Super Stu!

Brave, Handsome boy!

Monday, July 10th – Surgery Day!

Today is the big day! Stewie had to be woken up at 6am to get his medication. Poor lad was looking at me like I was crazy. He never eats that early! It took rolling his pill pockets in cat food, in order to get the pills down him. He’s on to me!

Both Paul & I are very quiet today, totally wrapped up in our own thoughts and concerns. I have been writing this journal all morning, just to keep my mind occupied.
The closer we get to town the sicker I am feeling! Please God! Be with Stewie today.

Paul, Stewie and I arrived at the vets at 8:30am. He took care of business like an old pro and came into the vets with us, but then he saw the doctor and said “Oh Crap!” He was high tailin’ it out of there as fast has his poor leg would take him.

We took him into a back kennel after he had been administered a drug to help him vomit. Just in case there was anything left in his tummy. Thankfully nothing came up and he managed to calm down quite a bit. We stayed with him for a few minutes, all 3 of us locked in the kennel together, you can well imagine how it looked…! Then the doctors wanted to get down to business. We hung around just to be sure he got a smooth start and he was on the table getting shaved by 9am.

Paul was very upset that we couldn’t stay with him until he went to sleep, but like Dr. Bill said, they want to concentrate on Stewie without distractions. It’s very hard to explain that the doctors just need to do their job and go into action as soon as possible. Time was of an essence as it was going to be a very long surgery.

We are a half hours drive from our property to the vets and the trip home for Paul and I was introspectively quiet, as we both said our own silent prayers.

We have been told that it is a 2-3 hour surgery, so we have been waiting by the phone, anxiously awaiting the call. It is now 12:30pm and we still haven’t heard from them about our boy!😰

I know that I just need to keep calm and keep in mind that they are not going to call untill he wakes up. This self chat is not working….!😰

By 1:00pm I was going stir crazy. My mind was imagining the worst! Both Paul and I were starting to get snappy with each other from the stress… Understandable, but not nice all the same!

I jumped on the available help line, which was Tripawds. I obviously couldn’t call anyone, as it would tie up the phone line, so I reached out to the incredibly informative site, tripawds.com. They have a live chat line with people available to talk to, through out the day. All I needed was the reassurance that he was a really big dog and the surgery would take time. Jerry’s Pack came right on line and assured me that surgeries differ from dog to dog. If I was at all concerned, I should call… so I did!

Thankfully, they had just finished up and Dr. Bill came on the phone. He told me that it had taken longer than expected, and that it had taken 45 minutes for them to shave him down before the surgery even got started. He was breathing on his own and will be kept heavily sedated until tomorrow morning. If he is doing well, he can come home. Dr. Bill did tell me though that he is not out of the woods yet, the next 24 hours are the most critical!

Now I can phone Sam, Kinnie and Anne…! Plus I called Mrs. Brenda. All of Stewie’s important people!

I spent the afternoon replying to all the beautiful Facebook messages, updating all the Stewie supporters on his condition. Then I spent the evening doodling around with Tripawds website and writing Stewie’s first blog! His heading is “Super Stewie’s  journey into becoming a Tripawds hero!”

We are amazed and truly grateful, that our little town of Nakusp has a veterinary clinic that is capable of such a big surgery and a staff that is qualified to do so!
A huge Thanks to Dr. Bill Sones, Dr. Laurie Page, Jackie & Lori

The Super Team that saved Stewie’s life!

Our Mountain Dog & his Dad!

You may have met our boy “Super Stu!” In his previous blogs. He is our beautiful Bernese/Rottweiler cross and he is now 7 1/2 years old. He joined our family in 2015, when he was 5 years old and we hoped to spend another 5 good years with this beautiful, smart & loyal companion.

The decisions that have had to be made on behalf of our gentle giant have been both painful and taxing on us all, but we believe that we have made and will continue to make, the right choices for him. Our fears, doubts and concerns will be a thing of the past once we can get our boy through this very difficult journey to becoming a Tripawd Hero!

Here is Stewie’s story from the point when we found out that he had Osteosarcoma…

Diagnosis > Prognosis.

