Goya "rights" his feet - 2apr06

Good news. When Goya was "hanging out" in the livestock sling this morning, he "righted" his front feet as I was lowering him down to get into position to defecate. All previous days, as he was lowered, his front feet would curl back towards his chest and his weight would be on the tops of the foot instead of his pads. We would have to take each foot and place it into position. The vet said this would be the last ability to return to him as he gets more and more control over his extremities.

Later, I had him hanging next to me near the flowers while I read the Sunday comics. His feet were was touching the ground, so his legs could be out straight and he could get the feel of some weight on his feet, and he moved his feet appropriately for a few "steps" to deliberately move his body closer to mine to put his head on my lap. They didn't turn upside down, but kept the pads touching the ground. Good boy!

I'm sorry that we haven't had time to type in all the precursors to this progress -- like how we use a livestock sling to get him outside. So readers might not have any idea what I am talking about. But I also want to enter progress (and set-backs) as they happen so we get an accurate account instead of vague months-old memories. So this blog will be a combination of real-time events and reminiscences.