after that. She is up and moving around a lot more too inside the house instead of laying in the same room all of the time. She's happy and joining in with the family again. She has even attempted to play with some of the others a little here and there and she's holding her own pretty well. I just have to watch they don't bump into her too hard to knock her over. She's getting stronger little by little and is able to take a harder bump here and there now without her back end going down. She just needs to get used to working those legs again and building up those muscles. She's able to go in and out the dog door now too. I'll open it for her if I'm in the room and see her heading to it but sometimes I'll walk away and she'll let herself  in or out as she needs to on her own. Today she even disappeared and I found her outside with the goats watching them. She came back inside when she felt she was ready. I'm so proud of my girl. She's got so much will power and heart. She's determined. She's doing well but still not up to 100% like she was before but she's still improving every day.

Memorial Day weekend I had taken her outside on the lead. She was so happy to be out there and made herself comfortable in the shade under a tree. I stood there for a while just holding the leash. I got to thinking and thought that she was just happy enough being out there and calm enough that she may not run around if I took her off lead and maybe I should try it. I bent over and removed the leash. She sat up immediately and looked straight up at me while pressing her head into my side. She had the biggest smile on her face and was looking up to me as if she was thanking me for her freedom. I could read her mind! She got up slowly and began to walk off into the yard. I called out to her to take it easy and no running. She took her first stroll off lead since December! She was in heaven. She went down through the yard and finally found the fenceline and began her patrol. It was a wonderful time seeing her free again to do what she loves. Here are some pictures of her big day!

She's on patrol again after all this time! Look at the joy on her face!

She found a shaded spot to sit down for a short while a relax.

She decided to lay down instead. She needed to build up some energy to get patroling again!

Off she goes! She's on a mission!

She now decides to relax under some honeysuckle and live it up.

She decided to move to go lay under one of her favorite shade trees and just bask in her glory for being off leash once again. She's checking it out to see if it's still her spot. Yep! This looks familiar!

My girl is back and loving it!

Here is a link to a video I took of her this day too. I took it shortly after this picture was taken. She was still living it up being off leash again. She was gaining speed right after I started recording but then slowed down some then. You can see in the video that she tries to leap or charge towards the fence but her back legs go because they don't have the strength yet for her to move like that. She understood pretty quickly that she couldn't do that. After I had turned the video off she went down the fenceline and I followed her. Coming back up the fenceline she started moving pretty quickly. It was enough that I was at a jog trying to keep up with her. I did have to then leash her so she wouldn't overdo it and hurt herself since that was her first time off lead since the surgery. She was so happy!

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z170/MysticASDs/?action=view&current=Video05-30-10.mp4

Every day is a step forward and a step in the right direction. She's still getting stronger little by little each day. It's so good to see her up and moving again and enjoying life. Every day with this girl is a day to cherish. There's so much you can learn from her and that she teaches you and she gives so much love that it's unbelievable. I look forward to the future with her recovery and many more happy years with her in my life. This girl is most definately one of a kind!