Drake's Boo-boo

My poor Big Beautiful! 

If you read "DraaaAaaaAAaake!" then you know that he got out for a brief adventure Saturday night.  I mean, every now and then you've gotta cut loose right?  Well, Drake returned with a limp.  We kept him in on Sunday (which was a shame because the weather was gorgeous) and he slept on his dog bed most of the day.   Ever the lover, he kept his sweet disposition despite obvious discomfort.

First thing this morning I called the vet and brought him in.  He won the staff and Dr.'s hearts immediately.  We finally have his official weight which is 77.4 lbs.  That's 77 lbs of muscle.  The vet went on and on amount the muscle in this dog!  He is a gorgeous specimen.  Luckily, he is also a sweetheart and keeps his strength in check.  I had Drake sit, then lay down and roll over so the vet could take his temperature and examine his paw.  I must say he was much more cooperative about the whole thing then I would've been.  (I mean, you know how they take a dogs temperature, right?)  Even while our vet examined his hurt paw, Drake looked up at him and gave him a big lick on his chin!

The vet showed me how one of his toes was spread out from the paw a bit and was likely broken.  An x-ray was taken to be certain.  I could hear Drake crying while they did so.  Must've been uncomfortable... Sure enough, he has three fractures in his outside toe. 

"We are going to need to sedate him and then cast it or splint it."

I was surprised that my eyes welled up at the thought of Drake being sedated.  He's not been with us long but I am head over heels for this dog and he is a solid member of the family.  They said it would be about an hour and so I went to buy our groceries before the snow predicted to come rolled in.  (P.S. the high for tomorrow is predicted to be -2.  Fun.)

When I came back they had splint the foot.  He was still waking up so I had a little bit of a wait.  They basically made a cast and then cut that in half.  They bound his toes and then put the splint behind it.  It is wrapped in a forest green bandage and then an empty IV bag is tied over it as it needs to stay dry.  That will be difficult in the snow...  He is to wear this get-up for 8-10 weeks.  (Ugh!)  He needs to stay off of his foot for 10 days and then we can go for a short walk to the bus stop and work our way up from there.  I'm thinking our 3 miles hikes up and around the hill will have to take a hiatus.  Poop.  That was a major source of work out for me.  I mean, I can go alone but I know I will easily talk myself out when the weather is the slightest bit uncomfortable.  I was willing to deal with it for Drake because he needs to exercise. 

The vet helped him into the truck.  He slept with his head in my lap the drive home.  Once home, I managed to get him out of the truck myself.  I tried to lift him but he growled a little.  I think it was...I don't know.  He sort of purrs when you hug on him and it sounds a touch like a growl.  So I was not sure if he thought I was hugging him or if he was uncomfortable with me lifting him.  Regardless, I was uncomfortable lifting him and so I helped him to gently hop out of the car.  My plan was to have him stay in his bed in the mud room as I did not think he should take the stairs.  Even doped up, however, Drake had his own plan and took to the stairs.  I ran up behind him helping him once when his grogginess caused him to miss-step and then again when his bagged foot slipped on the wood floor.

I got him to his bed but before laying down, he peed!  Oh he looked at me with such a sad face!  He's never had an accident in the house. 

"It's OK buddy.  It's the medicine.  Lay down." 

I got him down but he was sort of half way on the bed.  He's gotten up one other time because he had a delayed reaction to the cat that he still would've liked to chase but is too drugged and too painful to do.  While up though, he peed again.  Maybe being upstairs where the floors are wood was a better plan then the carpeted basement....  I called the vet just to make sure this behavior was normal.  He agreed with me that it's just from the sedation and suggested that I take him outside and try to support him while he goes to the bathroom.  Seriously?!  Where are Theodore's old diapers....