A Tania-mania week .......

Its been pretty much "Tania-mania" week, with therapy, therapy, therapy.

Zoe is back for only a short period of time, and armed with her course completion of the WaterWork at the PetMassage Institute in Ohio, USA which is a higher level of water therapy to aid dogs like Tania, we brought her for her FIRST ever visit to the beach. Needless to say, it was a very exciting day for her.

After aqua-therapy in the sea, she had physio in the van - with music & aroma-therapy (oh lawd - the Princess, if only I should be so lucky), but to be fair to her however, living with daily pain, she does deserve to be a happy girl :)











" Nice wind blowing ..... "


"Oh oh ..... here comes the rain - time to escape to the van "


Looking all dozey and relaxed after her physio, music & aromatherapy :)


Will post the FUN pixs later.

She's Back ! She's Back !

a photo by trishastrove on Flickr.

Yes, "she's" b-a-c-k from California for a few weeks to check on all her beloved "patients" !!

Tania wouldn't be where she is today without this pair of healing hands since she was 7 months old, after her first hip op., and guess who would have been a total wreck not knowing how to handle her post-op. therapy correctly. That's right - "moi".

(~ double-click pix for more ~)

Tania ends her 2010...

.... on a happy note by spending New Year's Eve with one of her most favourite persons in the world... ZOE.
Zoe was sweet enough to squeeze in one more much needed physio session for Tania before she leaves for California again, in a couple of days time.
They exchanged hugs, gifts and goodbyes...till Zoe returns again in mid 2011.
The pampered pot is already chomping (hand-fed, yes) on Zoe's present of smoked ribs, and has a special gift nicely wrapped up for her in return.














Zoe opens her gift ... Does she like it ??? What d'ya think ???


















Zoe's kinda playful, and teases Tania by trying her T-shirt on her for size ... haha ..... notice her "Now they're messing with me, huh? " look ... :), and figures she may as well play along ...






So ... Zoe ...does it fit ?? wagggs :)))))

Its Thursday :)))

and Linda & Michelle have come to pick me up in the Pawsitive Sensations van, and I'm off for my swim with my friend, Jojo .....
but ... not without giving Michelle a kiss before we go.
Mummy can only manage bringing me once or twice a week, so Linda & Michelle make sure I get my hydro-therapy every Thursday, not to mention a massage right after that ... am I a Princess or what :)))))











"Bye-bye Mummy .... see you later :))) "

P.S. And so she's off, in a pooch's carriage .... , yes, a "branded" van ... if only I could be so lucky ...... sigh .........

It's Offffff ......

" Big, big hugs to all of you again for your thoughts and prayers ... my bandage was cut off yesterday morning (phew !), my stitches have practically "melted" away cleanly, and Dr Ly says that I'm healing very well !

My leg still hurts but the worst part is dealing with the rashes and sore itchy skin ... so thank goodness for pills and creams.

Thanks everyone ... I'm getting betterer and betterer every day.

HAPPY SPRING !!!

Love Tania"

I Wonder WHO did it ??

Sigh .... why does she " always" ask me first ?? Why didn't she ask Wubba Bubba... he's right there.

TANIA .....

LIVING her life the way a Golden WAS BORN TO !

Spunk, determination, fearlessness & a high threshold for pain, have brought this little girl with teeny tiny hips, over-developed shoulders & a strong zest for life this far !

Last weekend, she made her FIRST few leaps EVER, since we noticed her problem at 4 mths. old, a month after we adopted her.

And one month later since the left paw .....

Photographed Nov 29, 2009

.... she can now ALSO give her RIGHT paw !

And .... she has one more BIG surprise !!!

(Tania - 18 months old)

See what I can do now !

Photographed Nov 29, 2009

Tania can finally "give paw" again !

She has been UNABLE to give either paw since Christmas 2008 due to severe hip dysplasia (both hips).

Since her Left hip. op. in Jan. '09, and Right hip op. in Apr. '09, she was just beginning to lift her left paw in mid-Oct., when we left on holiday.

Upon our return 3 weeks later, she still couldn't lift her Right paw, but she gave us a great welcome home surprise by giving us her Left paw!

And just look how high she could lift it today !
(haha ... must be the chewie-chewie treat in my hand).. :)

'Lil Miss Forlorn

'Lil Miss Forlorn

Tania doing her thing at the pool regularly whilst we were away, thanks to my sister Karen.

We were told that she was "love-sick" and somehow I think this pathetic look was "personally meant for me"...

Jump For Me Tania

(click to enlarge)

Here's Tania with Linda, Asst. Canine Therapist during today's hydro-therapy session.

