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.

Puppy Love

Vito and Hermann's world has been turned upside down since Elle was born.  Hermann is thrilled with the new addition to our family.  He loves to go in her room, when she is sleeping he goes in to check on her and is right at her side if she ever starts crying.  One morning she started whining in her bed, I went to grab her bottle from the warmer and heard Hermann standing outside her door softly barking.  He was letting us know she is awake, get in here! I thought it was so cute that he softly barked instead of his normal Mermann howl.

Vito is slowly coming around to the idea that there is this new baby in the house who cries and takes up so much of our attention.  He is curious and will come up to her but he moves to another room if she cries, it disturbs his naps. :)

The other night after I put Elle down for bed I was looking around the house for the boys...I found them both laying together in her room.

We couldn't ask for 2 better dogs!  Love them!