I have always been a huge fan of taking my dogs with me when I exercise my horses up in the hills. Everyday we ride between 2 to 10 horses out on long circles in the deep sand behind our place. One particular sunny day I happened to be ponying a horse and so was my daughter. My pup HANK ran behind one of the horses and she kicked him. The sound was horrible, it literally popped and then his screams and whines were unbearable. I jumped off my horse and ran to him to try and give him some comfort. There sat my beautiful tough border collie in a heap in the desert sand. He was visibly upset and in tremendous pain. #wyleemitchell https://www.ybrandusa.com/blog headed back to the house with her 2 horses so she could put them away and grab the 4-wheeler to give Hank a ride back to the house. I did my best to keep Hank quiet and stil, and not let him move around very much. The leg was visibly broken, I did a lot of praying that it wasn't up in his hip. The pain got to be to much for him and he took off out of my reach. He reached down to bite me and as he slipped through my hands he started running. He was traveling so fast and the faster he ran the more I could see his leg bouncing. He must have been terrified! I could't stop him or catch up to him so I decided to mount back up on my horse. I called Wylee to tell he to keep an eye out for him as she drove back towards the spot the incident happened. We looked all over for him, finally I got on his track and we found him. We contacted a veterinarian in Cedar City, the closest town, and they said to bring him in. We went to lift him up into the truck and we weren't sure how we could do it with all the pain he was in. https://veterinaryemergencygroup.com/blog/dog-breaks-a-bone/ We ended up rolling him on a blanket and packing him that way to the pickup. I told myself all the way to the vet if we have to amputate it I will just put him out of his misery. I couldn't imagine as active as he was, that he could be happy or survive without his leg. The x-rays did in fact show an extremely high break and it would require a pin and rod. He would have to be kept in a tiny cage so he wouldn't damage it worse after the surgery. It was way after hours and the surgeon said he would phone us in the morning with his prognosis. I had a 2 hour drive back home only to have the vet call as soon as I walked in the door, he said "I'm sorry that we missed the hairline fracture that went all the way to his toes in the x-ray".. ummm WHAT? He then said, it would not be repairable. ummm WHAT? The leg needed to be amputated. MY FEAR and actual gut feeling from the first sound of the impact had came to fruition. I had told myself over and over I would not make this dog suffer with this disability. BUT when the words came out of my mouth they were not to put him down, they were to do whatever it takes to save him. I was so worried that he would not have the life he was used to living. https://virginiaveterinarycenters.com/what-to-expect-after-limb-amputation/ When we got to the vet office in the morning, Hank had a huge CONE on his head that we came to call the CONE OF SHAME! he absolutely hated that thing. He was in a cage in the back and
he was not a happy camper. I had explained to the Vet that I was pretty much his ONLY person, he isn't to fond of anyone but me. I guess he tried to bite him as he put him on the table and he also nipped at the office help when they took him out to potty. He was happy to see me but he was very upset with me too. He seemed so ashamed and depressed. I gave him a lot of loves and told him what an amazing job the vet did to fix him up. We got back home and I helped him out of the pickup. The first thing I did was take off the cone of shame and he was much, much, much happier. He took off running to the back of the house right up the steps and in through the doggy door. He had absolutely no issues what so ever getting into the house. He then proceeded to surprise us even more by running to my room and jumping on the bed. He wouldn't look at me when I talked to him but I talked anyway. I had read that you need to comfort them and tell them that they look great and they will be fine. SO THAT IS WHAT I DID! The next few weeks were tough on both of us, he did take his pills pretty good but he wanted to go out and do all the stuff he used to do, so it was hard to lock him inside and then he would get even more depressed. But his incision was healing up very well and he was getting around so good. The vet couldn't believe how well he had adapted already to his circumstances. I am here to tell you that making the decision to keep him alive was the only one! This dog is simply amazing. He is stronger, faster and just as playful and ready to take on the world with his 3 legs as he was with 4. He brings up the steers when we rope, he plays fetch and jumps for his frisbee just like before. I am so thankful for him and all he does for me. I will give him the best life I can. I have done a lot of research on TRIPAWD dogs and they get along just fine. You do have to be careful at first with jumping and getting them in shape. You don't want their muscles getting to wore out. They will go into a depression, just be there for them. Hank is definitely one of a kind. -Stars can't shine without darkness
Hank working cows before his accident
תגובות