Upon arriving home from Utah, Cabe went and picked up our mutt (he would have me correct myself by saying that "mutt" is a "loving nickname" I have given him, and that he is, in fact, a pure bred Australian Shepherd. I would correct him and say that "loving nickname" is pushing it....) and found the dog beside himself with excitement...and limping. At first we figured he'd just strained something, he had acted this same way nearly a year ago, and within a day or so had returned to normal. We couldn't pick out if it was a limb, or even his back, until a few days later. He went from carefully placing each paw, to favoring his front right. He didn't do much during the day but sleep, more so than he normally does when he comes home from being boarded. The first night he was so completely out, I had to poke, prod, nudge, call his name and finally shake him to wake him up....this is all I got.
We came home from dinner Saturday night, and found his paw swollen - so much so, that it nearly looked fake. We decided he'd probably broken a toe or something, and we'd take him in on Monday. Albany isn't exactly a metropolis, the nearest emergency vet was in Corvallis, 30 minutes away. However, when we came home from church on Sunday we found he'd already performed surgery on himself - there was a quarter sized HOLE in between his toes, and his entire paw was wet from either him licking it, or....(shudder) pus. Caleb of course FREAKED out, neither of us had any idea what the hole was doing there, so we dragged him to the car and raced out to the vet, expecting the worst. Thankfully, nothing was broken, he apparently had a Foxtail burrowed in between his toes. Normally this requires surgery, so for once I was grateful (as was my wallet) that I have an OCD dog, who licks every inch of himself 100 times a day to make his coat shine. We were given an entire pharmacy of drugs to give him (twice daily might I add) and my personal favorite, an E-collar. Short for Elizabethan, which is so totally appropriate. He was utterly humiliated to have to wear such high fashion, and immediately began shoving his now hugely-inflated head into walls, floors, our legs etc. It was absolutely, positively, the most hilarious thing I have seen in a long time. It took him quite a while to figure out that his relatively puny head was now the length of a Greyhound's, and needed assistance climbing stairs and rounding corners.
After moping a bit
He decided the best way to deal with it, would be to act as if it wasn't there.
Would you mind? There's nothing to see here......
6 comments:
I swear, dogs are just like kids! They are just as much work to look after, if not more!
Glad he's ok!
Dogs are JUST like kids, especially when that's EXACTLY what they are perceived to be by your husband....and when he treats it like one. "Only purified water for MY baby......."
:) sigh......
I had a rottweiler who had to wear the collar after toe surgery. First night she refused to lay down and just sat or standed there until she was too tired. After 2 days she was running around and trying to fit in the smallest spaces
I had a kinda strange sense of deja vu here. I read this post a few days ago but there was no trip to the vet involved. Touch wood my dogs won't ever need one of those collars, they're already particularly stupid.
btw, did you know that Australian Shepherds have absolutely nothing to do with Australia, they were developed in America. When we refer to an Aussie sheep dog, we mean a Border Collie.
Meril, I know what you mean! We had to really convince him that his head had NOTHING to do with his ability to sit....
Willowtree, I did know that! I was surprised at first, but found it interesting. They've definitely evolved a bit from Border Collie's, but they have many of the same OCD qualities....he tends to herd us if we try and jog or run up the stairs. :)
Interesting site. Useful information. Bookmarked.
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