err...been along time since my last post

So it has been a long time since my last post and I can't remotely remember what I even had planned for this blog. I think I have it written down somewhere...
Finn has certainly been getting much stronger since my last post and he has completely adjusted to being a house pet versus a feral dog. Just his personality indicates that he was always meant for love and adoration and maybe slight worship. My cat lucy has absolutely fallen in love with him and she always greats him with a rub against his face and then a flop at his feet. Finn is still not quite sure what to make of this.
My little tripod info for this post since it is winter and we are experience an insane amount of snow and ice - definitely fit your tripod with boots if they are walking in high salted areas! this has been the bane of our winter so far. Finn hates his booties so I try and juggle him wearing them only in extreme cold and high salt use days but there have been some nice snowy days when I thought he would be fine and wouldn't you know it but the whole street I choose to walk him down has gone and salted their sidewalks. Poor Finn just can't walk with salt on even just one of his paws and he curls up in a little ball on the ground and holds up the sore paw for me to wipe down for him. At least he has learned that mommy makes the pain go away and he is not so apprehensive when I rub his paws anymore. I have found some stores that let you buy boots in pairs and singles so you can buy only three and save a little money, but I personally like having all four and a spare - Finn does manage to wiggle out of those boots sometimes and its just a matter of time before we lose one :)

Stereotypes and Misconceptions

So the first thing i want to say to people who are considering adopting a three legged dog or have recently undergone an amputation, it this: Three legged dogs are exactly the same as 4 leggers.
That being said they do of course need some extra care and consideration, but three legged dogs live normal, healthy, active lifes just like any other dog.
The thing that i get all the time while walking Finn is "poor dog!" and people are always asking how he manages on only 1 front leg. He manages just fine. He can still run like the wind (faster than some dogs at the doggie park!) he can go for normal walks, he can play in the water (although he hasn't worked his way up to swimming), he plays just fine with other dogs and his energy level is the same as any other normal 2 year old dog. Owing a three legged dog is just like owning a four legger, you can still do all the same activities and play the exact same way! the only difference is they go about their life on 3 legs!
The thing to keep in mind when getting a three legger is that these dogs are NOT DISABLED! they live with a disability, but are completely able to lead normal lives. This is a concept most people can't seem to get their heads around. they see use walking and automatically go to the disabled placed and they feel sorry for finn and they praise me for taking in a disabled dog. Meanwhile finn is straining on his leash, walking faster than me! I'll be honest, i am getting VERY tired of people stopping me about Finn, there comes a point when you just want to walk your dog and not get pity and sympathy all the time - which is another thing to keep in mind when getting a three legged dog - you will be stopped ALL the time. you will REPEAT your story at least 2 a walk. You must be prepared for this as it can be quite frustrating when you know your dog is just fine, but everyone else is convinced otherwise.
When we first got Finn we were under the impression that he was a slow quite dog. Staff at the humane society assured us he needed a quite home, somewhere he could putter around. Well as Finn adjusted to his lost leg and his strength and stamina increased, he has evolved into a normal 2 year old dog. He needs the same amount of exercise and play time as any other dog his age. He gets 2 walks a day, a midnight pee break and many play breaks in the backyard. His mental health depends on these.
My Biggest advice when considering a three legged dog is to examine and evaluate your potential best friend based on the same factors as a normal dog - look at their breed, their temperament, personality. First you need to decide if you can handle the breed you are choosing and THEN look at the extra considerations for a three legged dog.
Finn is an alaskan husky and typically the breed info websites say they are not necessarily suited for a housepet life. And i belief it. Finn does have a high prey drive (he will chase anything that runs), he has an insane amount of energy and has a very strong desire to roam. combine this with the fact that he is very smart and he tends to get bored easily. which is why in spite of the fact he has lost a leg he needs so much work, attention and exercise. Which of course we weren't anticipating but of course absolutely love every minute of our walks :)

We are back!

So after much thought i have decided to continue on with the daily tripod, but with some changes. Originally i had intended this blog to be a personal blog about my dog Finn for my friends and family as well as for the staff at the humane society to keep up with him. However, the address was made public on the THS main webpage WITHOUT my permission which is why i stopped writing, i just wasn't comfortable with strangers knowing all that stuff about me and my dog and Finn is already very popular in my neighborhood as it is.
So the revamp is this, i'm going to focus on information about three legged dogs. One thing that has been very frustrating the past 4 months has been the extreme lack of information about taking care of three legged dogs, health concerns, specialized products, exercise requirements etc. so i'm going to use this blog to post any articles and information i learn in my quest to give Finn the best life possible!

Alaskan Husky!