Wednesday, July 5th
We took Stewie into the vets to see why he was limping for the last two weeks & progressively getting worse.
Dr. Bill noticed a swelling in his front left forepaw. An X-ray showed that Stewie has Osteosarcoma in the largest bone in his forearm. We could see it plain as day on the film. A section of the bone was essentially shattered! So very painful!

He told us that this disease in incurable and if we don’t amputate, then we will have to euthanize in 4-6 weeks due to the massive pain that he will be in!
Our first reaction was, God no, we can’t take his leg off! We were sent home with lots of pain medication to see him through, basically putting him into palliative care!
Of course when we got home, we were still in shock and were trying to come to terms with the fact that we only had a few weeks left with our boy! We then started our research and discovered (just as Dr. Bill had said) that if we amputate, Stewie’s pain will be gone, 100%! Plus, we would more than likely have him around for another 4-6 months, before the disease mastized to his lungs.
If we choose chemotherapy on top of that we MAY (or may not) give Stewie another year, possibly 2.
We decided that the next day, we would get an X-ray of Stewie’s lungs & make our next decision from there.

Thursday, July 6th
Stewie can no longer put any weight on his leg. We can now see the very subtle signs that indicate the pain that he is in. We have also discovered that dogs are exceedingly good at hiding their pain. An instinctual habit that keeps them from being left behind by the pack. We were more determined than ever!
We were blessed with a clear picture of both of Stewie Lungs. We decided right there and then to schedule Stewie for his surgery and when that is over with and his stitches come out, he will start his Chemo. A minimum of 4 sessions…  a maximum of 6.
Stewie’s amputation surgery is scheduled for Monday, July 10th.

Our beautiful boy!

Friday, July 7th
Stewie seams to be handling his medications. They appear to be relaxing him and keeping him relatively comfortable.

We are trying to stay strong for him and not show him that we are distressed, but it is super hard not to cry when we think of the future that is in store for him!

Saturday, July 8th
Today we had a party and a friend brought her dog over. We had planned on keeping Stewie in the house, but he was getting too stressed out at being left alone inside the house. We brought him out to meet his new friend and both dogs did great. They really wanted to play together and it was a bit of a chore to get them to finally kick back and relax. To say the least we all had a busy day and Stewie was exhausted, but our boy got to hang out like a normal member of the family, so I was happy about that.

Sunday, July 9th
We spoiled our boy rotten today. He had whatever he wanted. We tried however to leave him in the basement, when we went down to the beach, but he was not going to be left behind! So he and I trudged slowly down to the dock, me supporting Stewie with his harness. Big job, but we got there. He was just happy to be with us!
On a whim, we decided to go out for an hour on the Toaster. Just as we were heading off, his favourite person, Anne showed up. Perfect timing! Stewie thoroughly enjoyed his day out!
For supper Stewie had steamed cod & kibble. He got a really good brushing from Mum, thoroughly soaking up the attention!

Stewie is ready for his big day!

Tomorrow is going to be a big day and a new beginning for all of us…

Watch for the continuation of Stewie’s journey into becoming a Tripawd Hero.

Super Stu!

Stewie’s Life With The Allen Clan &

The Discovery Of Osteosarcoma.

Super Stewie in Paradise!

Hi, my name is Petra & I’m Stewie’s Mum. Stewie’s Dads name is Paul and he has feline brothers called Spike & Chester and a sister named Miss Lily.

if you didn’t already check out Stewie’s previous blogs “Meet Stewie Prior To His Life With The Allens”, he asked that you do so, ’cause he is very proud of his puppy pictures! (like his sister, Miss Lily, he’s a bit of a primadonna!)

Stewie is now a 7 year old Bernese/Rottweiler/Retriever cross. One of the most loyal, loving and intelligent dogs my husband & I have ever known! (& I’ve known some pretty wicked dogs in my life!) We are full supporters for adoption and if we could house all of the strays in our area, we would. We have however, limited ourselves to 3 cats and a dog to round off our splendid family unit. We don’t have human babies, so we surround ourselves with the unconditional love of the four (& soon to be 3!) legged fur babies.

