Honorary Tripawds Spokesdog III
Nellie wishes everypawdy a very hoppy and festive howloween. Here’s a song she made just for her dad on his birthday!
Hey pawty peoples, it’s here! My human’s favorite day of the year, Howl-o-ween! I made this song just for my Dad, whose birthday is tomorrow. Hoppy Birthday pops, I love you!
There’s so much to tell about all we’ve been up to. But for now my humans are going to trick or treat — without me!
The thanks I get for making this video. Sheesh.
I’ll give you my latest pupdates real soon. Until then, may you get tons of tasty treats and candy tonight!
Love, Nellie
Alaska was good for Nellie and us, too. Here’s how spending a real winter in the Arctic helped us grow smarter and stronger, together.
Winter in Alaska was as revolutionary for Nellie as it was for us. But we didn’t know that until after winter was over. Our beautiful German Shepherd from the mean streets of San Jose really didn’t like snow during those first couple of months. We weren’t so sure about it either.
During the first couple of months we felt so guilty for taking her north! She hated going outside even for short walks, especially when it got really cold in December. She expressed her displeasure by taking forever to get up for her last evening potty walk. And instead of enjoying the beautiful starry night with us, she would run back inside the cabin as soon as her business was done.
By the time winter was wrapping up, Nellie decided she was a snow dog. Maybe our previous snow dawg Wyatt was channeling through her. Or maybe it was the Librella injections she started getting. But by February, the girl couldn’t get enough of the powder! She would roll in it, and burrow down so deeply into the icy terrain that she often came back up with cuts on her snout.
Not just to keep her from looking like Scarface, but also to make sure she didn’t roll in frozen turds left behind by neighborhood dogs. We learned that picking up dog poop is quite an inconvenience. Especially when you have two pairs of gloves on your hands in minus 20-degree weather. I can’t blame folks for skipping that dog duty, and I confess that we skipped a few pickups too.
The only problem with letting your dog’s poop flash freeze on the sidewalk is that once the snow starts melting, all those frozen poops start melting too! Breakup season is one of the messiest times of the year, especially because of the thawing dog turds on the road.
During winter she got to hang out with real musher dogs, leash-free and engaging on canine terms without too much interference from the humans around them.
Nellie quickly learned how to behave in a large pack. That’s something she wasn’t too skilled at doing before we got to Alaska. She used to be a scruffy, loud street dog on the defensive around other dogs. But those sled dogs taught her what kind of behavior is expected from the new kid in town. That’s helpful when all the other dogs are faster and stronger than you.
Now we hope that translates back into the “real world” when we once again hit the road full-time in our upcoming RV.
This time last year, Nellie was as winter-stupid as we were. Today I’m happy to say that not only did she and all of us survive, but we actually had fun and became better beings in that strange and wondrous place called Alaska. It was heartbreaking to leave it behind in June.
Nellie the honorary Tripawd gets a custom fourth leg brace for better mobility and less pain getting around.
We think that for most of her life, Nellie has been unable to do many things that three and four legged dogs can do. When we adopted her, vets couldn’t tell how long she had a “carpal flexion contracture,” but they knew it had been at least a couple of years since her leg could completely extend and work properly. But now, her life may be changing for the better, thanks to a special orthotic that is already helping her enjoy better mobility.
For two years, we have sought out vet opinions about what to do with her bad leg. Our favorite ortho vets at Colorado State suggested a little studied corrective surgery that would cut her carpal tendons so her paw could extend. Meanwhile, rehabbers recommended ongoing therapy to try to restore her mobility. But none could say with any certainty if their treatment would give Nellie normal movement again.
Amputation has always been a last resort, because Nellie still uses the wonky leg for some weight bearing, balance and moving objects. Amputation surgery would also put an even greater stress on her over-burdened spine and shoulder.
But recently, interviewing a guest for Tripawd Talk, we stumbled into a solution. The founder of TheraPaw, a canine orthotics and braces company, suggested trying a carpal brace attached to a “toe up” boot, like the kind made for dogs with degenerative myelopathy. Therapaw’s founder Ilaria believed a brace could support and straighten her wonky leg. The toe up device would gradually stretch her wrist as she put weight on the limb.
The device would be modeled after a rough draft that our Tripawds musher friends made a few weeks earlier while dog sitting Nellie for us. They took a “SAM Splint” device used to temporarily support a fractured dog leg. And they made it into a brace.
Once the Therapaw founder saw Nellie walking on the DIY device, she went to work on the real deal. The boot device would be an experiment. But Therapaw’s got a long track record of creating successful medical supports for dogs. We figured it was worth a shot. “Now why didn’t anyone else think of that?” we wondered.
