Are you ready to meditate with Cori?
Get all comfortable and snug in your bed.
Make sure that the light is just right in your room so that you can relax your body and let go of your busy day.
Tucker was relaxing.
He had to relax.
Tucker had been having problems with his back.
He woke up one day and started walking funny.
I don't know what it is,
Leo,
But my back legs don't feel right at all,
He said.
His back legs were moving slower than his front legs and they were dragging a little bit.
Tucker's mum noticed straight away and they made an appointment for the vets.
The vets didn't have very good news.
It looked like,
After an x-ray and then an MRI,
That Tucker had got a slipped disc in his back that was putting pressure on his spine,
Making his back legs not work properly.
And if he didn't have an operation,
Things would just get worse and worse.
Tucker was recovering after his operation.
It had been three days and he was supposed to stay as still as he possibly could for six weeks.
Gradually,
Week after week after week after week,
He would be able to move and walk a bit more.
So mum and dad had set up a place underneath the stairs that used to be the shoe cupboard.
They cleaned it all out,
Put a baby gate on there and a dog bed in there and Tucker had to stay put.
The vet put Tucker on some really strong pain medication at first,
Partly to keep him still,
Because Tucker's personality,
As you know,
Is super crazy.
He doesn't do well at being calm.
He doesn't do well at staying still.
Tucker bounds all over the place,
Running here and there,
Bouncing,
Playing,
Running at full speed in and out of the dog door constantly.
Leo slept close by on the other side of the baby gate,
Just to keep him company.
But most of the time,
Tucker was in and out of sleep for the first few days.
When he woke up,
He'd say to Leo,
Leo,
I feel so… and he'd start sleeping again.
Tucker was just really,
Really dopey.
The medication was supposed to make him calm and it was definitely doing that.
He slept a lot.
And then when he needed to go outside to go pee or poop,
His parents had to use a sling to help him so he could walk with his back legs.
But Tucker,
Being Tucker,
Acted as if he didn't feel any pain.
And it was hard to keep him to move slow,
Even though his back legs weren't working properly.
Jezebel and Beau had heard that he wasn't feeling too good and they wanted to come and bring him over some dog treats and just sit with him for a while and be with him.
Jezebel gave him hugs and kisses.
She crouched down on the floor to make sure that Tucker didn't get up because they knew he wasn't supposed to be too excitable moving around too much.
And then when Jezebel was done,
Beau got down on the ground and gave him hugs and kisses.
Tucker said,
Oh hello girls.
I'm a bit sleepy but thank you so much for coming,
It's very nice of you.
And then Tucker went back to sleep.
Leo said,
He's doing okay,
It's just really hard to keep him still.
Who'd have thought that running in and out of the dog door for the last seven years or so at the speed that he does would have been probably the cause of why he had a slip disc in his back.
The vet said he had lots of slip discs so we have to keep him calm for a long time.
We don't want this to happen again.
It just so happened that one of the slip discs were pushing on his spinal column and that's what was making his back legs really slow and limp.
Eventually we wouldn't have been able to move them if they didn't do anything about it.
Jezebel said,
Oh that's awful.
Poor Tucker.
She was stroking his head while he was snoozing,
His tongue hanging out a little bit.
Beau said,
Well it's good that they found it and it's good that they could operate on him.
It could have been worse,
Right?
Leo shuddered.
Oof,
Doesn't bear thinking about.
After about ten minutes of the girls and Leo chatting and visiting Tucker,
He woke up again.
It was time for him to go out.
Jezebel and Beau helped him.
Tucker's mum showed them what to do with the sling.
And they used all the weight to help to carry the back part of his body as he went outside to go pee on the grass.
Oh,
It's so nice to be outside,
Said Tucker.
Taking a deep breath in and smelling the grass and the trees and the fresh air.
There was like dogs barking off in the distance and Tucker's ears stood up on end.
Oh,
I like that sound,
I like that sound.
I wonder if those doggies,
I wonder if those puppies are going to the dog park.
I wish I could go to the dog park right now,
That would be really nice.
To run and play with the wind in my hair.
Or maybe like go on a car ride,
I really liked going on those car rides.
Do you know girls,
I haven't been in that many car rides because Leo doesn't like it.
So I don't get to go,
But when I went to the vets,
It was a really long way away.
Over an hour away it was.
And oh,
It was so nice to just be in the car.
Even though my bum wasn't right and my legs weren't working,
It was so nice to just stick my head out of the window and let the wind blow through my teeth and up my nostrils.
It was great,
I loved it.
