3 years since the first knee blew out

Wow! I cannot believe that three years have passed since Ivy blew out her first knee. We had been on vacation in the Virginia mountains, maybe 5 minutes when we heard the yelp and she came up limping.
But, she has had 2 TPLO surgeries and will turn 9 years old next month! She is doing GREAT!
We just returned from a vacation on the Florida Panhandle where she was transformed into a young dog again. We have her sister living with us now and these 2 senior Labs ran the beach and swam in the Gulf of Mexico for 7 straight days! Yep, they were tired Labs at the end of the day, but not a trace of limping in either dog! WhooHoo!

2nd Anniversary TPLO # 1

It's hard to believe that two years have gone by since Ivy had her first TPLO. 2008 was such a hard year for our yellow girl. But, she has been a champ! Not a complainer, she was always willing to come over for that belly rub or to give us her Kong for a fill up!
Ivy saw snow for the first time in her life just 2 months ago and has seen 2 snow storms since then! She loves the snow. She spent a lot of time outside and was never stiff or limping after being out in the white stuff. A photo of  Ivy running full tilt was featured on the home page of OrthoDogs, of which she is now an alumni. WhooHoo....GO IVY GO!! It was worth it!

Snow Bunny

I never thought I would see Ivy run again like she did today. We have about 10 inches of snow on the ground here in Virginia. This is very unusual for our part of the state. We took her out on the golf course behind us to let her explore and she just ran through the white stuff with pure joy on her face for about 10 minutes. When she came in, she napped for a while, then wanted out again. I guess she likes the white stuff! Neither leg showed any sign of lameness or tenderness. She acts like a puppy, even though she is now a mature 8 year old diva! It has been almost two years since Ivy's first TPLO surgery.

One year ago today.....

One year ago today, Ivy had her second TPLO. I am truly amazed by her progress. She runs, jumps, and swims like a young Lab. She will turn 8 in December. She has a trace of scarring if you look closely at her surgical sites and she doesn't really like you to mess with that area too much. I could not be more pleased with the results of both her TPLO's. She did have her surgeries in 2 different cities with two different surgeons, and I must conclude that whoever is training these guys is doing an excellent job. I still get very anxious when she tries any type of Lab acrobatics, especially on the trail or on the beach.....maybe in time I will get over that!

Checking in...Ivy has a new home

Ivy has had an eventful summer. We sold our condo suddenly in May and had to find a new home very quickly, within 30 days!! But, we did and have settled in nicely. The house is in a 55 and over active adult community, and is on the golf course. Ivy absolutely loves having her own backyard again! There are wonderful areas to walk and Ivy loves that. We tapered off our leashed walks during the summer because of the heat, but have just started that routine up again, with some cooler temperatures this week. We took Ivy to the beach the other day, where she was able to swim and run off leash. She had a blast!!! You would never know that she has 2 rebuilt knees! I'll admit that I still am very nervous when she charges into the ocean, but there were no after effects from that outing. It's been 11 months since TPLO number 2.