A few weeks and one revision later, Nellie has gone from that painful, awkward gait to an almost “normal” quadruped movement that looks like this:
The day we saw her walk like a quadruped brought tears to our eyes. She seems happier when she’s outside using that leg! We are taking it slow, extending her walks a little at a time. Her body hasn’t used many walking muscles for a long time.
She doesn’t use the boot inside, because we don’t want to keep her paw in a boot all day. So Therapaw is currently making an indoor version for her. It’s a bit lighter, without an boot.
We don’t know for sure if this is the answer. It requires constant monitoring for abrasions and it’s tricky to put on correctly. But we’re all getting the hang of this new normal, and not complaining!
Eventually we hope Nellie will have regained enough wrist extension to not need the brace at all. That seems like a dream, so for now, we’re taking it slow and easy. And we can’t be more thrilled to watch Nellie find new joys in a less painful and more mobile way of getting around.
Nellie is a real Alaska dog now. With temperatures in the minus 30 range, she toughed it out with us to make the most of arctic snow days.
Just when you think you know what cold is, Alaska is ready to show you otherwise. It’s been a real learning curve as we try to figure out how to give Nellie what she needs for enrichment, activity, and safety.
During the last two weeks, temperatures here reached close to minus 40 Fahrenheit at the coldest, and minus 10 at the warmest part of the day.
It was a good lesson to explore our tolerance for cold as a pack. We learned what Nellie’s limits are, and how much she is or is not willing to go outside to explore or just sniff around.
Over the last few weeks we’ve discovered just how much Ruffwear gear is helpful for weather like this.
See when winter began, we made up a rule that when the temperature drops below zero, Nellie doesn’t go outside without her Ruffwear Powder Hound jacket. We thought that was plenty of warmth, and it probably was. But when it got even colder than minus 20, we made up a new rule for our own peace of mind. We put her Climate Changer sweater on underneath it.
Then on the really cold days (lower than minus 20), we discovered something else about how Nellie handles extreme cold. She holds her paws up one at a time when she tries to walk on snow. Ouch! Thank dog for Ruffwear Polar Trex boots! No, they don’t keep her from sliding on super icy terrain. But they really protect her feet, and prevent snow from piling up inside the boots.
With all of her gear, she was comfortable enough, but none of us had so much fun we wanted to stay outside very long. Not even the toughest Alaska dogs are thrilled about cold like this.
So when it was too miserable to do anything like walk more than 10 minutes, we spent some time with Nellie’s paint brushes.
She made two paintings that we donated to a local auction. One sold for $50! The other one did too. Our neighbor bought it, and we still don’t know how much she paid for it!
I never thought I would believe that this is “warmer” weather. It’s preactically summer in these parts! But what a relief to get outside again, and spend more than a few minutes soaking up our vitamin D. Nellie appreciates the additional sunshine as much as we do.
And now that we are back to eight-plus hours of daylight, we have even more reason to get outside and see the sights. That’s Jim and Nellie behind our cabin, checking out Denali way out in the distance.
Things could be worse, for sure. We are so grateful that our Alaska dog is having as much fun as we are on warmer days like this one. Let’s hope there’s lots more ahead before the “breakup” happens and all the snow turns to mud.
Nellie of the North, Jerry (Rene) and Admin Guy (Jim) wish you and your Tripawds furmily a very hoppy new year!
On behalf of our Tripawds Spokesdog Nellie, a very hoppy new year to you and your furmily!
We hope your season has been beautiful and peaceful. And cheers to fresh start in 2024 for everypawdy!
Nellie has had quite the white Christmas here. Even a couple of Krampus monsters came for a visit but she managed to convince them she’s been a good girl all year.
The Krampus (Krampi?) left, and Santa Paws visited instead. Then Santa brought Nellie the most incredible gift ever.
It’s so hard to believe another year is mere hours away, and even harder to believe that we are doing it from our little cabin in Alaska. We are getting into serious snow removal time, and Nellie is being a terrific supervisor when we break out the shovels.
As dark and cold as it looks here, life is beautiful in frozen North. There is so much to do and see when you put on the right gear and get outside.
This California girl isn’t always a fan of gear or cold, but she’s learning how to adapt like we are. Some days she does really well outside and wants to keep going on the snowy trails.
Other days she just wants to play indoors. Sometimes her aches and pains are obvious, but they appear less now that she’s on the Librela medication for OA. We can already see a difference.
As the temperatures go into the sub-zero range (it’s -20 outside as I type this), we play it by ear to see what she wants to do once we gear up and head outside. She is a great sport and we are following her lead.
It’s time to get outside and see some daylight before it goes into hiding again. So from our pack to yours, may 2024 bring you all that you want and then some. Thank you for being part of our Tripawds family. We’ll see you in the new year!
