21 Weeks and Auggie

Starting Wednesday night Auggie has started to lose motor control in his back legs. It started with what looked like a fluke; he was laying in his bed and I asked him if he wanted to go outside and potty, and he jumped out of the bed but his back legs didn’t quite follow. Almost like he tripped over the bed. He then came slipping and sliding across the room to me. I caught him and picked him up, immediately trying to decide which emergency vet to take him to – the one we’ve been seeing or the university, where they could call the cardiologist for me. A minute later, I set him down, and he was fine. Like it never happened. We went outside and he went down the deck stairs, peed while hiking a back leg, then climbed back up the stairs, no problem.
But then it rapidly got worse. Standing eating his breakfast with his back legs shaking. Falling over when he got out of his crate and tried to shake off and his legs gave way underneath him.

The internet says when dogs with CHF lose control of their legs it’s not long to the end.

The cardiologist has us heading to our regular vet for some blood work to try and see what’s going on.

Kaner is 21 weeks today. One ear came up last night so I took them both out to see how they’re doing.

Slowly trying to be bigger than Auggie.

Not quite there yet… just not quite.

Auggie is still happy and still eating well, which is an important metric for Auggie. So I guess that’s good news.

Still happy.

He is my most wonderful dog.

He looks older, and in my opinion he aged quite rapidly – CHF will do that to you – but he’s still so handsome.

The smile hasn’t changed at all, though.

I love him the most.

Ears up. Looking a bit goofy without a lot of coat.

From the side. I think they are a teensy bit too high so I’ll try setting them a bit lower this time.

Eating sticks – his favourite outdoor game.

If you’re wondering where Payton is in the rest of these photos, he wouldn’t leave my side after I buried my face in his fur and sobbed “What are we going to do without our Auggie?” He’s a good boy.