Stewie had a pretty unstable and undisciplined life, in many different homes, before coming to ours. He was always being sent back to his original Mom, time and time again. We won the jackpot when Stewie became part of our family!

Stewie became a part of the Allen Clan in April of 2015. We decided to adopt Stewie, after knowing him in & around our small town in British Columbia. We had recently lost our beautiful girl Abbey, a great Pyranese, who had passed away due to brain cancer

YabaDabaDoo & Rylee Kitten. Two girls in love!

Even though we had met Stewie a few times (and fell instantly in love with his character) at the General store, in our little town of Nakusp, where one of his Aunties and his original Mom worked, we had heard horror stories about how vicious he was and that he had attacked numerous animals, etc.

We were a little anxious due to the fact that we had two (at that time) cats at home whom we were extremely protective of. But I love dogs and I had been a mobile dog groomer in the past. I felt that we had the right frame of mind and the right attitude to turn Stewie around and give him a dogs’ dream home for the rest of his life.

“Stewie & Chesters Nap Time!”

“Partners in crime!”

I figured Stewie and I were going to be heading into 3 months of “good dog” boot camp. But Stewie showed us just how much he wanted to stay in this new piece of paradise in the Kootenay mountains… he was nothing but a gentleman. It didn’t take long for him to stop being fixated on the little creatures that would prowl around him at all hours of the day and in a very short time, became best friends with our 3 year old redhead, named Chester.

Spike’s making sure Dad feeds him first!

Our 18 year old Main Coon, called Spike, was another story! Ha! As much as Stewie wanted to be friends, Spike just told him that “there were certain feline rules that Stewie must follow, but wouldn’t be given those rules until he breaks them!” And when that happens Spike Himself would take care of the situation! Ha! (to this day Stewie will prefer to take the long way around, rather than pass through that gauntlet!)

Stewie’s sister Miss Lily!

Miss Lily, our adopted, two year old flame point Siamese arrived in October of 2016, he didn’t even have to be told to make a wide birth around this little Madame!

Stewie is 100%, the most perfect boy in the world! We have no fences around our property and tons of wild life. So the temptation for a dog to want to roam (like our disa-Pyrenees!) and chase after the deer, coyotes and bears, is huge! But Stewie showed us right from the start, that if he was going to do a good job of protecting us, he would definitely need to stay close to home.

When Stewie first arrived, Paul & I could hop in the car and leave Stewie to guard the house while we were gone. But that summer, we went to Calgary to visit family and attend a wedding. We decided not to take Stewie with us, as we weren’t totally sure at this point yet, how he would be with our families children and lots of other dogs.
Up until this point he had shown aggression with other dogs, so we decided that it would be best to leave him with his original Mum (Aunty Sandy) for the few days that we would be gone.

When we picked up our boy on the way home, he did a double take and started running circles around the house! Literally! He did the track 3 times and then came and fell into our laps! He was so wound up happy, he needed to run off all the excessive energy before he could greet us properly!

“Anywhere You Go, I Go!”

We were never able to leave him home alone again…! The times that we tried, he chewed the bannister and pulled the curtains down on the front door! So from then on forward, it was ‘Me & You & a Dog Named Stu!’ We didn’t mind most of the time. He is a super sociable dog with humans and loves been the star of the show wherever we go! He especially loves his boat ride and is the Captains Mate on The Toaster!

Many people knew our Stewie, prior to becoming a permanent member of the Allen Clan, but they knew him as the “beautiful but troublesome dog. But he has shown all of them that the dog they knew before, was nothing like this new and improved Stewie. He has made many new and steadfast friends.

Stewie’s People

The summers are an issue for our heavy coated boy though. We can reach temperatures of 40 degrees C in the summer and it would be lovely if we could leave him in our basement, where it is way cooler. But he is our fur baby, so if we are going to be out for an extended time, his Favorite Person, Anne, spoils him rotten and he doesn’t mind at all! He really loves his road trips though so we don’t mind bringing our boy along.

You never realize what benefit it is to have a fur baby that listens, until you need it the most. When dealing with a sick 110lb dog, it is critical, as you know to have them stay, stand and other simple commands. Even more so now that I need to ask my boy to wait for me to open doors, to stop licking, to get shoes on to go outside (Mum puts shoes on, Stewie doesn’t.), or to simply just stay and rest. He exceeds at this!

