So Friday September 10th was a normal Friday for us. Jake went to Canine Clubhouse for the day, Baylor went to school and Gloria and I went to work. Only I had Summer Hours and got to leave work at noon. I ended up staying until 1:00 because I had to finish what I was doing. I went shopping and headed home. Around 3:30 the phone rang and it was the manager of the Clubhouse. He proceeded to tell me Jake was playing with Jacoby and then they weren't and Jake got bit in the foot. Not bad but definite puncture wounds. He said Vets usually like to see puncture wounds so when I was done talking to him I called our Vet and made an appointment for Saturday. I picked up Baylor and then Jake. Then we headed out for some ice cream because we all deserved some today.
At the light Jake snuck up and tasted my pumpkin ice cream. A few times actually.
He had to wait until we got home for his doggie dish. He really enjoyed it!
He spent the evening on the couch, which is normal for Fridays when he goes to day care. But when I wanted him to get up to go outside he was a bit grumpy, snarly which is not usual. He eventually got up and made his way outside and then up to bed. He slept in pretty late for him as well.
Baylor was with Kartikey and Jake and I went to the vet. They said it looked good but they would shave it and clean it up. A few days of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories but they felt it was going to be just fine.
He had two more marks further up his leg
and a scratch in his arm pit.
He took a nice nap on the couch for the afternoon.
Checked out the pool.
And played with his friends at the dog park. Playing tug with Storm.
And Starskey.
The rest of the week went on a usual. I went to Karns and saw the Oscar Meyer Wiener mobile.
Baylor and I watched a huge spider rebuild her web on the fence and canopy.
Baylor gave Jake lots of cuddles.
Saturday we went for a nice long walk and took a dip in the creek.
While we were out there I saw a blue heron on the far side and took a few photos of it. Thankfully Jake never saw it or it would have been a new game of chase the bird for him.
I headed to the west shore for some shopping and on my way home got behind my favorite carrier.
Sunday morning I let Jake outside and he decided we no longer needed the cover to the grill. Thanks Jake!
We went to the park around 3 when Sam was going and the dogs played for a bit but then just laid down in the mulch. So we then walked them down to the creek. They had a good time in the water and we decided to let them play in the park again to dry off. They were horsing around more after the creek anyway. There was only one dog in the park and Jake and Sam were playing chase. The other dog darted in as they passed by and on way chase by me I heard a crack and my dog went down screaming. I thought he broke his hips or legs or something from the noise I had heard and how he was sitting down. I got him to stand up and Joanne pointed to his side and said that was his problem. A two inch cut in his side. I still don't really know what happened as it was not dog aggression. I have been calling it a tackle gone wrong. The dog owner did not know what to do or say. He asked if I wanted his number and I just said it was not intentional as far as I could tell, just an accident. He said I was very gracious but I was also thinking if he was not there paying the bill, it was not going to be likely that I would get paid back. Jake walked to the van and jumped in like nothing was different.
Thankfully the ER Vet is five minutes away from the park and they were not crowded. That being said, it still took over three and a half hours to get him taken care of. He rolled on the floor like there was nothing wrong. I was freezing sitting in wet jean shorts, wet underpants, wet shoes, and partially wet shirt.
We waiting in the lobby for a long time and then waited in the exam room. Baylor was at Ryder's and they were very kind to keep him until we were out of there, around 8!
Dog's skin is not attached to their muscles like ours is so the more he moved, the bigger the cut stretched out. It was gross but never bleed. Which would have been grosser!
Just waiting with Mommy.
Another view before
And finally all stapled up. He was sedated and had internal sutures and eight external staples. The staples were to come out in 10-14 days. Just leash walking and try to keep him calm. Um OK, but thank you for taking care of my dog.
And we brought home a lovely cone!
Hershey came in the office while Jake was back being stitched up. He had wrestled with a porcupine and had a face full of quills. And he was pretty tolerant of his wounds as well.
Poor sad Jake.
We left and headed to pick up Baylor at Ryder's. Heather had not told Baylor why I was so late and he was quite surprised with what had happened.
Jake was quiet the rest of the night and sometime in the middle of the night he woke me up to go outside but we ended up sitting on the stairs for about 20 minutes. He just sat there with his head hung down and looked like someone had sucked his soul right out of him. I told him he had better come back to me. Looking back I am sure it was him coming off the sedation but it was scary to see my dog not be himself.
But in the morning he was up watching the Brown's house like usual, only with a huge plastic cone.
I worked from home and had to take Jake with me. I did not want him in the crate with a cone and a fresh wound. He got to go on every drop off and pick up for two weeks.
He figured out how to get his drinks out of his fountain even with the cone.
Monday afternoon he wanted to nap outside so I worked outside to keep an eye on him.
And then he laid at my feet while I worked in the living room.
And then laid beside me on the couch.
