Chloe the Boxer

Chloe left us on March 18, 2023. She was 13 years old.

She was born on February 15, 2010. Chloe, Chloe-Bear, Momma-Bear, Bear, Donkey, Ding-Dong. She physically left us on March 18, 2023, joining Jenson at the rainbow bridge. She will always be in our hearts.

She joined our family as a puppy. Her energy was unstoppable, and everyone who met her fell in love. She welcomed Jenson into our pack, and after he left, she welcomed Blue two months ago.

The original block captain, she was the first to let us know if the yard was invaded by bunnies or if we had a guest.

She always found a ray of sun to sleep in. She was equally fond of resting in the path of the lawn mower requiring significant human effort to get her to move. Always wanting to be included in the conversation, she often yelled at us when we were on work calls.

The kiddos called her Momma Bear. She loved Jack, Ava, and William. She loved to snuggle with them and mother them. She always kept tabs on her kiddos. She really loved to lay in the middle of whatever mess they were making.

She became a tripawd on her 6th birthday. She lived 7+ years of her life on 3 legs, beating the odds and defying expectations. We made accommodations, adding rugs and non-slip tape, lifting her into cars and onto beds. Less walks, more rest, and a 25% discount on her nail trims. Prior to her amputation surgery, we were worried about her quality of life after surgery. With 7+ years of experience on three legs, we can say that she did incredible. We certainly had challenging times watching the strength of her front ankle and shoulder, especially at the end. Mobility challenges at the end aside, no regrets about the amputation. She was somewhat famous at the vet for being a tri for so long.

For the last year we’ve watched her slow down. A trip upstairs to the bedrooms became rare. Most of her days were spent napping, and her accidents became frequent. Life is complicated with an old dog, and we had many quiet conversations about when it was time. Getting too weak to fully stand, even refusing the stinkiest of dog treats, cheese, and lunch meat, (for many reasons) we knew it was time. She rested her strong front paw in our hands at the end, and died knowing how deeply she was loved.

We miss you already, Bear.

Thank you to the Tripawds community for all of the info and support you provided. Chloe lived a long, wonderful life and the decision to have her surgery was much easier with all the help you provided.

It’s been a very long time since we’ve updated. I just wanted to share with the Tripawds community that yesterday was Chloe’s 12th birthday, and today is her 6th anniversary of her amputation.

We said goodbye to Chloe’s four legged boxer brother, Jenson, ten days ago. It’s been emotionally difficult to have two aging boxers, and yet every month with Chloe has felt like borrowed time. We hoped, but never expected, that she would be with us as long as she has with such a life changing surgery.

Chloe rested next to Jenson a lot during his last days with us. They were a very close and bonded pair.

An aging front tripawd boxer is not without challenges. Stairs are getting increasingly difficult for Chloe, and she’s less certain on her feet when trying to jump into bed with one of her three human kids or onto the couch.

It felt like such a scary and stressful choice 6 years ago, but time has allowed us to see how freeing it was to have Chloe’s leg amputated. She has doubled the years in her life now, and while we know she’s slowing down – we will continue to keep her comfortable and love her as long as she is comfortable and able.

 

I know we are long overdue to give an update (take this as a sign that things are going pretty great!), but I had to share this picture of puppy Chloe, taken 6 years ago!

Chloe’s first rehab/physical therapy appointment last Friday went really well. No real surprises – more to come later in the week about that!

The doctor encouraged us to give the stairs a try, with her harness.

I’m not convinced we have the right fit on her harness, as it twists a bit on her. She doesn’t seem fond of it – I think the twisting makes her short hairs poke her a bit. So she seems extra apprehensive when wearing it, which makes her apprehensive on the stairs. Her butt/back end comes out to the side, I’m not sure if she’s doing that on purpose to keep her balance, or if it’s part of her new weight distribution. Chloe just does not seem confident when faced with going down the stairs, and this morning she just didn’t want to do it at all. Then I feel stressed, and she feels stressed, and can you see where this is going? (Reminder: be more dog!)

I wish there was something more one piece/stretch in all directions/fitted to her body that served as a harness. I’ll keep looking, and maybe try to rig something up.

Good news, is that going up the stairs is a breeze. She’s very comfortable, very confident, and a little too fast.

Because of the stairs anxiety, she doesn’t want to be in her crate when we are gone. Which is an issue. Chloe & Jenson do not have the personality types for being out in the house on their own. J cleared the baby gate last week, ate some shoes (he never destroys unless he’s home alone & anxious), and used the potty in every room of the house. Crate training keeps them safe, and keeps us sane. So, I’m wondering if anyone has experience with dog pheromones? The doctor recommended giving those a try, but I should have asked more questions because I’m not sure where to start.

Chloe-bear’s one month ampu-versary has come and gone without an update! Life has been b.u.s.y. BUSY in our house. Chloe is moving so quickly now that getting an okayish picture of her with my phone has been hard! But we are all doing really well.

We have still not tried the stairs with Chloe, but in my gut I think that she’d take them like a champ, wondering what we were so worried about. I had it on my to-do list for the weekend, to fit her Webmaster harness/brush guard to her body, but once again I did not get that accomplished.

I mentioned to Joe, before Chloe’s surgery, that she seemed less happy. Her nub was wagging less, she didn’t seem as excited to see us. This weekend, it occurred to me that her nub is wagging almost constantly now. I have no regrets about having the amputation performed, but realizing that her happy is back when I never even knew it was missing, was a great realization. We already knew that we did the right thing, but all the little signs confirming that are comforting.

On Friday, Chloe has an appointment with Twin Cities Animal Rehab. We hope that Tripawds Foundation still has grants available once we’ve finished our visit. I had seen a post on Tripawds about how to make your own wobble board – we wanted to give that a try. Silly me, I didn’t bookmark it and now I can’t find it. Anyone know where it is? Please comment with the link if you do! 🙂

What’s a blog post, without a few pictures?

Barking at the people walking by on the street. Yeah, her fur-brother Jenson took front and center in this pic. But Chloe is there, bathed in sunlight!

 

Smiling and sniffing outside. You can see just a bit of the scabs there, which are almost all off now on their own.