[Warning: This is a long post and there are some graphic pictures]
Yesterday, something that you hope never happens happened. Shortly before 8:00pm, I was walking my dog down the street and back, and as we neared the front door of the house, I let Indy off the leash. I had heard my next door neighbor’s dogs barking, but I never could have imagined what happened next.
Indy dashed over to the side yard of my house, where there are two gates, one leading to my backyard, and one leading to my neighbor’s. Too late I remembered that there is a big gap beneath the neighbor’s gate – big enough for Indy & the neighbor dogs to reach each other.
Immediately, there was loud barking and screaming, and I rushed over to try and separate them. Indy’s head was under the gate, so I couldn’t see anything, but I pulled at Indy and banged on the gate in an attempt to scare the dogs apart. I reached with my hands, hoping to somehow release the dog’s grip on Indy, screaming all the while but I knew then it was futile. They pulled him under the gate, and he was gone. I froze for a second before rushing to the neighbor’s front door. I banged on the door several times, praying that the car in the driveway meant someone was home.
My neighbor opened the door, a bewildered expression on her face. “My dog’s in your backyard!” I yelled as I rushed through her house. She ran with me, and sure enough, they were still fighting. They separated as soon as we came out, and poor Indy was cowering in the corner of the yard. At first, he backed away from me, but I was eventually able to grab his collar. I knew it was bad. I saw skin and blood on the back of his head.
One of Indy’s wounds
Hands shaking, I tried to figure out what I was going to do. I knew there was an emergency vet nearby, but I wasn’t sure if they’d be open. I called my vet, and got the number of the emergency vet to call them. But no one answered. So I called my mom, trying my hardest not to speed too much down the road. She said she would try calling them and would meet me there.
I pulled in and took him inside, and they immediately took him back to give him an injection for his pain. I had to fill out a form, but the whole thing was a blur. Later, I found myself doubting if I had written in the correct information.
While I was sitting in the waiting room, and the adrenaline began wearing off, I realized my left hand hurt. Sure enough, the left side of my hand beneath my pinky was swelling. I had clearly hurt it while trying to rescue Indy but had not even noticed.
Icing my hand after dropping Indy off
Eventually, they brought my mom and me back into an exam room, where they told us he would need surgery to close the wounds, and it was going to require anesthesia and sutures. The doctor was very kind, and she told us she would get to him as soon as she could – being an emergency vet, she had to prepare for all kinds of scenarios – and they would call me to let me know when they had finished.
After paying a hefty $1500 bill, I went home with my mom where she prepared spaghetti, and we settled in for a long wait. At 11:30, I called them to check on his status, and they were working on him at that moment. They called an hour later to tell us to start heading that way to pick him up.
Mom and I arrived and had to wait a few minutes before getting Indy checked out. They gave me an antibiotic and pain medicine to give him, and explained the discharge instructions. I pulled my car up to the front door and moments later, Indy came trotting down the hall, a large blue cone around his neck. He came right up to me, and I gently pet him, but I didn’t see the extent of the sutures right away. They had to take him back because they forgot to remove his catheter, and when he came out the second time is when I got a good look at the extent of his injuries. Yikes.
His sutures and a drain on the left side of his head
I led him out to the car, and he jumped up into the seat and tripped on his cone. He looked so pitiful, it broke my heart. I got him home quickly, about 1:15am, and he was very restless. I gave him a pain pill wrapped in peanut butter (thanks to my brother for that tip!) to help him. He couldn’t seem to lie down with the cone on, so I petted him and tried to decide whether to go to bed or crash on the couch. I stayed on the couch for awhile & then realized he would probably do better if I stuck to our normal routine, so I went to bed.
I awoke around 7 and noticed Indy looked more alert already than he did the night before. I took him outside (on a leash!), and once we came back inside, I watched as he simply stood still in one place before pacing around and eventually sitting. I thought he was going to fall over from exhaustion. When he came to the couch, and looked up at me with those pleading eyes, I took off his collar so he could come up on the couch. He quickly settled down and fell asleep. He has since had a few more snoring naps next to me on the couch, and I’m keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn’t scratch or lick or cause his sutures to rupture.
This obviously was not what I planned on posting about today, but I wanted to share the full story for those who want to know. It is very easy to blame myself for what happened – why did I let him off the leash when I knew the neighbor dogs were out? If only I hadn’t taken him off the leash. But as I’ve been learning over the past few weeks, I could not allow myself to dwell on such thoughts. Instead, I made a list of what I was thankful for and tried focusing on that:
1. I am thankful the neighbor was home so I could get Indy out of their backyard.
2. I am thankful there was an emergency vet down the road that was open and available to take care of Indy
3. I am thankful that Indy was still walking, in control, and didn’t try to bite me. His eyes, as far as I could tell, were unharmed.
4. I am thankful Indy is current on his vaccinations and rabies
5. I am thankful Indy was healthy enough to undergo anesthesia and receive the treatment he needed
6. I am thankful for my mom, who came to support me and comfort me and stayed up so late with me last night.
This is the list I made last night, but obviously, now I would add:
7. I am thankful he made it through the surgery and seems to be recovering fairly well.
8. I am thankful I could take today off work and stay home with him
Now it will simply take time for him to heal and return to his energetic self. Dogs are so loyal and forgiving. He’s such a sweetheart and did not deserve this at all. Please pray for him, for healing and that there will be no infection or complications. And pray for me, that I will continue to focus on giving thanks and trusting in God’s sovereign control.
Exercising toward Godliness 