Tuesday I worked from home and he received his second Bark Box. While he enjoyed the treats, I had to put the toys away because he cannot be playing with them right now. I think the foot ball will be fun for him when he can play.
In the evenings we went for long walks and since I was home during the day he was awake more because of being out the crate. But he did not want to settle down so I sat on the patio for about 45 minutes messaging a dog park friend while Jake chewed a stick and chased crickets
When he laid down, we went inside
and went to bed.
Wednesday we went out for ice cream and the guy at Maggie's remembered Jake from a week ago and that he had been bit then. At the light he snuck dog treat from his cup in the cup holder. And when he finished it at home, we found the cone makes a lovely catch tray for crumbs for later.
I love Chewy.com, I ordered on Tuesday and we had it on Wednesday. Jake was not too sure about his new collar but he at least had more access to his surroundings. And he looked pretty cute too.
Baylor asked for roller skates for his birthday and Gloria gave them to him early, of course.
I took Jake for his walk and he rolled in some sort of super smelly animal crap and got it on his new collar and his neck.
The collar came off to get washed and the cone went back on while he got washed.
He did well sleeping with the cone on but Friday morning the show really began for me. He woke up and went downstairs. I went down after him, after a bit, and he had chewed through the strap on the collar. It was a bit too long anyway but this was the first of many issues.
Back in the cone until I could get downstairs to the sewing machine.
See the big chip on the side? He just plows through and past anything that gets in his way.
Which since I was working from home was after we took Baylor to school. One of his dog park friend's birthday was Friday and I sent a birthday greeting from Jake to Tobi.
And he went into his crate with the collar on while I picked up Baylor and Ryder and took them to the Fall fair.
It was a nice evening for a fair. I was helping with the gunny sack races and Greeva stayed with me and helped out.
It took a while for kids to start coming over to race but then it picked up and we had race after race. Greeva and I even raced a few times.
It was a good evening and everyone had fun. Jake also had fun destroying his new collar.
Back into the cone, now adored with orange duct tape.
I took him for a walk before dark and it was a lovely sunset. I put him outside while I sat in the living room, as is our usual habit. And all of a sudden the girls are at my door telling me Jake is loose. I follow them out front and Mandy is running across the road and hollaring for Jake. I follow her as Jake comes running up to her and she was able to catch him.
I had grabbed the just in case leash and walked him home. I had no idea he was out of the fence and did not know how he got out because I noticed the gate was latched when I went out. He was happy with his run but that was the end of him being outside. Mandy told me they had pulled up in their driveway and saw a dog run past their van. It took her a second to realize it was Jake and sent the girls to come get me. Thank goodness for them because it would have been quite a surprise when I went out to let him in and he was not there. And I had no idea where to look for him!
So Saturday morning I have a dog on a leash because he cannot be trusted while I wash his cone that now is covered in dirt and tape it up some more because it is almost split in two and I spill my coffee! Because I need to be cleaning my floors again when I have an Aunt's meeting at my house in a few hours.
All washed, dried and taped up.
Sorry buddy. I had help at the Aunt's meeting, several family members held his leash so I could take care of things. It was a nice help. I did not want him running around the house with the family everywhere with food. He would be getting into purses and bags, trying to get food off the counters and off plates. It would have been a nightmare! But he did good on the leash and only head butted one person. Unfortunately it was Aunt Betty, the oldest one there. She is ok but it must have hurt her getting knocked in the face with the cone.
After everyone left I took a break in the living room, because I was tired and I thought Jake would nap. Well, he was pretty calm until a dog barked on the TV and he had to bark back and look for it behind the TV.
When I opened the mail, Jake got his new t-shirt though I don't think he was too happy about it.
But I did find out how he was getting out that afternoon. I put him outside and went to the garage and saw him run under the fence in the back and out towards the people in the field who were there for an large event in the fair grounds. He then headed off down the back yards on our side of the road as I chased him. There was a couple walking their two dogs and thankfully Jake ran up to them so I could catch up to him and catch him. Jerk. But now I knew how he was getting out of the fence but no way to stop him really. Saturday evening I was sitting on the patio with him on a leash when Gloria came home. I told her about my day and how Jake was getting out of the fence. She could tell something was wrong with me and she offered to take Jake from me. I went inside and he jerked her out towards the back of the yard. Then the phone rang and I ignored it. Then my cell rand and I answered it. It was Gloria asking me to bring a leash outside of the fence and get Jake. She was still on the inside and he had run under the fence while on the leash and she could not get him. I grabbed a leash, hooked him and through gritted teeth told her to come get the dog before I lost my mind. She got the dog but I lost it anyway. I was done, defeated and cried the big, ugly, heaving sobs that scared my son. Full on adult meltdown. I had reached my limit. I do it all on my own and I was done. But life goes on. The train keeps moving. And Baylor tried to help me feel better. He thought it would take my mind off of it if I would go get him some chocolate milk. He created an ask 20 Moms questions game and whoever got the most right would win (I did of course but it was fixed from the beginning)
Sunday was Sunday and I took a one week of healing side by side photo. It was looking better. Baylor had a play date at a friend's house and on our way over he just about jumped out of the fence after a deer that crossed the road.
