Herbie in the snow Feb 8 2007

Herbie in the snow 2007
Originally uploaded by madmkh.

Herbie got to frolic in the snow. This was the day all our schools closed because a couple of inches of snow fell and I got to stay in bed til late because of it. :)

Herbie in Pocket Park

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Originally uploaded by madmkh.

Here he is sniffing around on one of his favourite walks. He now always wears one of these body halters instead of the face halter he was always wearing out before he got ill.

Herbie and Jenny

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Originally uploaded by madmkh.

Herbie was visiting with the girls for the first time since he got ill. He had a lovely evening hanging out on Jenny's lap!

Stabilised

Herbie state has plateaued.

He hasn't fully regained his balance and so stumbles alot and holds his head to one side. But he hasn't experienced any of that terrible pain he had since the 5th December.

He spent a few days in kennels and although they looked after him very well, he came out a few steps back from his recovery.

So we are starting again. Slowly climbing up the hill behind the house. The first day we got all the way up to the top, was a wonderful day and we topped it the next by going through the wood - his favourite walk.

Herbie status

This was from ages ago, but never posted!

10 days on, and Herbie is still eating ravenously!

He can't balance very well and weaves from side to side; this makes going along small pavements pretty tricky, but we're both learning.

He seems to have forgotten some of his training - heel is obviously a mystery to him!

So we'll just start all over again.

Herbie as he was

herbie
Originally uploaded by madmkh.

This was us out on the 2004 Oxfam Walk. Herbie, Rick, Holly, Kim, Jenny and I raised about £170 walking 7 miles.

Herbie after his milogram

Herbie after his milogram,
originally uploaded by madmkh.

I took this photo the day after Herbie got out of his second Hospital (Queen's Vetinary School in Cambridge) visit. They found a couple of compressions on the vertebrae in his neck, but nothing that really explained the intense painful episodes he had been experiencing and nothing dramatic enough to demand surgery. Also nothing to explain the facial paralysis he got at about the same time the pains began. Generally, he seemed to be doing okay - no better no worse - except that they discharged with the runs, very messy with a big dog!

However, the day after this photo was taken (on Friday 2nd December) he was struck with "idiosyncratic" vestibular syndrome; he couldn't get himself up, and when standing couldn't balance.

Thanks to his wonderful vet (David Urwin in Linton, Cambs) and after a weekend of pretty intensive attention, he can now go out to do his business with a bit of support, has a tremendous appetite and even got himself up off his bed on his own yesterday evening.

This poor lovely dog, hopefully his own resiliance will see him through.