As I do every morning, I awoke to the smiling face of my dog and we began our morning routine. Coffee in my hand, we went outside and our first sight was a ravaged bag of garbage that a raccoon had left strewn about my entrance way. This piqued Callaway’s interest and she was eager to get off the deck and chase the over-sized vermin to defend her territory.
Within moments of being in the bushes her cry pierced the morning air and my heart began an incessant rapid beat that sent me into high alert. I had assumed that the raccoon had performed some ninja moves and lacerated my dog’s face and I immediately threw on my running shoes and bounded off the deck, shovel in hand, ready to pummel the furry ninja with my weapon of choice.
I was ill-prepared for the gaping wound in her chest that was bleeding fairly profusely. Callaway gingerly limped back to the deck and I noticed a 3/4 inch hole just above her left front leg. She had run into a branch at top speed and the result had left her fairly immobile. My First Aid training came flooding back and I applied pressure to stop the bleeding. After several calls to the answering service for the vet I created a makeshift bandage and lifted her 85 pound frame into the car for the hour-long journey to see the doctor.
The vet was remarkable. He ushered her in immediately and assessed the wound. Without being able to tell if the stick caused further damage, Dr. Jones made the time to examine her further and offered to keep her for the morning so they could stitch and dress the wound properly. His colleague has also offered to have her as a passenger for the hour ride back to their local office where I can pick her up later. It’s comforting to know that medical professionals have as much compassion and concern for my dog as I do.
I am back home now getting ready to go to work and am anxiously awaiting a call to find out the extent of the damage. I miss her already but I know she is in good, caring hands and she will be home soon.
polysyllabic profundities 
Moral: Too much exuberance can stick you.
I’m glad you were there to be a first responder. Sounds like she is in very good hands!
So glad she is going to be ok. :::hugs:::
Aw! Poor doggie! I hope it’s not too severe an injury.
It was worse than they thought – she knocked a vein in the process. Slow recovery ahead. 😦
Oh no!! A slow recovery is better than no recovery at all, though.
Gosh, what a scary accident! So glad you were able to get her to the vet for care and so great you know so much about first aid! Callaway is beautiful…The Red Man wishes her a speedy recovery!
Poor doggy. Hope everything turns out OK
Oh noes! Poor Callaway. Fingers crossed that it’s nothing serious.
Wow. I’m glad to hear that you were able to salvage the situation and that though recovery is slow, she will be OK after all. I really want a dog, but I don’t know if I can handle having anything like this happen to him/ her without completely going to pieces
It sounds like Callaway is in good hands with your vet. Poor girl, but she’ll be okay. My co-worker’s dog recently had a run in with a stray cat that came into the yard, unfortunately her dog lost an eye. Keep us post, Susan.
darn those furry ninja vermin and their ninja moves… fooling callaway into running into a stick. im sorry she’s injured, but very happy to hear that she’s in good hands with people who clearly care… that’s awesome. a shout out to your quick thinking also. here’s to hoping for a speedy recovery!
Thank you all for your kind wishes. Callaway is home and on bed rest for two weeks after having a vein repaired and wound stitched. Lots of draining, bandage changes and no fun for her for a while.
How terrifying!! I’m so glad she’s recovering.
She’s not too happy with her new wardrobe (medi-vest and a cone), but at least she’s recovering!!
🙂 I used to complain about bandages around my stitches from my various exploits and my mom would say, “Better uncomfortable than un-alive.”
very true!!
I hope she’s feeling better soon!!!! and you too what a way to start your days.
Wow. That’s one for the books, huh? My sister had a family of racoons in her house in the late 90’s! The racoons destroyed the kid’s rooms, little ninja’s. 🙂
They are very spiteful creatures!
I find vets to be some of the most caring people in the world–good luck!
Thank you – she seems to be on the mend, slowly.
You have a great vet! I hope Callaway is healing well. This reminds me of a vet that we had that went above and beyond. Our dog was in congestive heart failure and needed shots to relieve fluid retention. He had to leave the office early to take care of family stuff, so he had us meet at his house, where he showed us how to do the shots and gave us a supply of syringes and meds – no charge.
I only clicked the “like” button for statistical purposes. There is nothing to “like” about this post. As this reply comes belated, I hope Callaway had a speedy recovery and is back to her playful self.
Thank you – she bounced right back and is up to her usual shenanigans!!
I’m delighted to hear 👍