My husband Paul has formed a very special bond with our Stewie boy and to see the two of them together, makes me smile when I think of how Stewie has got Daddy wrapped right around his big paws!

A Day Out On The Toaster

Super Stu’s Cancer story began a couple of months ago. (but it was not immediately clear that we had a major problem on our hands.) it was late into the evening & I noticed Stewie obsessively licking his front left leg. I thought it was a bug bite as he has experienced that before and it appeared to me to be the same behaviour.
I rubbed some Benadryl over the area, even though I couldn’t see anything definitive, and cooled it off with a damp towel. He must of tried to get through that towel for 2 hours,  with me gently telling him to stop licking. He finally collapsed into exhausted sleep. He seemed perfectly normal the next day!

Then a couple of weeks ago he started with a limp. We thought it was his shoulder, as he had had issues with that area in the past. But when the limp started getting worse instead of better, we decided to go & see his doctor…

On Wednesday, July 5th 2017, we were given the news that changed our lives with our boy forever! Most of you know that feeling of devastation that we felt, when we were given the horrifying news that we were going to lose our loverboy in 4-6 weeks due to Osteosarcoma, If we didn’t amputate his limb. The reason that we would have to euthanize at that point would be due to the extreme pain that our boy will be in by that time!
My husbands first reaction was an absolute “No” to the amputation, “how could we possibly do that to him?!” We were thinking very humanlike!…

After many hours of tears flowing, internet research and talk, talk, talking… We decided to have an X-ray taken of Stewie’s lungs the next day and see what our chances were for proceeding with the next step? At the very least, we needed to seriously consider the surgery to amputate Stewie’s front leg. It would be the only way to alleviate his immediate pain and at the very least, it could give us 4-6 months with our boy, rather than the all too soon, 4-6 weeks.

So the following day, we took some pictures of Stewie’s lungs and they came out beautifully clear! (for the time being!🤞) So then the next big question to the vet, was to ask if we could schedule Stewie’s surgery for the amputation. The sooner the better in our mind!

We are scheduled for Monday July 10th 2017. We have a ton of support from family and friends and even people we’ve never met, it’s all very humbling! Our focus is on the next two weeks, helping our boy back into the new world of Tripawds and even though we are keeping a stiff upper lip for our boy, we are also terrified! Fear & doubt played hugely on our minds! I can’t explain the horrifying nightmares I have had since we made the decision to amputate!

It has been a tough day anticipating what’s to come over the next few days. But knowing that I have my husbands support, (he has a heart the size of Jupiter,) I realize that with the right attitude we can all get through this with flying colours! As my dear old Uncle Brian used to say, Stewie is a “Right Champion!”

I have been relying heavily on information on this incredible site for Tripawds! (tripawds.com) You have all been incredibly helpful and we so appreciate it! I have already started receiving word of encouragement from some of your members and it is incredibly comforting to know that all of you have “been there, done this”! Your words and information are invaluable!

I will continue to tell Stewie’s story, but it may be in a few days when we all have our proverbial feet back on the ground!

Thanking you 0n behalf of my family, but especially on behalf of our Super Stu Tripawd Hero!

Our Majestic Mountain dog!

All the very best from The Allen Clan
Petra, Paul, Stewie, Spike, Chester and Miss Lily xxxxxx

Hi Folks

My name is Stewie and I was born in February, 2010. My Hoomans have told me that my parents were a mix of Bernese Mountain dog, Rottweiler & Retriever.

Super Stu Mountain Dog!

Meet Super Stu’s Mummy.

Me as a baby, right smack in the middle!

I think i ate too much ice cream!

Ever since I can remember, I have been told that I am sooooo adorable! I have been loved by all, but tamed by few! I am a very smart boy and I know that with one of my many doe eyed looks, I could pretty muchg get away with anything!

These lips were made for kisses… who wants one?!

