Monday marked exactly 1 year since our dog had emergency spinal surgery after randomly rupturing 3 discs due to IVDD. She was just 2.5 at the time.

One thing that helped us SO much, especially in those early days, was this community and finding people on Reddit and TikTok who had dogs with IVDD. Seeing other dogs living happy lives after surgery and reading the practical things people had figured out made everything feel less scary.

So one year later, now that we're in a better place recovery-wise, I wanted to share the little systems, products and ways of thinking that have made our life easier and helped us process this big change.

Disclaimer: This is just our experience. Every dog and injury is different, and your vet/neurologist/rehab team should always be the authority on medical care. <3

Our story

Nothing happened. No fall or accident. One morning our girl was just walking weirdly, and then I realized she couldn't jump onto the couch. She had always been a super energetic, athletic Spaniel/Min Pin, and within hours her back legs just stopped working and we were dealing with emergency spinal surgery.

It was one of the hardest times in mine and my fiancé's life. She is our everything.

A few months after her surgery, we got an Embark notification that IVDD is actually her #1 genetic health risk, so this is something we'll always be managing.

A year later, she's still in PT once a week. She can walk independently around our limited carpeted area at home, but she wobbles and still needs help balancing/squatting to pee and poop. We're down to about 2-4 accidents in the house a week, so much less than where we started. Right after surgery she had 0% proprioception (spatial awareness of her legs and paws) in her back legs, so getting to where we are now is a HUGE feat and a testament to how resilient she is.

She's now 3.5 and still has lots of energy! We still take her to the park, she gets out and does things with us, and she is loving life. It just looks different than it used to.

We are very lucky - we're DINKS (dual-income household with no kids), I work from home, and we happened to have pet insurance before this happened. That has made a huge difference for us. Some things below were essential for us; others just made an already difficult situation a little easier. Do what works for your pup, your budget and your life.

Right after surgery: survival mode

The mental load after surgery is so overwhelming. There are medications and potty trips and laundry and appointments and figuring out how to safely pick your dog up and constantly wondering if you're doing everything right.

You're also grieving who your dog used to be while simultaneously being incredibly grateful they're still here. That grief is a part of this process. I still cry sometimes remembering how our girl used to sprint out of the bedroom in the morning, jump on me on the couch and attack me with kisses.

So for a while while you process, learn and grieve, lower your standards for everything outside of recovery.

Your house will be messy. You'll have pee pads and wipes everywhere. You'll need to cancel plans. Home projects will get put on the back burner. You may spend an absolutely absurd percentage of your waking hours thinking about laundry and whether your house smells like pee. It's okay. Some of the things that helped us most in the beginning:

• Paper plates. We don't have a dishwasher and removing dishes from the equation genuinely helped.
• Grocery/meal delivery. Take errands off your plate when you can.
• Recurring deliveries for the supplies you're burning through so you don't suddenly realize you're out of pee pads.
• Ask for help. Work, family, friends, neighbors, whoever your people are.
• Let things around the house simply not get done. Seriously. They can wait. Your pup needs you to be strong for them.
• Talk to your boss. Can you temporarily adjust your schedule? Work from home more? Come home during lunch for a potty break? This is a real caregiving responsibility and it is a family emergency.
• Put up a sign for deliveries: Our girl is a guard dog so every package that came through she always let us know about. At this stage, you just need them to rest. To limit the distraction/noise, we put up a sign for delivery drivers that said: Sensitive Dog, please do not ring bell or open gate/knock on door. Just leave in driveway.
• If there are two of you, have clearly defined shifts. Because I work from home, I'm with our girl most of the day which at the beginning was really hard. So when my fiancé got home from work, it was his turn to take over. I've worked my job and handled her needs all day; he handles her evening needs and hangs out with her while I can shower and take an actual break. In the mornings, it's the reverse. He can get ready for a long day at work at a calm/off-duty pace while I'm on the clock. You don't both have to do 50% of every task. Divide things in whatever way makes sense for your schedules. But knowing when you're ON means the other person can actually be OFF. And you can always adjust as you go.

