Several weeks had gone by and it was time to walk outside. The veterinarian said Huli should walk twice a day for five minutes and increase by one minute of exercise every day. Out came the harness for a walk down the street. Huli could not figure this strange contraption out, and she fought with her good leg, with her mouth; she rolled on her back and wiggled around. Huli had never worn a collar or anything. Emma thought it was like putting a harness on a tyrannosaurus. Finally, the harness was on and Huli was outside limping along next to Emma to the end of the street and back. She was always happy to go back in the house and to her safe space and Iggie. She would lay down on her soft pillows exhausted by the walk.
Twice a day, Huli would walk with Emma and every day the time outside increased. She started to get stronger. When they got back to the house, Huli got a treat. This was the best part of the walk.
Huli would also go outside in the backyard for a few minutes every day but just waited with her head on her paws to go back inside. She wasn’t interested in anything outside yet. Some days Emma sat outside with Huli for a little while.
After a couple of weeks of daily limps down the street and daily outside time, Huli thought being outside felt less scary. She still liked it better when someone was outside with her. Emma was there every day to talk to Huli and give her food and water. Her skin, headaches, and stomach were completely healed. Her leg still hurt but she was beginning to figure out how to walk and run a little without too much pain.
After two months of daily walks, time at the park and time outside in the backyard, Huli was feeling much better. Then, it happened! Emma let Huli out in the backyard and Iggie came too. Huli threw Iggie up in the air and ran—crazy happy with Iggie—back and forth to Emma. Her leg hurt but she was so happy to be outside with Iggie and Emma. After a couple of minutes of this, Huli lay down with Iggie, chewed Iggie a little and looked at her backyard. She didn’t feel afraid of her backyard anymore. Emma and Iggie stayed outside with her for a while before Huli went back to her space, her bed and her house. Iggie continued to go outside with Huli, and now she also had a ball. She could not chase the ball yet because she had to limit her movement with the broken leg but she could chew it.
