| Photo: Rocky, in a typical pose. Savoring the cool weather, looking rather majestic. Looking cool, calm and confident, unlike this morning! Rocky had a bad start to his day today. He went out this morning like usual--anxious to be let out, whining and turning in circles by the kitchen door, sitting like he was supposed to and then dancing around until he was told angrily to sit again. "Talking" to me as I put my boots on, to communicate just how eager he was to get out that door. He's already been out once on the dog-cable, so the excitement was a bit much at that point (for us humans, at least, seeing as it was before 7 in the morning). He quite gladly scampered out into the back acre, full-speed ahead to do some serious damage to the Hi-C plastic jug that is his favorite toy (since he's not allowed to "play" with the chickens, he takes out all the high-prey-drive frustration on a juice-container). I went into the barn to feed the cows, set up for milking, give the chickens their feed and water, and then came back into the house to have my coffee and gather up the milk buckets. I was not in a hurry, but once or twice thought I could hear Rocky whining while I sipped my coffee and weeded through junk mail from the past few days. Rocky whining is nothing new. He doesn't like to be alone. He's truly a pack-animal, and hates to even be in his crate without the unwilling Shadow crated right next to him. If Shadow is left free in the kitchen and Rocky is in his cage, there will be earsplitting howls and yipping until you wonder if it's really worth it to teach him to tolerate his crate. If Shadow is next to him, however much she resents it, he settles down and is content. Think about how a wolf can howl, and mentally twist that up into a irritating whine/yip/yelp and that's his way of talking. He's full grown and still yips like a frantic little pup. Some mornings while he's out in the pasture, he climbs up on a scrubby evergreen bush and whines at full volume, just sitting there and waiting, but making that waiting as annoying as it could possibly be. Anyway, Shadow was ready to go out (she HATES going out into the pasture with Rocky). I got her on the leash and headed out, planning to let her run while I milked Bessie. Rocky was crumpled on the ground under the big white pines. My first thought was "He took it too far with the cows and they broke his leg". But the cow pen wasn't open, so the most they could have done, even if they were enraged by his taunting, would be to charge the electric fence and shock themselves. His whining reminded me of when he was a puppy, and he'd been running full-speed after Shadow and whacked his back paw on a tree stump. We thought he had a broken paw then, and his overly dramatic whimpering almost convinced me to bring him to the vet then. He limped pathetically for 4 days before I took him, simply because there didn't seem to actually be anything broken. After he'd been to the vet and nothing had been found wrong, the limp magically disappeared..... Shadow rushed over to him, and I thought "Well, she likes him at least a little", but she proceeded to try to impress on him that she was dominant while he was in a furry ball of agony on the ground. NOT nice! He stood up, yipping with pain, and I could see that his front leg was out at an odd angle. Great, I thought, a trip to the vet. Rocky doesn't ride well in the car on the best of days. On closer inspection, though, his leg was at an odd angle because the clip at the end of his choke-chain was hooked on his paw. He was still in the collar, with it stretched tightly between his neck and his weirdly elevated paw. More drama was necessary as I came over and grabbed at the choke chain. I tried to touch his foot to get a good idea of what needed to be done, and Shadow was right there making things worse. Rocky howled in supposed agony. I'm never sure with him if it's real or not. The clip had somehow clasped itself closed between the pads of his front paw, on the sensitive skin between. He was pulling against it and causing more pain with each tug of his head. Shadow was all over him and he couldn't do anything about it. I was trying to tug the clasp free, or at least get a good idea of where it was biting into his skin, and he was frantic. No blood, but I was in danger of getting bitten. Rocky was growling back at Shadow, whining at his paw, and snapping at anything that was anywhere near his foot. Bessie was mooing to be milked (by this time it was FIFTEEN minutes past her routine, gasp! Read the post from 2 days ago to find out just how important that routine is to her.) Rocky's life wasn't in danger, and he didn't have a broken leg. The only thing to do was to leave Rocky to calm down, let Shadow take care of her own business out in the field, and get Bessie milked. I managed to get the choke-chain slipped off of Rocky's neck before he knew what I was doing, so at least the pressure on his paw was relieved a little bit. Back again half-an-hour later, Rocky was still licking his paw, still huddled on the ground, the clasp was still firmly attached, and Shadow was still circling the helpless pup and making things worse. Shadow was VERY unhappy with me, but I got her on the leash and hooked her up to the fence to keep her out of the way. Rocky was in a tiny little ball, whimpering softly but much calmer than before. I was able to pet him and he thumped his tail on the ground pathetically. I touched the chain and he immediately whined and tucked his foot under his body where I couldn't see it. Sigh. I don't really know how the clasp came loose. I certainly wasn't going to be allowed to touch it. I took Rocky by the collar to bring him inside, he cried out in pain, shook his foot hard, and the chain with the clasp fell onto the ground. Suddenly Rocky was dashing full-speed in a crazy puppy-run all over the back yard. NOT a good idea since I had already let the poultry out, thinking he would not be in any mood to chase the birds with his paw in so much pain. Whew! Several disasters diverted at once. Rocky ran over to play with Shadow, who distracted him from the chickens and ducks by snarling at him, he got tangled up in her leash, and I caught him by the collar again and brought both dogs inside. I guess it could have been a lot worse. My mind had already been racing through possible scenarios if I had to take him to the vet with a broken leg. I could call the neighbor to help me get the 80 pound injured dog into the car. I could let Ruby out to drink all the milk that Bessie had produced during the night (instead of getting it for our use). The chickens could be left inside the barn until I got home. The egg delivery to the co-op this morning would need to be changed to "I'll deliver them to each customer, just tell me where and when". I'm glad that none of those plans needed to be put into place! No blood, no limping, Rocky was actually straining to pull me over as I walked him and Shadow back to the kitchen. He is a husky, after all. Tough, able to withstand extreme conditions......dramatic. He gulped down a whole bowl of water while Shadow stood menacingly nearby (she usually gets first dibs). He found a comfy spot on the hard wood floor. He flopped down with a huge dramatic sigh. And he's still sound asleep, several hours later. Thank-you, God, for small miracles! :) Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/ |
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