Mango came up to the Twin Cities last Sunday for an appointment during the week at the University of MN Small Animal Veterinary Clinic. Our first excursion was to PetSmart. He was skittish about meeting so many dogs head-on in the aisles, and didn't like it one bit when someone barked right in his face. He moved away and sat down by a display table, and was just content to sit there for a while to make sure all was right with the world. Then he was back exploring- so many tall aisles and the sounds of barking dogs! That was a little distressing, too. The cool thing was, when he arrived, he was walking pretty well on his foot and his first foster-mom said that the previous Wednesday he was getting better. By Sunday, you wouldn't have known he had a problem by the way he headed up the stairs, wrestled with my Golden, or hiked in the woods until it was late in the day. Then his leg was weaker and he would occasionally skip or carry it on the 4th time he stepped down on it.

On Wednesday at his vet appointment, his back and leg were x-rayed, and thankfully, the good news is, he doesn't have any fractures of any kind. The examination revealed what we already suspected- he had had some type of nerve injury. The vet decided not to do the electrodiagnostic tests because they would have told us what we already knew- he had some type of nerve injury. The muscle and nerve on his left rear leg are smaller than the right. He has some pain sensation in the foot now when he didn't before. He is using the bottom of his foot when it was dragging before. His surrounding nerves are compensating for the injured one and he has learned to flip his foot forward and we need to work on building up those nerves and muscles to take over for the injured one. The vet believes it is not a congenital (from birth) defect because he is improving. The injury was probably traumatic- some sudden, wrenching of the leg (like getting it caught in a chair when you fall out) that injured it. In any event, he's getting better and we DON'T need to even discuss amputation!!!

Mango (who everyone calls Manny) put on some weight- he's now 34.4 lbs. His growth plates are still open and he will get taller. His hips look terrific (no dysplasia with this dog). The treatment recommended includes an exercise regime of 4 times per day with down time in between. He shouldn't play to the point of starting to drag his foot. The vet also recommended that we keep the sock and wrap off of his foot and use DUCT tape, if we need to, to prevent him from licking the raw spot he developed when he was dragging the top of his foot on the concrete. However, that spot has dried up nicely, and yesterday he left it alone under supervision, so he didn't have any covering on it. If he starts to chew at it again, we were told to put on some ointment and cover the top of his paw with DUCT TAPE!! Apparently, it has healing properties (no kidding- a vet study came out that says so!!).

Now to the antics. This boy loves dogs and he loves to play. He loves to wrestle, take away bones, rawhides and Kongs. He wants to be the first dog on the trail and will run like the wind to stay shoulder to shoulder with the competition. But he wants the dogs around. If they stop to smell something, he stops and comes back to them. Last week, he could only harass the resident dog. This next week we are dogsitting for a friend, and this dog is even more fun to harass! Manny knows his name and will come when called, especially if you have a reward for him. He knows sit and is pretty good at down. We're working on wait, but he's still a puppy and wants everyone else's cookie, besides his own, so it's so hard to stay in one place when the treats are being handed out.

Manny also loves people. He's taken a liking to my husband, who just laughs at his puppy antics. This morning we had to coach Manny on the use of the Kong to get his kibble out. He only eats about a cup of his 1.5 cups of puppy food, so we put the rest in the Kong and seal it with peanut butter, and he works for the rest of his kibble. When it comes out, he eats it. Manny is a cuddler, too. He doesn't squirm and loves to lay on your lap or next to your leg on the couch. He will sleep on the bed or next to it on a blanket. This boy is sweet, playful, and a ton of fun. The pictures don't do him justice.

Manny would love a home that keeps him stimulated: whether it be kids or another dog. He probably won't need a fence as his recall is so good at such a young age and he could be boundary trained. The vet thinks he's pretty smart for a young guy and absolutely adorable. His new family will have to pay attention to how he's doing on his rehab as he's getting stronger, but the vet said it was highly unlikely he would have a lifelong problem with his foot. At this point, he's improved very much since he was seen at the University of Iowa- with his using the foot correctly, he's retraining the nerves and muscles there to be able to walk appropriately. We should pay attention to how he's doing and make sure he gets enough exercise to build it back up.

If you're thinking you could be the family that will keep Manny busy, give him exercise and a warm lap, and help him get healthier as he grows into a big curly blonde boy, contact Placementragom [dot] org.