Coming in Threes

The old saying is that things come in threes - you could say that, as I have three dogs, and three horses - three bitches and three mares, for that matter.  (Oh what a House of Happy Hormones!!!) And all three of the dogs have hurt themselves in this last three weeks!

First it was Talulah who hurt her back.  I am not entirely sure how she did it, but we had been up the hill over the road where the dogs can indulge in a bit of rabbiting.  I don't often go up there as they tend to run themselves into a state of exhaustion, so it is just an occasional treat.  Often on the way back down to the house, the two younger dogs will take any opportunity to sit down and take a breather - and they did so on this day also.

I didn't really notice much difference in Talulah on getting back home or indeed until the evening - she was sleeping out the sofa out in the conservatory and I could her her whining quietly.  At first I thought she was whinging for suppertime, and when I called to her to come into the house, she didn't appear.  When I went out to her to encourage her in, she wouldn't get up - and she just wasn't herself.  Becoming a little concerned, I decided to give them supper at that point - which she did get up for, but then refused to go out to wee.  I half carried her outside, where she promptly lay down, so I half carried her back in again.  Now a faint feeling of alarm was setting in.  Not knowing quite what else to do, I did some Bowen moves on her, and settled her down for the night.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep the first half of the night as I kept getting up to go and check on her.  About 4am, I could hear her whining.  I took her outside again, to see if she needed a wee, which she managed to do.  On the way back in, she stopped at the foot of the stairs as if to say she wanted to go up to bed.  So, she walked up with her front end, and I carried the back.  We all then slept.  

Come the morning amidst the normal madness of getting up and excited dogs anticipating breakfast, for once I didn't have to fight for my slippers - Talulah was not for getting up.  Normally she is the most enthusiastic riser, running off with my slippers, socks, or anything else she can get hold off, and running downstairs to distribute them around the sitting room before pogo-ing at the door.

Alarm bells were ringing loudly now.  I fed the other two and then went back upstairs to encourage her to come down, even trying to lift her up - that was when she cried in pain, I abandoned that idea and phoned the vet.  I also phoned Chris to come and help me get her up and into the car.  When he arrived, who should appear in the sitting room but Talulah!  A bit wobbly, but wagging her tail.  We went to the vet anyway and was given a painkilling and anti-inflammatory injection and some medicine to take home with instructions to rest for a few days.  Talulah obviously wasn't listening because by the end of the day she was entirely herself again.

Whether the Bowen worked, or I shifted something when trying to move her, I don't suppose I will ever know - but I am very relieved that whatever it was has gone and taken all evidence of itself away.

Two weeks later, in the melee of getting past the cows at work, Tussock got under my feet.  She yelped, but I could do nothing until I had dealt with a particularly bad tempered cow.  Once we were past them, I then turned to Tussock who was holding up a foot and looking at me sadly.  I had a look at it - it seemed fine, no reaction to my poking, so I kissed it better and she trotted off happily.

All was fine until the next morning when she suddenly yelped, held her foot up for a few moments and limped off - nobody was near her at the time.  The rest of the day she was fine - until the next day when she was holding up her foot and limping again.  A proper examination found no thorns, no stones, no lumps, no cuts.  One toe, however, was obviously tender and rather swollen.  

I concluded that she might have broken her toe - and anticipated another trip to the vet the next day.  Come morning - no sign of a limp in the house or when walking.  Trotting on hard ground, she would limp, but she was eager to run on the grass, and even to instigate play with River.    Given that she was comfortable enough for that, I decided to let time and her body do its own healing rather than let the vet poke about at it.  She continues to improve.

And now it is River's turn!  She and Tussock were racing round a building at work to intercept Talulah who was returning after being AWOL.  River squeezed between Tussock and the building - through a very narrow gap.  There was a sharp lip of metal jutting out and an enormous clump of hair was left on this metal.  Cursing, I caught up with the dogs, to find Tussock holding her foot up (she must have knocked it), and River standing still and not beating up Talulah as she would normally do.  I had a quick look at her, and found a long, but not deep, scratch on her rib cage - okay, not so bad.  With relief, we went off for a quick walk in the field before going home.

During the evening, River got down off the sofa and as she did so, I saw a large bald patch in her waistline.  I had a look, only to find a large hole about the size of a pound coin and a long and defoliated scratch!  The hole wasn't deep - but almost as if she had just ripped the skin off.  Another trip to the vet coming up?  Once again, I elected not to go - it is clean, not deep enough to stitch, and the vet was unlikely to do any more than I am already doing - keeping it clean and keeping an eye on it.  And resting her.

So that is the three.  However, two weeks ago, Mooi also injured herself, lacerating the back of a front pastern on some barbed wire.......she is on the mend, but I do hope this isn't the beginning of another round of three.