A year later

It has been over a year since we drove to Indiana and got Winston's gold beads done. I've been having a hard time writing this, not because Winston hasn't gotten better, but only because nothing has changed for months and I wasn't sure what to say. 

He's still moving around and will stand up when I ask. Sometimes it takes him longer to motivate himself to stand up to go outside in the chilly air, but he can always stand the first time.
He still goes up and down the stairs and runs around the yard, two things I always count that as a blessing.
The pentosan shot that we give him every 3 weeks has really been the key to success. Without it he can still move around although, stiffly and slowly. With it he becomes a spunky new dog the day after the shot. The shot along with the gold beads has kept Winston with us, I believe.

Because it's been colder Winston has been sleeping more in the evenings and doesn't like staying out in the cold. I start leaving him inside during the day on really cold or stormy days, he's not a fan of that. He'd rather be basking in the sunshine than cooped up in the house.

I'm sure people won't be happy to hear this, but we've also stopped working on socializing Winston with other dogs again. We decided that it just wasn't worth the money since Winston can't come with us on dog hikes. He's so unstable and untrustworthy on his feet. It was a lot of work to get Winston to and from K-9, it cost us a fair amount of money and the pay off just wasn't there. I still love what K-9 has done for him and us and we'd still go if there was a benefit. We'll be going back with our next puppy no matter the breed. (no I'm not getting a puppy any time soon, 3 dogs is more than enough!)

That's it, there's nothing else to report. Winston's still with us and doing as well as can be expected. He's such a quirky dog with the funniest personality, I'm so glad he's still around.