I will always remember & be forever grateful to my first home with my Hoomans, Aunty Sandy & Aunty Val. Not only did they introduce me to the wonderful world of  true hooman love and treats, but they have always had open arms when I needed to come back to them. The bonus was that whenever I wanted, I would jump over my fence and trot downtown, to my Aunty Val’s store. She would always let me hang out in the back room while she was working. I would also go and visit my Aunty Sandy at her work. Her bosses usually let me stay for a visit.

You see,  even though I am the most lovable dog in the world to most hoomans, I wasn’t told how to behave around other animals. Whether it was to play a little more gently, or to stop when I felt the urge to run after something. (especially when they are moving really fast away from me!) I couldn’t help myself, my gut told me to do it! Honest!

I Think I’m a Big Boy Now!

I have gotten myself into a lot of naughty situations, I’m a little embarrassed to talk about them actually. But this is what has caused me to go from one home to another & another & another… let’s just say I remember a lot of of other faces & places.

One of my saddest experience was with my Hoomans Mrs Cathy & Mr Doug. They called me Quinn. They absolutely adored me, but they couldn’t dedicate their time to me, as  Mrs Cathy got sick with cancer. I lived with them for 3 whole years, before Mrs Cathy went to her Rainbow Bridge. So once again I had to go back to my Aunty Sandy.

I remember meeting my (future) pawrents at my Aunty’s store. They would always ask to see me and I would come flying around the corner so that they could lavish their adoration all over me. I didn’t know it at the time, but if my Paul and my Petra hadn’t had a beautiful Great Pyranese to fill their home, they would definitely have taken me in as their forever pet!

If I had known back then, I might have been a little jealous, but I was very sorry to hear that they lost their Abbey girl to Brain Cancer in April of 2015.

Mum told me this story much later, but what I came ro understand was that Dad had said to Mum after they had lost their Abbey girl, “What do you think about getting another dog?” To which Mum had replied, “Not so soon & definitely not another big dog as it is horrid taking care of them when they get sick, ’cause you can’t just pick them up in your arms to give them a proper cuddle…” To which my Dad replied, “what about Stewie?” I guess it didn’t take long for my Mum to say “Okay, let’s go see Sandy” There has never been a luckier pup alive at that moment in the whole universe!

It was Easter weekend that I went to (originally just spend the night!)  my future Mum & Dads place, as they weren’t sure if I was going to behave around their cat kids, Spike & Chester. But I had other plans…

When I arrived I Knew I had to be on my best behaviour. I could already tell that I really, really, REALLY wanted to stay!  This place was a dogs heaven on earth, I mean you should see it! Acres of paths to run around, a run around vehicle that I get to hop into and the lake! I could run along the shores for miles if I wanted! There’s no fences, so I had to prove to them that I wouldn’t runaway, but that would take time. There were bears to chase away and lord knows, tons of other critters that could hurt this precious family! I needed to stay here!

That first day, Easter weekend 2015, (a date I will never forget!) they took me down to the beach and I couldn’t hold myself back! I ran and I ran & after that I ran circles around these wonderful people, telling them that I love it and could I stay, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! They were laughing right along with me, I knew I had them hooked by that point!

But that was when my bum shoulder kicked in! Because I am a jumper, I wrenched my shoulder a while back and sometimes it hits really hard and it hurts really bad! I was worried that they wouldn’t want me because I was broken, but my new Humans were super concerned and because they have huge hearts, they decided, pretty much right then that I would be a part of their family forever!

“I am so not moving!”

A Day Out On The Toaster

A beautiful day out on The Toaster!

My life has never been the same since! I am the happiest luckiest dog in the world and I would do anything for my Mum and Dad and my sister and brothers. I’ll make sure that nothing ever hurts them while I am here on this planet!

please stay tuned to my story. Mum said that she is going to write the next post, as it gets a bit more emotional for me to talk about. plus Mum types quicker Than I do! So until then all you brave Tripawds out there, make room for me ’cause Stewie will be entering the building! Ha! (that was just a little Hoomans hoomer!)

“This is as Deep as I go…”

Our Majestic Mountain dog!

Rots of Ruv from Stu Butt! ❤

Join Super Stewie and his Furmily on his TriPawdian Journey!

Super Stewie!