Our must-haves / things we use daily

• Pee pads. So many pee pads. Costco became our go-to for these.
• Wet wipes + poop bags within arm's reach at all times.
• A good enzyme cleaner. Biokleen has been our MVP for accidents and laundry.
• 2 beds / backup bedding. If they have an accident, one can always be in use while the other is in the wash.
• A dedicated dog-laundry basket Right by the door/laundry room
• Help 'Em Up harness once it was appropriate for her stage of recovery.
• A packed go-bag by the door so PT/vet/park trips don't require gathering everything from scratch. Wet wipes, pads, treats, hand sani, poop bags, water bowl.
• Crocs/water shoes. Trust me, you'll get peed on. Helpful for easy cleaning.
• Plain Greek yogurt. We'd give our girl about 1–2 tbsp with her food every day and found it really helped with the strong urine smell. Check with your vet first to make sure dairy is okay for your pup.
• A playpen after crate rest, once cleared by her care team. Allows them to be a part of the house again but still contained.

Nice to have / made our lives easier

• Diaper Genie for containing the smell of used pee pads in the house.
• Pet carpet/upholstery cleaner. We love the Shark StainStriker Hair Pet Pro
• Extra water bowls around the house. Everywhere.
• Duplicate supplies in the car: pee pads, wipes, poop bags, towel, hand sani, etc.
• Stroller for longer outings once cleared for them.
• Recurring deliveries for the stuff you constantly run out of.

Other Suggestions

• Make medication as easy as you can. Especially at the beginning, when there can be multiple medications at different times, keep everything together and have some way of marking that a medication was actually given. Whiteboard, checklist, collaborative Notes app, whatever works.
• Put supplies where you actually need them. We started putting little baskets/stations around the house with pee pads, wet wipes, poop bags, enzyme cleaner and towels. Don't keep the wipes beautifully organized in the hall closet if you always need them in the living room. This is not an aesthetic time. Especially in the beginning, you may literally need one hand to hold your dog up. Store things where they're easy to grab.

Pee, poop & laundry

There will be SO. MUCH. PEE. And poop. Right after surgery, they may not have full control of their bladder/bowels. For us, stuff just came when it came for the first 4–5 months. It was hard. But keep in mind: your dog doesn't want to be doing it either. They've been trained their whole lives to go potty outside. They don't want to pee in their bed. They don't want to pee on themselves. So no shaming them. Just accept it, clean it up and move on.

Put the nice rugs away for now. Pee pads on and around the bed. Have backup bedding ready. Put dirty dog stuff straight into its own laundry basket.

In laundry, add some biokleen, vingegar and an additional enzyme detergent. We like dirty labs but any will do! That'll make sure the pee smell doesn't linger.

Behavior / emotional changes

This was something we weren't prepared for. Our girl was already spicy. Fearful/anxious, very guard-doggy (Min Pin girl), not great with strangers or kids, HATED being picked up. Add pain, medications, restricted movement, being handled constantly and losing a huge amount of independence? I'd be pissed too!

After surgery she could be really difficult emotionally. Biting/nipping, growling when we'd try to pick her up or help her, refusing medication, spitting pills out. You name it.

We had to get much better at listening to her signals and giving her autonomy wherever we safely could. It's very hard not to take it personally. It still happens every now and then, but I'm much better at shrugging it off. She's telling me "no, I don't want that" the only way she knows how.

For us, working on her anxiety eventually became part of her overall care alongside the physical rehab. Reconcile and Clonidine have been essential for her care and overall well being. Ask your vet if you're dealing with a lot of big emotions/sensitivites.

After crate rest: transition to a playpen

Once our pup was cleared to graduate from strict crate rest, a baby playpen was one of our best purchases. We lined the whole thing with pee pads, put her bed and blankets inside, and suddenly she had a safe little area where she could hang out with us without someone physically sitting next to her every second.

We still have ours set up a year later. She's mobile enough now that she would absolutely try to hobble-run around the house if given the opportunity, and we don't want to risk another injury.

No couch privileges for a long time. This was really hard for us because she spent a lot of time on the couch with us before. The playpen let her be part of normal household life again while still protecting her.

Make your house work for the dog you have NOW

After surgery and as they're recovering and learning to walk, for the time being, you have a dog with disabilities so make your house work for them. We have water bowls EVERYWHERE now. Coffee table, bedroom dresser, floor, wherever we tend to hang out with her. Harness and sling by the door. Pee pads where the pee happens. Supplies where we use them. Raised food and water bowls to ease pain on neck and back. Don't organize your house around what looks nicest right now.

STAY & RELEASE Commands

Once your dog starts being able to lift themselves and safely stand for short periods, STAY will become your best friend.