After two severe H.D. operations this January (left hip) and April (right hip) wherein the head of the femur were removed, we have been bringing Tania for both hydro & physio therapy 3x a week since February.

With continuous loads of hard work for mobility and breaking scarring tissue, this limping, wobbly pup, with an under-developed left thigh, has come a l-o-n-g, l-o-n-g way since she was 7 months old.

Loads of pain: YES.
Loads of Tenacity: DOUBLE YES !!

She surprised us by momentarily standing up in the pool in JULY... then NOTHING after that, but as of last week, she's been making small jumps in the pool as in this pix, and also a couple of times at home for a toy.

My kids thought I was nuts when I started screaming the whole house down with joy when she jumped a few inches off the floor for a tennis ball!!! What a great reward for us!

This added mobility came when our wonderful Vet found stubborn scarring tissue at her right hip, so he gently snapped her thigh backwards to break it, and the very next day she was trotting around happily, making good strides with both legs.

We could tell immediately that she was comfortable as she could finally make a full stretch backwards with that leg. It was as if an iron-locked gate in her hip had been unlocked and she could run with ease with both legs! Another point of progress! Yeay!

Sadly, her right leg is still 1 inch shorter than her left, but with loads of love and perseverance, we'll bring her to her fullest potential for a happy and active life !!

Dessert ??

This leaf was hanging off her tongue when I came back out into the patio to see what she was "up to" after washing up after lunch (its NOT a posed shot).

She obviously had a nice romp in the garden, or what little she's left of it after chomping on leaves the past few months ! Pups ;-D

Pleeeeeeze Hurry Mum .....

.... I'm hungry ...

Why does Tania look so happy today ?

B'Cos ... she climbed those stairs all by herself for the FIRST TIME today !
(yup, we just got back from hydro-therapy).
With all her hard work, her legs are now much stronger, and her hips are almost of equal size! Yeay !!!

She's also getting confident now and climbing the short staircase in the house:))))

(I know it looks dangerous that she's sitting way up there by herself. Don't worry, I AM NOT an errant dog owner. She's on her leash and someone is "hiding" in the background just behind her for safety and she was sitting there for just a few seconds for this shot). She still can't run down the ramp on the right-hand side, as it is too steep for her.

Face-Off

Living in a ground-floor maisonette in a spacious condominium estate, this is one of the stray cats that walks by our picket fence every day, much to Tania's frustration. Well, you can just imagine how she feels when she's on one side of the fence, and the cat is on the other !

Today was her day! We let her off her leash for a few minutes to stretch her legs, and well .... this is 'the' moment she has been waiting for, for a long, loooooooong time !
~ double click for a bigger pix ~ ~

The Unbelievable Happened !!!

This was a TOTALLY EMOTIONAL MOMENT for me and TRULY UNEXPECTED !

After two HD surgeries and months and months of hard work of swimming 3x a week since mid-February, what comes naturally to a Golden or any healthy, normal dog for that matter, was a GLORIOUS MOMENT for my girl !!!

Linda playfully splashed water at her towards the end of her session, and FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE VERY FIRST TIME !!! with the pool floor as support, she was ABLE to momentarily use her hips and legs to stand, to try catch the water sprays, cheeks flapping 'an all !

Have I been tearing each time I look at this pix ... what do you think ???

~ ~ double-click for bigger pix ~ ~

Oh Happy Day !!!!!

What a beautiful start to her day !!!!! - back in the pool at last ! Very zen swimming today - no 'cheer-leading' was necessary.

And then .....

" When Mummy works ...

... I "work" too" !

This is what this morning's sudden panic-attack looked like when I said the words "Uh oh ... Daddy's here" ... frozen expression of PANIC, ears back in anticipation of 'his' voice to suddenly 'appear' from somewhere behind her ;))

Poor thing ... I guess you can't really blame her for being 'resourceful' with her time .... I mean, with the towel under her tush, no swimming, no car-rides or outings and restricted playing outside ... what else is a gal to do ?????

Coco & Tania

Coco & Tania

Linda (Tania's Therapist) brought her very pretty Corgi to play with Tania when she came for therapy today.
Well - NO swimming last week, NO swimming this week & life's sooo boring for our girl - so it was really sweet & thoughtful of Linda to bring Coco over. Isn't she just gorgeous !

WHERE ISSSSS she ........! ?????

Sitting on the wooden ramp leading up to the swimming pool, EAGER to be let in, but I told her that we were waiting for Linda.

Eventho Tania's been going for her swims 3x a week since mid-February, its wonderful that she gets so excited each time we reach the pool and just CAN'T WAIT to get into the water !

(she's 13 months old now).