On the road....pit stop in South Carolina

We are on our way back to sunny Florida for a couple of months. We stopped this past weekend in Pawleys Island, SC to visit Joe's brother, who owns a beach cottage and Ivy's mom, Lily. Unfortunately, Ivy does not remember that Lily is her mom and seems to think that the beach cottage is hers and hers alone. They DO NOT get along. However, we took Ivy on a well deserved stroll on the beach. It was very cold and the water was rough so she was not interested in swimming. But, she loved strollin'!

A Longer Walk Today

We tried Ivy on a longer walk today. We went again to one of her favorite places, the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. This is an old section of Route 17 in Chesapeake, Virginia that was closed a few years ago when a new section was opened up, and runs along the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. The city is maintaining it as a multipurpose hiking, jogging, biking, and equestrian trail, that is 8.5 miles long. We walked 3/4 mile down the trail and back in about 45 minutes. Ivy did great. Joe and I were a little cold; it was about 45 degrees. We let Ivy off leash as there were not many folks out in the chilly weather and she loved that.

Life is good for Ivy!

So, I called Dr Stallings office today to schedule Ivy's final followup (14 week) visit. Lisa, his secretary asked me how Ivy was doing and I started a dialog about how great she is progressing. Lisa told me that the final evaluation is "optional." So, I opted out of taking her. I probably would not have done this if this was her first TPLO. So, Ivy is released to ease back into normal activity. She can now do some trotting on leash and some off leash activity is permitted. We will begin to walk her up and down an incline repeatedly (we have a handicapped ramp at our condo) to build up her leg muscles. We are going to gradually lengthen her hikes. Ivy is almost back to doing what Labs do. WhooHoo! Life is good for Ivy!!

The Howlidaze-Holidays

Ivy is enjoying the Howlidaze. She has been doing so well in her rehab that we have started taking her with us again to visit friends and relatives. She does great getting into the SUV with her dog ramp. She loves Christmas with all the lights and smells and all the attention she gets. Her fur is all grown back on her TPLO leg and typical Lab, she is shedding up a storm!! She does about 2 15-20 walks as part of her rehab in addition to her potty walks. We go about twice a week for short treks to her favorite walking spots like Bells Mill Park or the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail. She returns to Dr Stallings around the end of January and we hope she is released for a return to full activity.

Ivy is hiking

We have started taking Ivy for abbreviated hikes as part of her rehab and for a change of scenery. She just loves riding in her "truck." I cannot believe that this is the same dog we brought back from Dr Stallings in October, just over 2 months ago. She is doing great.