Happy Birthday!

Today is Kepler's first birthday. My little man is growing up and I have so many good memories of the last year with him. He is constantly entertaining me, and he always knows how to have a good time. Mr. Kepler can be cheeky at times, but all in all he turned out to be a great dog!

Ugh not again!

It seems at any point in time I only have 1 dog that I can do active things with. At this moment in time that dog is Tycho. Who'd have thought Tycho would be my hiking buddy! Tyke and I went to Bridgeman earlier this week, and just got home from a steep hike up by Dempsey. He still gets a bit sore after hiking, but not nearly as bad as a few years ago. I'm slowly rehabbing him to being around other dogs. He's been a bit grouchy with other dogs (to say the least) since being in pain from the hip dysplasia. I overload him with treats whenever we see other dogs and hopefully he will eventually get back to his usual playful self with other dogs.

So what happened to Mr. Kepler you may ask. Well as all little brothers do, he idolizes his big bro Tyke and wants to be just like him. Right down to the bionic leg. Yes thats right, Kepler has hip dysplasia and will be having hip replacement surgery in the next month or two.

I noticed Kepler starting to limp more and more during and after exercise so last week I x-rayed him again and he definitely has a problem. I went to see the surgeon on Monday (thanks Erika, Jody and Lolo for the support!) and the sooner Kep has surgery the better his recovery should be. Keep in mind this type of surgery requires strict kennel rest for about 3 months and only 5-10 minute walks for weeks after that. It'll be at least 5 months before I can take him for any decent walk, and 6 months before he can hike again! Any ideas for keeping a 1 year old Border Collie mix confined to a kennel for 3 months?? Seriously I need ideas people! He's fine to chill for a week or so without a good hike but this sounds impossible. I don't really want to put off the surgery for too long since right now he is pretty sore after just a 30-40 minute off-leash walk, and the longer I wait the more muscle atrophy he will have.

I am still letting him have a bit of fun in the meantime. I take him on short hikes (without his girlfriend Bella since she and him have way too much fun together and it makes him really sore) and tomorrow we're heading back to Hope for another go at sheepherding. He was just 5 months old the first time we went up there so I'm really curious to see how he does. I'll be posting pics of sheepherding when I can.