Scout on Injured Reserve
Last night at bedtime, Ben was helping me put the house to bed and when we let the dogs out they immediately went to Mary's fence and began barking at something. Smudge led the tirade in his peculiar hysterical way. Ben went out to check on them and at that moment they rocketed around chicken yard to the backside. Smudge continuing to bark and Scout moving with single-minded purpose, silently, would lead the attack and do what needed to be done. As Ben stood there with a flash light, he reported that it was a possum followed quickly by, "They got it."
I thought, great, now they'll stop the late-night barking, which pisses the neighbors off and Ben said he'd let the dogs in and I could go start getting ready for bed. But by the time I was finishing brushing my teeth I could hear Sue get up and walk down the hallway, talking with Ben. When I got out of the bathroom, I went down to the front room to see what was going on and Scout was laying on the floor and Ben was kneeling next to him and saying that Scout couldn't get up onto the couch. He had tried and his hind legs had given out on him. I saw that he was laying on the floor in an awkward position with his tail going the wrong way.
So I wondered if he'd hurt his back with the sudden violent possum chasing movements. He really went all-out to get around the fenced chicken yard to catch the possum, like when he was a younger dog. I gave him some of his dog pain medicine, which is basically dog ibuprofen, and hoped that it would take down the swelling and relieve some of the pain.
Nighttime is a very practiced routine at our house and involves both dogs coming down to the big bedroom and laying at the foot of the bed while I read my Kindle and then, after about 30 minutes, when they're sure I'm tucked safely in bed, they go down to the living room and lay on the dog-couch for a rest period. Both dog usually alternate between the dog-couch and the big bedroom for the first 4-5 hours of the night. When Sue gets up around 4 am they're ready to go outside to pee and check the yard before coming back in for the important morning's routine.
That's the way our nights go. But with Scout hurt, I figured the routine would change and he'd stay down in the front room on the rug until he started feeling better. But as I sat on the edge of the bed doing my needfuls, I heard clumping in the hallway and soon I saw the form of a very large dog come around the corner, limping with both back legs and walking flat-footed into the bedroom, followed of course, by his best friend and support dog, Smudge. Scout went to his regular place at the foot of the bed and carefully dropped himself onto the rug with the sound and shaking impact of dropping a 150 pound sack of bones onto the floor. Smudge took his place along the bottom edge of the bed next to him. Scout wasn't going to let a hunting injury interfere with his routine. Ben followed him in to make sure he made it and I asked him to fetch Scout a rawhide chew-bone to work on because when he's stressed, he likes to chew.
Ben complied and then retreated to his room and I finished my routine and turned out the light to begin my reading and Scout gnawed the bone noisily and made more than his usual groaning talk as he dealt with whatever thoughts were going through his mind. I didn't fall asleep for worrying about him and checked on him several times until about 2 am. He did his best to maintain the routine. When I got up to pee, he got up to go get a drink of water, then returned to his position at the foot of the bed, like usual.
A little after 2 am, when I closed up my Kindle, he struggled up and went into the front room and in the morning, I found him on his couch resting,m apparently feeling a little better. As I came out from my shower in the morning, I saw Ben entering his bathroom, surprising me. He doesn't usually get up until the last minute, so I could tell he was worried about the big guy too.
I gave Scouty another dose of his dog ibuprofen this morning in hopes of helping him recover. I hate to see a dog in pain. It's a little like having a child in pain, but dogs are harder to help.
Normally, after I finish breakfast, the dogs accompany me onto the back deck where they check the yard and relieve themselves while I read things on my phone and take a picture of the yard to make my day's phone background. Today, I told them we'd stay inside because it was raining and cold and Scout needed to let his legs heal up a little more. Smudge was very anxious that we didn't go out, but Scout seemed OK with the variation in our routine. Hopefully tomorrow we will all be back to normal and our day will return to its comfortable routine.
I was really worried about Scout, as I'm Ben and Sue were too. It will be good to have the big guy back to normal.
More later,
I thought, great, now they'll stop the late-night barking, which pisses the neighbors off and Ben said he'd let the dogs in and I could go start getting ready for bed. But by the time I was finishing brushing my teeth I could hear Sue get up and walk down the hallway, talking with Ben. When I got out of the bathroom, I went down to the front room to see what was going on and Scout was laying on the floor and Ben was kneeling next to him and saying that Scout couldn't get up onto the couch. He had tried and his hind legs had given out on him. I saw that he was laying on the floor in an awkward position with his tail going the wrong way.
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| A Younger Scout |
Nighttime is a very practiced routine at our house and involves both dogs coming down to the big bedroom and laying at the foot of the bed while I read my Kindle and then, after about 30 minutes, when they're sure I'm tucked safely in bed, they go down to the living room and lay on the dog-couch for a rest period. Both dog usually alternate between the dog-couch and the big bedroom for the first 4-5 hours of the night. When Sue gets up around 4 am they're ready to go outside to pee and check the yard before coming back in for the important morning's routine.
That's the way our nights go. But with Scout hurt, I figured the routine would change and he'd stay down in the front room on the rug until he started feeling better. But as I sat on the edge of the bed doing my needfuls, I heard clumping in the hallway and soon I saw the form of a very large dog come around the corner, limping with both back legs and walking flat-footed into the bedroom, followed of course, by his best friend and support dog, Smudge. Scout went to his regular place at the foot of the bed and carefully dropped himself onto the rug with the sound and shaking impact of dropping a 150 pound sack of bones onto the floor. Smudge took his place along the bottom edge of the bed next to him. Scout wasn't going to let a hunting injury interfere with his routine. Ben followed him in to make sure he made it and I asked him to fetch Scout a rawhide chew-bone to work on because when he's stressed, he likes to chew.
Ben complied and then retreated to his room and I finished my routine and turned out the light to begin my reading and Scout gnawed the bone noisily and made more than his usual groaning talk as he dealt with whatever thoughts were going through his mind. I didn't fall asleep for worrying about him and checked on him several times until about 2 am. He did his best to maintain the routine. When I got up to pee, he got up to go get a drink of water, then returned to his position at the foot of the bed, like usual.
A little after 2 am, when I closed up my Kindle, he struggled up and went into the front room and in the morning, I found him on his couch resting,m apparently feeling a little better. As I came out from my shower in the morning, I saw Ben entering his bathroom, surprising me. He doesn't usually get up until the last minute, so I could tell he was worried about the big guy too.
I gave Scouty another dose of his dog ibuprofen this morning in hopes of helping him recover. I hate to see a dog in pain. It's a little like having a child in pain, but dogs are harder to help.
Normally, after I finish breakfast, the dogs accompany me onto the back deck where they check the yard and relieve themselves while I read things on my phone and take a picture of the yard to make my day's phone background. Today, I told them we'd stay inside because it was raining and cold and Scout needed to let his legs heal up a little more. Smudge was very anxious that we didn't go out, but Scout seemed OK with the variation in our routine. Hopefully tomorrow we will all be back to normal and our day will return to its comfortable routine.
I was really worried about Scout, as I'm Ben and Sue were too. It will be good to have the big guy back to normal.
More later,
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