Bailey's first steps

This past week has been an amazing week of recovery for Bailey. On Friday, February 2nd, she couldn't stand on her own and was just beginning to drag herself around the apartment. By Sunday, she was hobbling and on Wednesday, Feb 7th, she got her stitches out and the veterinarian proclaimed her recovery "satisfactory"! Being an overachiever, I had to ask, "only satisfactory, not excellent?" The doctor said Bailey will take 3 to 6 months until she's walking normal again, and reminded me Bailey's 10 years old and had 2 slipped discs removed which is major surgery even for young dogs. Now that Bailey can stand on her own and appears active, she recommended we start taking her for short walks outside again to build up her strength. We took her on her first "outside" walk on Sunday, Feb 11th and she LOVED it even though she was tired after 5 minutes. We got lots of funny looks from people as we walked our shaved dog who walks like a drunk (her back end still sways and she falls down every now and then. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.) Below is a picture of Bailey on her "pet-a-potty". The pet-a-potty has been a lifesaver since the day we moved to Hong Kong, but even more so during Bailey's recovery. It's on our balcony which makes potty trips sooooo much easier than carrying her in the elevator 19 floors and walking her somewhere outside.

Despite everything, Bailey's spirit is back 100%. She's as happy as ever and couldn't be any sweeter. She's even lost 4 pounds since the surgery. I'm so glad she made it through this surgery because I don't know what I'd do without her.

Other than spending all our time nuturing Bailey, Mark and I did get out and explore the island a bit this week. On Sunday, we decided to go to the little beach town on the south side of the island called Shek O. It's about 20 minute bus ride from our apartment over some tropical, lush hills that make you feel like you are in Hawaii. Here's a picture below. The weather was 20 degrees Celcius so it was kind of chilly for beach weather but there were still lots of people barbecuing and doing normal beach things, even surfing. This beach is called big wave beach and must be packed during warm weather.