Hermann the Mermann

Hermann, our beloved basset hound, has had a pretty rough past 6 months.  Around the middle of October we noticed he was moving a little slower and this progressed to where we could tell he was in pain.  Per our vet's recommendation we tried cage rest for 2 weeks but he didn't seem to be getting any better.  In November he got to the point where he was barely walking so the Tuesday before Thanksgiving we took him to the animal hospital in Columbia and had to leave him there for back surgery with a projected 5-7 day recovery time.  Well, one surgery turned into 2 surgeries and a 2 week hospital stay. We so badly just wanted our Mermann home before Elle was born!

We were able to bring him home 2 weeks before Eleanor arrived.  He wasn't walking but had regained bladder control and was showing signs of pain sensations in both legs, Hallelujah!!

Visiting Hermann at the hospital in Columbia after his surgeries

Hermann on cage rest, Vito decided to join him :)

We are so grateful for Hermann's recovery so far.  He is still pretty wobbly on his back legs but he can pull himself up to walk.  There are so many things Hermann used to do that I know he will never be able to do again since his back injury so I wanted to make a list so I never forget:

- At the drop of a hat he would run flying through the house ready to play
- Occasionally would run downstairs and "dig" on the carpet leading into our basement.  We would always joke that he was digging a hole to China and beg him not to leave. :) We are weird. :)
- He loved jumping on the couch to sit on our lap.  He had to be in our lap, he wasn't satisfied with laying next to you.
- If he didn't start the night in our bed he would always end up there.  In the morning he would lay at the top of the bed and nudge us repeatedly with his head to wake us up
- Loved going for walks to walk around our subdivision pond (hoping he will still be able to do this!)
- We call one of our spare bedrooms "Hermann's room" because he would jump on the bed and lay in there all the time
- Loved playing fetch with his toys (he can still do this but can no longer race across the house)

Here's hoping he continues to recover.  He is still our crazy Hermann the Mermann... just a bit slower and no more jumping!  I think Hermann is ok with that, he's got more important things to do...like guarding his little sister.