Hi lily - I hope your pup is still showing signs of improvement. We have had 5 Dachshunds - all 10 - 12 lb. minis - and while we loved them all, the 2 who had worst case back/neck disc disease were our special guys - both super Alphas - but benevolent with us and their siblings. Both had similar body types - actually although minis their bodies and faces were fuller much like standards (but they were not fat - and that was not easy with the little gourmets of gourmands) and of course their bodies were long.
I can fully understand how your Dachshund managed to get up on to the chair from his bed - powerful upper body strength and the will to do it. Let's hope that next up it won't be a leap from the stool to the chair. I remember putting a mattress on the floor next to the bed and then coming in just as our last guy - who had just come home from the surgery, hauled himself up to the real bed and sat there looking so pleased with himself. I didn't react until he was safe. So then I had to put a second mattress next to the bed sideways so that he couldn't reach the bed - and after all where else would a Dachshund sleep but with you? His neuro had just done the same surgery on his 2 pups and was also sleeping on the floor, the furniture was turned upside down etc. Our first guy had had 3 events by the time he was 3 and then the neck discs went and his back went again as the neuro was examining him - so he had the surgery - and was a pioneer for the procedure in Ontario. Actually he never should have walked from day 1 and the only reason the surgeon did the surgery was because he could see that this pup was going nowhere if he had any say about it. And it worked. Our second guy did not follow my husband for some of "their" dinner so I was at the vet's in 15 minutes and they took an X-Ray and could see the calcification. We made an appointment with the Toronto neuro but he started to paralyze fast so the specialist's office said we had to take him to the Vet Hospital 3 hours away because her office required a 24 hour window and our guy didn't have the time. So off we went - it was awful. He had just turned 6. Our neuro was certain he would come back to 95% - he didn't - 70% and that was enough, but at his follow-up we were told that he would have another event within the year and that nothing further could be done. So I had to make peace with that. Had I known going in that this would happen I wouldn't have put him through the horrible surgery - but no one did - and he started to paralyze 10 months to the day of his surgery. I just wish that we had had time to assess the pros and cons but we didn't - surgery was required within a few hours. So, I got him to our vet fast - was very afraid of the calcified discs pressing on his spinal nerves - happened with our first guy. But I wouldn't give up one minute of those 10 months with him. Turns out he had Stage 2 disc disease. The really hard part was keeping a happy face on. In the waiting room at the Vet Hospital there were several people with Dachshunds - some pups had problems with one or two discs and yet they did not come back at all, so you just never know. We couldn't go through this again, so now we have a double-coated white dog - what was I not thinking? I get my Dachshund fix on the street and in pet supply shops. They all love me so no one knows if the Dachshund is Alpha or not until someone else comes along and wants to pet the very comical looking, "friendly" dog! Then we find out - fast.
Our Dachshunds all wore harnesses as well - but the 2 brilliant guys could get out of them. I remember after our first guy came home post surgery - 40 days in hospital - only one side regained movement during the first 30 days and the vet's were looking for a one sided wheel chair because he was not about to give up the fight. When he walked on all fours everyone cried - including our dog. So home he came and I had to put him in a crate on the bed. I shut the crate and went downstairs to make him a snack. Then I heard a dog drinking and assumed it was his easily manipulated brother - it wasn't - it was the "boss" who had helped his brother open the cage and enter it - and he had come down for a drink and to look for his lunch. My heart! I had to put a child-proof lock on the crate. There had better be a Rainbow Bridge. Our current dog is in awe of Dachshunds - he senses the bond. And they were the "biggest" dogs we ever had. Got along famously with Dobes - and would stand their ground when face with a Rotti (not the smartest move...). Our Dachshunds were all strays as well which is probably how we ended up with so many - and 4 cats. Fortunately we had one Alpha at the beginning and one at the end - two at one time might have been an issue. Although we did have a brilliant cat when our first brilliant Dachshund arrived. It was a big shock to her since she thought she had another hound to boss around. Our previous dog was also a hound of a different type - we loved him dearly - but not the brightest bulb - it took her about 3 seconds to realize that she had more than met her match. So they ruled us all together. Here is to your pup never experiencing the dreaded disc disease.
Lily316
eccentricOriginal Author
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