The Tripawd Times of Nova the Great Dane

This time last year Mom was not sure that I would even still be hopping this Earth for another Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Isn’t that silly?  Sure enough, here I am, hoppy and healthy, over one year after my amputation.  If you recall, last year Mom and Dad left me with the Sack family the week after my amputation to go to Arizona because Dad was signed up to do an Ironman triathlon that he had been training for.  They came back right before Thanksgiving.  I was still recovering, so Dad and I spent that Thanksgiving on the couch.  We both had swollen, aching legs.

This year, I got ditched again at Thanksgiving.  My family went to downtown Detroit to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning with over 14,000 other people.  Insane if you ask me.  They went down there last Wednesday night, so sent Emmy and I over to the Mears’ house for an overnight campout.  It was rough going for me at first, but I was able to settle in and get comfortable within an hour.  Being blind and all, I have not spent a long period of time anywhere but home, where I know the lay of the land.  I was scared when I was there at first because there were unfamiliar surroundings.  Everyone was being really sweet to me, and I recognized the Mears family (Heather, Terry, Connor, and Kayla) since they spend a lot of time at our house.  I spent the first half hour there scared and shaking in their kitchen.  The only safe place seemed to be in front of the oven (Heather was cooking ribs, YUM). So I just stood there shaking and howling.

Mom finally got a clue and realized that I had to go outside.  So she helped me get outside to pee and brought me back in to my bed and my stuffie.  I felt great after that. Mom brought both of our beds so we could have “smells of home”.  I was a good girl all night and got lots of snuggle time in with Heather.  I only bumped my head once, and only knocked over 1 glass of wine with my tail, so that is a pretty good record for new territory.

Mom and Dad came back from Thanksgiving dinner the next day with a big bag of turkey leftovers.  Emmy was being a hog and practically knocking Mom over to get the good stuff.  I was more patient.  See what a good girl I am waiting for my turkey?

I'm a GOOD girl!

I'm a REALLY GOOD girl!

YUM!!!