And now every time I see Dad's car,
I walk up to the car and say,
Oh,
We're going for a ride.
And Dad says,
Tucker,
We're not going anywhere.
And I'm like,
Oh,
Can we not go see the vets again?
She was a very nice lady.
Mrs,
What was she called?
I forgot already.
Oh,
It's gone,
It's gone.
No,
Dr.
D,
Dr.
D,
I think.
Oh,
No,
No,
I don't remember.
Tucker kept sniffing around on the ground and peeing in different places.
As if he was saving up his one long pee into like four or five tiny pees just so he could squirt his scent all over the place for the dogs that were going by.
The girls stayed outside with him for quite some time and then they brought him inside because he wasn't supposed to overdo it.
They put him straight back in underneath the stairs and closed the baby gate.
It was time for his medication.
Tucker's mum showed the girls to put one of his tablets in a piece of bread and that way he'd munch it down and not even think about it.
Leo said,
Where's my piece of bread?
Tucker's mum knows that Leo always gets a treat too,
So she gave Bo a piece of bread to give to Leo so that it felt equal.
And then,
Before too long,
It was almost as if the drugs took over once again and Tucker got all drowsy and silly.
Ooooooh Ooooooh As if he was trying to sing.
Leo said,
Tucker,
What are you trying to sing?
Ooooooh Pineapples Pineapples Under the sea Jezebel said,
I think he's trying to sing the SpongeBob song.
Bo said,
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Tucker had the biggest,
Silliest grin on his face,
Like he was all drunk or something.
Oh,
That's it,
That's it,
Bo,
That's it.
And he was gone again.
Leo started laughing.
He's quite funny on these tablets.
It's like watching a drunken sailor or something.
He wobbles around all over the place if he needs to go pee,
Especially after they've given him his tablets and they've kicked in.
You ought to see it,
It's hilarious.
The girls asked Leo if he wanted to go out for a walk,
Since Tucker was fast asleep.
He said he'd like that.
So Jezebel and Bo put Leo on his lead,
Got some doggy bags just in case,
And took Leo down the secret passage.
Leo said it was nice to be out.
It's kind of sad having Tucker being sick.
He didn't realise how much it was getting to him until he got out and he could get some fresh air and go for a nice long walk and think about how he felt rather than just be concerned about Tucker all the time.
They walked for about half an hour and it was a lovely day.
It was nice and warm.
The sun was shining.
The wind was blowing a nice breeze.
And it felt like summer.
They walked past a big giant honeysuckle bush and it smelled so good that the two girls and Leo stood there for about ten minutes just smelling,
Not really talking to each other very much,
Just sniffing and closing their eyes as if they were breathing in something sacred and special.
There was lots of birds out singing in the trees,
Bees buzzing around.
It really was a lovely day.
The girls eventually took Leo home.
When they got back,
Tucker was briefly awake for a minute or two.
He told them a really silly joke that wasn't that funny and then he fell fast asleep once again.
The girls agreed with Leo that he's definitely kooky on these drugs.
They make him crazy.
After a while,
The girls went home and Leo laid on his blanket next to Tucker on the other side of the baby gate once again,
Just being there with him,
Keeping him company,
Waiting till he got better and better and better.
Fast forwarding a couple of months,
Tucker is back to his normal,
Healthy,
Crazy,
Bouncing self.
His back healed really,
Really well and he's exactly the same as what he was before.
It's so nice to be able to run and play and jump in the fields.
It's so nice to be able to chase after the birds.
It's so nice to be able to just get so excited when Mummy comes home and she doesn't say,
Calm down,
Calm down.
And I'm like,
Mummy,
I can't help it.
I love you so much.
My tail just does its own thing.
It's got a mind of its own.
And I'm like,
Calm down.
I wish I could calm down.
I can't help it.
My bum just does its own thing.
Now I can wag my tail and get all excited and wobble my body and smile at her really big and run and say,
Mummy,
You're home.
And she doesn't get so upset anymore.
She doesn't say,
Calm down,
Calm down.
You have to be calm,
Tucker.
You have to be calm.
I think my back feels absolutely fabulous.
I feel like a young puppy again,
As if someone gave me new,
New life.
It's like it was completely revamped and redone.
I might even be a little bit robotic,
Like a robot now.
I'm like a robot.
I'm going to live for hundreds of years.
And I'm going to be fine.
Going to be absolutely fine.
Leo said,
I hope you're going to live for like a hundred years because I don't want you going anywhere.
I'm not going anywhere,
Leo.
I'm staying right here with you,
My bestest,
Bestest brother.
The end.
