Hooray hooray, the staples are gone

And with them the collar (or disc - might be more accurate). Vet visit was Thursday, and it's definitely easier the 2nd time around... to a point. About a mile or two away from the vet, still on the highway, Jack started getting antsy. He definitely knew "where" he was. Once we got inside, the same vet tech came out to assess him, and Jack had absolutely NO intention of letting this guy take him anywhere. I even saw his hackles go up at first... leaving me thinking, "no, please do not eat this nice man, he's trying to help you", but it was all fine; we did the same "fake out" maneuver, all three of us walking to the back, and then they go through and I turn around and go sit down. Every time the door opened I could hear Jack's 'chirps' (he does this, it's a short, high pitched sound, when he can't see us and he knows we're there, I interpret it as "hey, I'm right here, where are YOU"), he wasn't real pleased with being back with these folks that always seem to cause him pain.

But even faster than the first time, out he came, trying with all his might to come back to me, and getting no traction whatsoever on that linoleum floor. Surgical site's healed up and his use of the leg is very good at this stage (I rated him at about 85%, almost no evidence of limping or favoring - not bad 2 weeks after invasive surgery).

So we're in the downhill slope now, with every day getting better and better, legs getting stronger, and slowly getting back to normal. Jack's still in jail for the next few weeks, but before we know it he'll be back for X-rays, and then it's free reign of the house, out for walks, life back in the real bedroom, and eventually freedom to go back outside and run, chase, guard... basically be Jack.

As I type this, Jack has eviscerated a toy that to date had proved much more resistant (must have just not had his full attention - it's dead now, you can see the final carnage in this picture). We're now going to see how this Tuffies dog toy stands up. Suposedly from the website a 300# tiger was given one of these things and couldn't destroy it. Jack for the first time today started giving this thing some serious attention... we'll see. More to come next weekend.