Jake would not stay inside the fence now that he knew how to get out. I kept finding him on the other side. Sunday was not a fun day and on top of it I decided to drive to Heather's to get her cone because I was worried Jake was going to just destroy this one and the tape would not even hold out. One more thing to do.
So I put him inside for a bit while I worked on securing the bottom of the fence. It took a few tries but I worked it out.
First I just put a board along the bottom but he got out again. So then I found some fencing t-posts and put three of them along the fence. That did the trick!
Wednesday we had the back piece of fencing replaced and while the men worked on that I closed the pool. We went for out last swim on Monday evening and it was cold! But did not use it more than two times in the last month anyway.
This was how he rolled in our daily drop offs and pick ups. Sometimes I had the window down further and he would catch the air and whip his head back. Mostly the window only goes part way down because I am afraid he will go out of the window after some critter.
He was napping on the couch and the sun was making his cone into his own greenhouse.
We have been talking about getting his DNA done and I think it will come back part beaver. He was bored in the yard and chewed up the stair on the swing set!
And occasionally chews on my bird house.
Friday, the day before he was to get his staples out, I went out there and he has his cone off somehow. He had been playing and horsing around with his toys earlier too.
And he tore his staples.
So I called the vet and we went in to see what they said.
The vet was not sure she wanted to take them out but since they were tearing she did. She put glue on the open wound in the middle and said it would just take longer to heal as an open wound.
So they came out with a large opening in the center. The cone had to stay on too because now that it was open, he could do some damage licking it. They also did a six month blood draw to test for heart worm.
We went home and in the evening I gave him some supervised bone chewing time.
Saturday morning the vet called with the blood work results and he is negative for heart worm but positive for erlichia which is a tick bore disease common in the south, where he came from. The vet recommended a complete blood count and they got him in at 11:30. I remembered to have him wear his shirt because it is not something he will get a lot of use out of but is super cute. The tech said his wound looked the same as yesterday and the big crusty bit was the glue. It was gross but OK.
After the vet I went to Oak Grove for some cabbage to make Dad some sauerkraut, spring rolls for Baylor's dinner and some Cider donuts for me!
When we got home I tried a thunder shirt on Baylor that Ryder's mom loaned me. He seemed OK with it and wore while I did some running around while Baylor was at a birthday party.
Everytime I left him in the car I would come back to him in the front seat. Looking super sad.
But it was not too last. Sunday morning he had it on and chewed it up while he was outside. So back in the cone but at least it was the new one. Such sad face but don't let that sway you. He can still be up to no good with a cone on.
In other parts of my life, things are normal. Baylor still loves his Nerf guns and was super happy with the Call of Duty ghost hat I got him.
Healing is happening and all I wanted to do was get rid of that scabby bit. blech!
And then I went to check on him and he was gone. Again. This time he broke his collar. Thankfully there were people at the fire hall who pointed us in the right direction of the cemetery. From there he headed to the creek and I yelled out to the people I could hear down there that a dog was coming. Jake went right for them out on the rocks. One of the guys asked why I had my dog loose with a cone on and I barked back he broke his collar and he has a cone because he had staples removed two days ago. I had grabbed the just in case leash and used it to bring him home. Baylor and I had to go to Wal-Mart at 6:30 on a Sunday evening to buy a metal collar until I could order another martingale collar.
And the healing went on.
Jack came back to the office on October 2nd when I went back to the office as well. Jake went in his crate with the cone on because he was not healed enough to be left alone without it.
It finally healed enough for the bigger part of the scab to fall off. So now he had an open hole.
Part of being on the tie out meant he was always getting tangled on the table and canopy legs. And he does not stop trying to get where he wanted to get to.
The full moon was coming and with Jake liking to spend so much time outside I get to see it.
Gloria left the gate unlatched and Jake went out of course. Thank goodness for the tie out.
After two years my orchid rebloomed. And it is gorgeous.
On the night of the full moon Jake had me outside three times to pee before 2:30 am. The moon was lovely though.
During the week Jake had more and more cone free time. And one time he got a hold of a pillow before anyone noticed.
Even though he has lots of his own things to chew on. I make sure of it.
Oct 7th was a year that we lost our Eddy. She was the best dog and while she was a butt when she was young, I don't remember her giving me this much trouble.
Saturday afternoon we made our first appearance at the dog park in three week. Jake was well received by his doggy friends and the people were glad to see him back. Seriously drained by the last three weeks but glad Jake is healed!
