When little kids ask why my dog has three legs, I often reply, “Shh! Don’t tell her, she doesn’t know!”
Sometimes, I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be true, though, even after three years on three legs. Even though Neko didn’t miss a beat after her amputation, hopping right up the stairs to our second floor apartment immediately after returning from her surgery, she has a few habits that simply shouldn’t work with a leg missing. And yet…
Neko has always had an odd, occasional habit when squatting to pee: she would squat, then pick up one of her hind legs, so that she was balanced on three legs. I used to call it the “yoga squat” (you can learn a lot about yoga from a dog – I don’t know that you can do Downward Dog properly until you’ve seen it done by an actual dog). She didn’t do it every time she had a pee, but with fair regularity. I would say that this was an oddly prescient way of practicing for her future life on three legs except that the leg she used to pick up, invariably, is the hind leg she got to keep.
Shortly after her amputation, I witnessed her pull this move again, picking up that same leg after squatting, leaving her balanced totally on her two front legs. And it worked, possibly because it didn’t occur to her that it wouldn’t. It looks like an interesting variation on Crow pose, a yoga pose which involves balancing your whole, crouched body on your arms. I can’t say Neko pulls this move as frequently as she used to, but it’s a surprise every time.
She still scratches with her missing leg as well. The stump starts drawing tiny, purposeful circles in the air; Neko leans her head out to the side for a better scratching angle behind the ear, making the tightened up scratching face. I have no way of knowing if she gets a certain amount of satisfaction just going through the process or if she does it because it still, in a roundabout way, works. Whenever I see her pull that, I give her a scratch where she’s aiming. The leg keeps going even when it’s me doing the scratching.
Perhaps the presence or absence of the leg is simply immaterial. She’s never really seemed puzzled by its absence, but still has habits that include the fourth leg in her residual self-image. She definitely dreams with four legs; the stump twitches purposefully with all the other legs when she runs in her sleep. I imagine a dog’s number system as comprising only yes and no (for advanced situations, it may also include more). It covers most of their purposes. This doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to be concerned with the difference between 3 and 4, and really just comes down to what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes, what works is improbable and surprising, and takes someone who doesn’t suspect it won’t to prove otherwise.
Ellie doesn’t know her leg is missing either! She also scratches with it, and it moves when she dreams. Basically, the only thing she can’t do that she could do before is stand on the lone hind leg to dance with me, she can do everything else, run fast (it took a while for her not to drag her hind end a bit though), swim, jump into the car, onto my bed which is atleast 3ft high, she can jump up into the air a bit yet and catch a ball or snowball. She pees by squatting, and putting her front leg on the side her hind is gone, back to balance on all three. She can also roll around and flip side to side, although im sure with a bit more effort. I’m always waiting for her to one time look and freak out, still waiting for phantom limb pain to appear, but it hasn’t yet. Hoping it never does.
You have such a great attitude about the missing leg! Lots of people get freaked out when they see how their dog still tries to use it. You, however, are calm and balanced, just the way Neko loves you best. Keep it up!
And thanks for the helpful information, I know others will find it very comforting when they are first starting out on their own journey
Kess till tries to scratch after 2 years, but she’s learned that if she comes over to me and rolls her head to the side I will dutifully scratch for her. She’s always been a leaner which has led to some amusing tumbles when she’s relaxed and goes to lean on someone and whoops I don’t have a leg there to hold me up. The only difference I’ve seen in Kess is that she does seem to recognize her limitations when swimming and always tests the waters before venturing out in to the deep. She’ll also offer to shake paws with either front foot, not seeming to realize that if she picks up her left front now she’s likely to fall over.
peeing on two legs is pretty impressive, props to Neko