A Very Doofy Christmas

(Did you know you can click on these pictures and see them at a larger size?)

A year is a long time for a little dog. Hurley had to be told about Christmas all over again...

At first he didn't believe it ...

But then he remembered last Christmas and was very happy ...

...because he remembered that Christmas means presents!

The first present of the day (and a lovely expanse of baldiness):

The duck-wrapped rawhide inside made Hurley a bit over-excited so we made him wait for his treat:

And then sent him for a bit of a time-out:

But there were more presents later for a keen hunter to find under the tree...

"Yay, biscuits!"

"Fresh breath biscuits? Are they trying to tell me something?"

"Okay, she has the bag open. Now how do I get one of those biscuits?"

"There's not really room to play dead."

"Perhaps if I lick my nose?"

"Or what about a cheesy grin?"

I can never resist a cheesy grin. And check out that pudgy pug tummy.

The least said about this next picture, the better.

Opening presents and devouring their contents is thirsty work:

And also very tiring. Off to bed ...

Sleep tight, Hurley.

One Week In

We are one week post-surgery. Here is Hurley blowing raspberries at the whole situation:

He is desperate to run and jump about and have a rough-and-tumble.

Mostly, he is stuck in here:

And at night he suffers the indignity of wearing one of these:

We bought him a soft cone because it's more comfortable for him, but also for us. One of the things we've learnt from going through this surgery a couple of times is that those hard plastic cones really hurt when they're rammed full-strength into the back of your leg.

He is a very frustrated boy right now. All he can do are a couple of 10 minute sloooow walks a day (well, hop-alongs really at this point). A few controlled cuddles on the floor. He is very itchy as his hair grows back (this was one of the hardest bits last time - it leads to lots of bum-shuffling and grumbling - it's clearly driving him mad). He's spending most of his time sleeping, chewing his nylabone and staring forlornly at us. He's desperate to get on the sofa in the evening so he can go to sleep cuddled up with us.

His bandage is off now, and he's just starting to brush his toes against the floor on our slow laps up and down the hallway.  

It's not all bad though - he's a very stoic boy, and we can always cheer him up with peanut butter and tummy rubs.

Back to His Old Self . . . Sort of

Hurley had a nice cuddle last night:

He's still holding his leg in the air most of the time as you can see in the photo above and in the next one. He is touching his toes to the floor sometimes as though he's trying it out. I don't really expect him to start putting any weight on it at all for a few days.

He also had some lovely smiles for us.

He's been a bit unhappy today - just uncomfortable and bored now his drugs are wearing off. He's still on painkillers for a few days and cold-compresses to keep the swelling down. He hates the cold-compress, and what with generally being fed-up he has spent most of today wearing this sort of expression:

We have had a few happy smiles from him though.

Home Again

Here is the boy, enjoying a belly rub. Home again, with another great big bandage on his knee...

...hopping about on three legs...

...exhausted...

...and very glad to be home.