At first, you need two hands for EVERYTHING. You're supporting your dog while trying to unfold the stroller, move a pee pad, grab the leash, open the door. I constantly felt like I needed a third hand.

Eventually our girl got strong enough to stand safely for short periods, which was amazing, but it also meant she could decide to start moving before we were ready.

A reliable stay + release changed everything.

I can get her positioned, say "stay," take my hands off for a few seconds to unfold the stroller or grab something, then come back, grab the slip leash on her harness and "release" her.

Obviously, only once your vet/PT team says your dog is physically capable of safely holding that position.

Teach LEFT & RIGHT

This is another tiny thing that has been surprisingly helpful: start saying "left" and "right" every time you go in that direction together.

When you're helping support your dog's back end with a harness, you really do have to learn how to move as a team.

We started simply saying "left" or "right" as we turned. You don't need to make it a big training session, just narrate it every time.

Eventually, through repetition and muscle memory, our girl learned what both directions meant. Treat/reward as they start making the connection.

Now I can tell her where we're going before we turn and we move together instead of me steering her body.

On that note, talk to them way more in general

Name things. Talk to them. When so much of their independence has disappeared, giving them ways to understand and participate in what you're doing is really valuable and works their brains when they're probably going a little stir-crazy.

We're now at the point where our girl can be on the couch with us (after LOTS of built trust and STAY work). If she wants water but obviously can't jump down to get it, so she'll bark/huff at me.

I'll say, "Water?"

Eventually she learned that if she licks her lips/nods when I say "water," she gets it. Then I grab one of our approximately 900 strategically placed water bowls for her. We've learned how to communicate with each other in a completely different way. Dogs are so resilient and smart. I've learned so much patience from her and honestly just to SLOW the fuck down. When in doubt, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.

Take videos to track progress

Film the normal walking. From behind. From the side. Getting up. Standing. Not just the exciting milestone videos. When you see your dog every day, tiny improvements are almost impossible to notice. Those videos are helpful for your PT/vet team, but they're also incredibly helpful for you.

Sometimes you think nothing has changed until you watch a video from three months ago.

Remember dogs fluctuate, too

Was that step better? Why is that foot doing that? She did this yesterday, why can't she do it today? Is she worse??? You can drive yourself absolutely insane. Dogs fluctuate just like people do. Our girl can have a super active day (nowadays that looks like going to the park or just a PT appt) and then need a lot of extra recovery/rest the next day. She's always stiffer in the morning. Sometimes she needs to stretch and take her time getting out of bed, so I let her while I get breakfast ready. Don't get discouraged because they need a slower day after a high energy one.

Train a backup caregiver BEFORE you desperately need one

If there's a friend, family member or sitter who may eventually care for your dog, teach them while you're there. Have them actually use the harness. Support your dog. Do a potty trip.

Make a simple cheat sheet with meds, potty routine, how to lift/support them, what's normal for your dog, what constitutes an emergency and vet information.

Especially if you have a tough/spicy dog like we do, you need someone who actually knows the routine.You deserve a break too.

Give them choices wherever you can (safely)

So much choice gets taken away from them. Where they can go. How they move. When they're picked up. When they're confined. What their body can physically do. So when something doesn't matter medically, let them choose.

Do you want love? Where do you want to sniff today? Want to go outside? Want to ride in the stroller?

And when you get frustrated, remember: they don't want this either

There have been plenty of moments where I JUST changed the bedding and she peed on it. Or I was exhausted. Or frustrated. Or overwhelmed by how much our lives had changed. Or there was pee all over me. Or she nipped at me when I was just trying to help.

These are the things we reminded ourselves when we needed to reset:

• She doesn't want this either. She doesn't want to pee in the house. She doesn't want to pee on herself. She doesn't want any of it, but it's how things are right now. We're in this together.
• She didn't choose for her body to work differently.
• She doesn't understand why she suddenly can't do things she used to do.
• This experience is incredibly hard on the caregiver, but she is the one actually going through it, feeling the pain and confusion of IVDD.
• Progress isn't linear. It's small steps every day. Sometimes one step forward, two steps back.
• Her life can look different and still be a really good life.

One year later, our girl's life looks completely different. But it is still very, very much her life. And we are all better for it. If you made it this far, I'm sorry it was so long! I hope something in here was helpful or comforting. You're doing great and your dog loves you no matter what <3333