Posts Tagged tripawd

Just Like A Tripawd Pro

February 19th, 2011 by Elizabeth

Hopping around, tail-wagging, and smiling—these are some of the things that Pebbles does a lot these days. She is so very amazing to watch. She charges up the hill just outside our house and most of the time she gets up on her own to drink water, eat and go out. Sometimes she needs a bit of balance from a two-legged, but she is back to fully enjoying life–just in a new three-legged way. She’s even playing with her cherished toys again (she had given up play for awhile after the  surgery). One of her morning rituals now is going into the front part of the house to visit with the cats (and get a few biskees while she’s at it).

Nothing seems to stop her from taking every advantage of finding joy in her life. One of the most amazing things I have seen is that her heart seems to have tripled in size. She was always a very sweet, loving dog, but lately there is a different look in her eyes when she gazes into mine. Maybe it’s gratitude or maybe it’s just pureness of love. Whatever it may be, it’s quite remarkable and totally melts my heart.

She is beauty and sweetness personified (or should I say dog-ified?). My life is richer and fuller for having made the choice that we made. And I think she is delighted too. As she said, “It’s just a leg anyway.”

If you want to follow Pebbles’ complete Adventure, just click HERE!

The Pebbles Principle

January 26th, 2011 by Elizabeth

Another week has flown by and my sweet little tripawd is getting faster and faster on 3! Below she is modeling what she calls her fancy Tripawd Walking Suit. We ordered it at Tripawds.com to help us help her get up and sometimes walk or balance a bit better.

Right after Pebbles surgery (her one month “ampuversary” is tomorrow!) I had become obsessed with the fact that my beautiful dog, the one that I had known for 14 years with 4 legs, had changed. But after much suffering, I finally realized that I had been missing the fact that she’s still here with us, loving us and being in this world with us. I can still hug her and kiss her which I love to do. My lack of acceptance had taken me out of my present moment and living my life to the fullest. And how did I come to this realization? It was by observing Pebbles.

She had accepted it right away. It may have taken her a bit to figure out the new maneuvering she had to do to get about, but as far as she was concerned, it’s just a leg and now she just has a new way to walk and a new gait—actually she hops and moves now sometimes faster on 3 than she did on 4! So I thought, “Well, if she can accept it, why can’t I?”

What I discovered to be the biggest hindrance of my flowing with this drastic newness and change was my unwillingness to accept it. Newness and change is going on every moment of every day. It’s in small things like a new sweater you buy at the store and it’s in bigger things like births and deaths. Altering our reaction to change is the key for us to be able to deal with it when it shows up. If we don’t, it will be an uphill battle, and we will keep ourselves from fully living our lives.

So now I celebrate every moment I am with Pebbles and that she is here loving us. I look at the new way she moves and hops and stands with such great joy. And I can do that because I am totally accepting her newness; her new body.

I have decided to name this phenomenon of full acceptance of change and newness The Pebbles Principle. It’s when you fall into the full acceptance of change in your life.  I invite you to join me and use The Pebbles Principle as often as you can so that we can change our perceptions together and begin to see changes in our lives with new eyes… as I continue to celebrate the beauty of life with my special, amazing girl.

Day Three: Determination Wins Over Fear and Stubborness

January 1st, 2011 by Elizabeth

Who knew that having a tripod (or also lovingly called a “tripawd” at Tripawds.com ) would be like attending a personal development camp–a VERY  intense personal development camp. Thanks to Pebbs, I am getting real world experience flexing my personal evolution muscles.

As our adventure continues on Day Three*, the challenge also continues in encouraging her to increase her own strength and motivate her to get up and walk on her own. We had been using a towel–as we had researched- to act as a balancer once she is up on three legs. But Pebbles has a lovely quality of stubbornness, and no matter how much she has to “go”, she has not wanted to get up or accept any assistance from us whatsoever. She would cry and whine while making motions of trying to getting up, but when we would try to help her up, she would flop over on her back and side and become dead weight. This went on for some time, exhausting all 3 of us (and unnerving Pebbles’ brother Monty). Somehow we eventually got her up and outside, carrying her most of the way. Once we put her down in her usual spot, she soon lay down and the whole stubborn-refusal-to-allow-us-to-help act began all over again. The poor thing was so riddled with fear- something that gets in all of our ways when we  try to move forward, stopping us in our tracks, no matter how many appendages we have!

But after 30 minutes outside in the cold with worries of her lying on cold cement, I finally thought to myself–perhaps loudly enough so that she could hear– “you are just going to get up now whether you want to or not” and with a fierce determination lifted her up against all her snappy, whiny protests. We then scooped her up and carried her inside out of the cold.

But then, once inside, we were still faced with the dilemma of the fact that she had not done her business in over 48 hours. She began the whine song again and in a stroke of brilliance, Lennie thought to use a body pillow that we have as a support/sling so that she could feel more comfortable and not be in so much fear. She still fought us until I once again was flooded with pure determination to win over her stubbornness and fear and put her up on her feet no matter how hard she protested. This time we let her walk/hop out and about 20 minutes later she did what she had to do!

Maybe it’s also about being strong for our loved ones when they can’t be and they can’t see to the Truth of a situation. Once Pebbles was shown that there was no need to fear, she hopped along as best she could and began getting used to her new gait.

She also sees now that one doesn’t get a biskee for stubbornness– only for walking through fear with resolute determination and persistence. She is just so amazing. When I grow up, I hope I am half the Warrior Goddess that this sweet little being is!

*we are actually in Day Five of Pebbles New Adventure, but Tripawd Care doesn’t always afford time for blog posting!

Day One: The New Adventure

December 28th, 2010 by Elizabeth

Hello my friends! Just want to give you an update on Pebbles surgery yesterday.

The surgery went well, finding that the cancer had not spread too much. Pebbles is so remarkable-she came home as a tripawd just 2 hours after the surgery and seems to be so relieved to have her sick leg gone. She’s taken a few steps on her own-I just support her with a towel as a sling right now- and her appetite for chicken and carrots (and anything else!) seems to have only increased! She is peaceful and happy and more filled with love than ever.

Thank you to all of you who have sent your love, prayers, and healing energy. We have a little work ahead of us, but being able to hold my girl in my lap and arms and look into her beautiful eyes makes my life more wonderful than ever!