So i have been spending a lot of time researching Finn's breeds and the more i compare him to huskies and shepherds the less convinced i am that he is german shepherd - i mean he could have some shepherd in him, but i think its very small. I work in a faunal lab, and i'm studying to become a zooarchaeologist which means i know animal bones, and skeletal morphologies so i'm basing most of my assumptions on what i can see and feel of Finns bones and confirmation. So based on his skull, what i can feel and what i can see, he has a wide but short snout typical of huskies - necessary for crunching bones, his skull is also wide and very robust, almost identical to the husky skulls we have in the lab, but it is very different in the muzzle to the shepherd, which is longer and pointed at the nose. Next is his posture. He has very long legs with a straight back. Shepherds have shorter back legs and a sloping back. Finn toes also are husky - he has long but wide toes which let him walk on top of the snow. He also has long legs and the long slender body of the Alaskan. Now the thing that makes everyone think finn is a shepherd (me included!) is his colouring. Well it turns out that alaskan huskies come in the same colours as finn, they can be black and grey but also tan and black and grays similar to the shepherds (i wouldn't be surprised if there is some shepherd in the creation of the breed). i have found pictures of Alaskan huskies that are the spitting image of Finn, they have the larger ears, some are floppy and some are pointed but most of the them are located lower down on their head like Finns- so basically my final conclusion is that Finn is all Alaskan Husky with some shepherd in his past! and i don't mean sorry to toot my own horn or come across pompous, but i have always been good at calling dog and horse breeds and im proud of my rather useless skill (though i have had fun impressing dog owners with obscure breeds). Behaviour is another factor. I have been watching husky videos and Finn has a lot of the same body movements, like how he tilts his head back and forth and how he throws his head back to bark. Oh and his WOOOOOO!!! he does bark when he's excited but when he just wants attention its all wooowooowoooo like a husky. And even with 3 legs he is can still be a handful! Though i don't care what breed of dog Finn is, i do think it is important to know what he is so i can understand and work with his ingrained temperament and energy levels. Like right now, despite having 2 walks and 2 runs in the backyard as well an hour sitting on the front porch watching people walk by, i can hear Finn barking at mom, he's a bit on the wrangy side tonight. i think its the raccoons. he really likes them. we are training him to not chase them, which is working well actually, but he still gets excited when he smells them or when he knows they are outside the house. i have no clue how he knows but he always gets antsy when they are in the backyard.
here are some pictures of Alaskan Huskies i have found, the resemblance is remarkable. Pay particular attention to the shape of the skull, where his nasals meet his fronts - ie his forehead, between his eyes - it is shallow like the alaskans, not like the siberians or even the shepherds.

Alaskan Pictures 1
Alaskan Pictures 2
Alaskan Pictures 3
Alaskan Pictures 4

ps. Finn and I just sat and watched 8 Below and that is a very sad movie! i know the dogs get rescused - but not all!!! i was crying and well Finn wasn't crying but he was watching intently with his ears up and his head tilting like crazy!

Couch Potato

Finnigan is a couch potato. thats not to say he doesn't like exercise or playing, we wrestle through the house and have 3 walks a day, but short of eating snow Finn's favorite activity is curling up on the couch and watching Pet Tv. Yes we ordered pet tv just for our dog. Don't get me wrong, i like it too, but i wouldn't have ordered it for myself thats for sure. Im not sure why, or what it is even, but boy does finn just love watching the dogs on TV. well any animal really. We went out for dinner tonight and left the tv on for Finn and when we came home, the channel had been changed and little doggy nose marks were all over the bottom of the screen. Something must have come on to tickle his fancy! well i must say though it is a relief, we can leave finn alone for a few hours and he's perfectly content with his cats, his couch and his favorite shows.

Big day

Well yesterday was a big day for Finn as well as a day of firsts. Mom and i had an appointment to get our hair cut and we had to walk by the doggy day care anyway so i thought why not call them and see if they are busy. It turned out that they only had 3 dogs in and they were all older, quiet dogs. It was perfect to help introduce Finn into more doggy socialization. So we took him down and he sniffed the other dogs, got humped by one of them - something he didn't appreciate, but they worked it out quickly and then after we left he just lied down with the other dogs and they all had a quiet afternoon! We are thinking of doing that a few more times on the weekends when they only have a few dogs in. Thats not to say Finn isn't good with other dogs, he's just cautious and sometimes wary. It takes him awhile to clue in when the other is trying to play with him. Anyway after we picked him up we decided to take him over to the dog wash store and see if they had a tub open for me to give him a bath and as luck had it they did! it took a little coaxing with some cookies and then a final lift into the tub from the stairs and Finn was in and getting washed! he as so good! he was a bit perturbed, but not remotely frightened or anxious. Still, i did make it a quick bomb through bath - only about 5 -10 minutes tops before getting him over to the grooming side. A few more cookies and a thorough towel dry and he was almost dry. I swear this dog is practically water proof. Metrohound is quite the doggy boutique so as his reward for such a good bath, we wondered around the store finding more toys for him as well as picking out a matched collar and leash set. my mom didn't really like the yellow flowered collar i had got him - in my defense it was teh only one Petvalu had in his size...but i must admit i do like having a red matching set. Luckily i had my camera and we were able to get some pictures of Finns first bath!

Crazy Dog!

ok first i have to address some issues that have kindly been pointed out to me by friends and family. I can't spell for beans and im rather lazy about editing my posts, hence the typos, bad grammer and bad spelling. i could fix this. i could take the time to edit out all these errors, but lets face it - im lazy. i have more interest in relating Finn's adorable antics rather than edit and present a polished post. and lets face it, this is the wonderful world of blogging, personal expression is more important than punctuation rigth? right?!? oh well maybe one day i will beleive that or i will smarten up and actually edit these things before they go up. Oh well.
On to Finn.
He has officially passed through his restricted exercise phase. we have had him now exactly one month so to celebrate i took him out into the backyard and let him go. He had a riot. he was bouncing in teh snow, throwing himself head first and running full tilt with his mouth gapping opening. He chased the snowballs i threw for him and would madly run circles before literally running head first into me and sliding to a stop right at my feet. I didnt have my camera so i wasnt able to capture the pure rapture on Finn's face of finally letting off 4 months of steam. So this week i plan on taking him out again and this time i will be equiped with my camera!
Admittedly, Finn's exuberance only lasted tops 10 minutes and about 1/3 of that was him lying in the snow rolling and eating it. So he still can't go for very long.