I am at the sixth month mark now with my Greyhound Jimmy, he is 8 years old, he had surgery for a herniated disc in January at L5-L7 vertebrae after an accident (jumping up at a fence to bark at a dog passing by our garden
) He didn't become paralysed immediately, this was about 24 hours later, so was misdiagnosed initially and just given pain meds. He had dps in both rear feet straight after the op so the prognosis was relatively good, although I was warned by the neurologist that most dogs with an injury so low down the spine don't completely recover. He came home after a week in the specialist vets with complete muscle loss in his rear legs which was shocking and very little movement in the legs at all, and he had no bowel control and limited control of his bladder.
Since then he has made significant improvement, he now uses wheels and a sling for walking and has full movement in both legs, almost full control of his bladder (he only leaks a bit when it is full) I express him once a day and the rest he does himself. He still has no control of the bowel. He can get himself up with some effort, although he only does this occasionally and usually only in the car when he thinks he is going for a walk! He can stand on his own for some time and can take a few steps forward but then gets his legs in a knot and falls over. The muscle is gradually coming back but it is a slow process.
So I am encouraged by the progress and have been told by my physio that he will walk but it is going to take time. The main thing I am concerned about is his feet, particularly the left which is his bad side that was operated on. Both feet were very stiff right from the start and would not lie flat to the ground. The right foot now flexes and he can stand on this and puts it down when walking although still knuckles from time to time. The left foot is still very stiff and will hardly flex at all and he only stands on this with his toes, or when placing it knuckles back straight away. I was told by my physio that the stiffness might be arthritis, it might be the nerves still yet to heal. My vet looked at it and had no clue! He wears boots and I have been through several pairs already as they wear out quickly with the knuckling, without boots his toes get easily injured. I did try no knuckling boots which helped initially but it was still a struggle to keep his left foot up and when he became tired he would just knuckle again. I was hopeful that someone else may have experienced the same problem and have any advice as to whether this is likely to improve given time? He is having daily massage and physio which I have been shown how to do at home as well as the exercise. He was doing hydrotherapy in a treadmill but hated it and in the end refused to move his back legs at all so we gave up and now continue with wheels and walking which he enjoys.
Getting him to this point has been exhausting both mentally and physically as I'm sure everyone on this forum will understand. He weighs 30kg and until recently didn't like using the wheels which have had many adjustments to accommodate his long legs, and so I was virtually carrying him with a sling which was exhausting. Now in the sling he powers forward so fast that I can hardly keep up! Which is great for his legs but not for his boots or my arms
However, if anyone has had any experience of Greyhounds or similar breeds they will know that they can be very lazy and very stubborn, if he doesn't want to move he won't and no amount of pulling or pushing will do it, so a lot of it has been about encouraging him with food or struggling to get him into and out of the car just so he is eager to do the exercise somewhere different I really feel that the problem with his foot is letting him down, and if he could just get to use his feet properly he would be a lot further forward, but maybe this is something that once again just takes time and patience? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would like to say that since finding this forum I have been hugely encouraged by other people's stories as there have been times when I was ready to give up hope that he would ever get any better. It has been invaluable for advice and at times just helps keep me going!
Karen
Wish I knew who first posted it. I also wonder about the possibility of a double boot. Put the paws up boot on, and over it a "cover boot" to protect the expensive boot. I very well understand the probem of having a dog with slender legs and feet and you bring boots home from the store and they don't fit or won't stay on, and then you have to take them back. I had the same problem with my chihuahua. Here are a couple of my old comments.
But he was OK with the treadmill for a while, and that is such good exercise. It's probably what he really needs right now, because it will help retrain his gait when he makes stepping motions in the water (or if the therapist patterns it for him). And it will help rebuild the muscle you say is slowly coming back. Sounds like you are so close to having him walking. 
like the photo above of Devon, and the therapist working her feet. 
It sounds to me like he has contractures, so he may not be able to use off-the-shelf splints. My Koi had been shot in the spine and came with severe contractures and was able to use a custom splint. Maybe CarolC can come up with a pic of his splint; he was a hock walker, and his toes were completely contracted under. Koi was a cat, but just saying the orthotist put a bar in the splint, like they do babies, to help straighten his toes and to keep them from breaking down from the pressure. Shoes helped some with protection but little with correction.
He upped and walked down the length of our living room with me just holding on to the back of his pants (not holding him up), quite a considerable distance and striding out with both legs and with determination, just to get to another bed 
