Berlin is crushing it!

Hey everyone!!

Update

Berlin just had carboplatin treatment 3/4 last Wednesday. He seems to be responding well to it, he hasn’t been very sick as a side effect. If anything, he seems a bit tired in the day or two following treatment, but then he’s back to normal Berlin.

Life has been a little stressful for us lately, we moved to a whole different town. Berlin loves it here though, he gets to play in the river on every walk. He’s pretty familiar with town as well, Breckenridge has always been his favorite day trip. We worked really hard to be able to move here, so it’s safe to say Berlin’s humans are pretty stoked, too.

Berlin’s last carboplatin is scheduled for September 9th. He’s also going to get his 3-month chest x-ray as well. I know the vet said he would only have 12 months, but this guy does not seem like he’s going to stop fighting that easily. Berlin is determined to show everyone that he’s still the same dog, just faster and happier.

Berlin has three legs?

A couple of weeks ago, Berlin and I were visiting his dad at work and a really nice family came up to his stand. We heard the kids say “oh why does he have three legs?” This is a question we hear constantly, and it does get a little frustrating sometimes when people won’t ask us directly. The mom replied, “well why don’t you ask them?” The little girl, very kindly, asked why Berlin has three legs. I explained the most kid-friendly way I can; “Well Berlin is a special dog, he has cancer. The cancer on his leg got too big and hurt it, so he feels much better without it.” I’m always nervous when trying to explain it to kids. She replied “WOAH. That is so cool! He’s doing so good, look at him go! He’s so strong, what a champ!!!!” She couldn’t stop complimenting him. Berlin also happens to love playing with kids, so he was happy to have some tiny human attention. Her fingers probably smelled like cheese puffs, that always helps. Her brother was still a little wary of Berlin, I don’t blame him, he’s a big dog. (weighed in at 77 pounds last week) The dad took some time to explain to the kids that Berlin can do anything that any other dog can do, and probably faster. He looked at me and I nodded yes, Ber really is the fastest dog I know. He continued to say that Berlin is also no different than a dog with four legs and that he can do anything he wants, and probably gets more love than all the other dogs, too. I can’t put into words how much this interaction meant to me. It made me so happy to see parents teaching their kids right there to treat everyone, dog or human, the same. Berlin really isn’t much different than other dogs, and it was nice to know that other people think so, too. Lately, we’ve been noticing that he has such a huge personality compared to pre-diagnosis, even pre-injury.

I can’t help but wonder if his leg was bothering him long before anyone knew. He’s a whole different, spunky dog now. I’m so grateful that we get to be his humans, he’s the most awesome, coolest dog I have ever met. He’s still Berlin, and I have a feeling this guy was meant to live his life on three legs.

Nothing will stop Berlin, not even cancer.