A new canine injury!

My dogs do like to keep me on my toes. Doing something the easy way is just not in their natures. They are huskies after all!

As a pack, they occasionally have wee disagreements, which usually end in a run to the vet with a bleeding dog or two. The amount of blood required for a vet run has increased over the years, but a dozen dogs in one fight is going to require a pro at some point! Last Tuesday night, the dogs got into one of those disagreements. Fortunately, I got them apart before any serious damage was done....or so I thought.

Ozzy, who start the fight, cuz that's what he does, ran to the door on three legs screeching his head off. For which he got a "that leg better be broken you little jerk" and put in his crate with some Metacam. He limped for a few days, but seemed to be ok. Then over the weekend, the limp got worse again and noisy, active Ozzy did not complain once about being put on crate rest. Not a good sign.

So he spent today at the vet. Being left is major for Ozzy. He's very timid and he grew up in a shelter. Concrete kennels are scary, scary places for Ozzy, especially when the only person he trusts closes the door and walks away. That was the saddest face I've ever seen and there's just no way to convince a dog that you really are coming back in a few hours!

Ozzy has a broken shoulder blade! I suspect he lunged after Founder, the dog on the bottom of last week's pack fight, who was hiding under the porch swing. Ozzy probably hit his shoulder on the metal swing legs. A little piece of the shoulder blade is just floating around in the joint, causing the inconsistent limp! Dr. Jessica sent the x-rays off to a specialist today...thank God for digital x-rays that can be emailed! She suspects Ozzy will need surgery to remove the bone chip, but wants an expert opinion before she starts messing around in his joints. I appreciate her caution! Ozzy will likely have surgery later this week, after the specialist responds.

My poor little sweetie. He is a bit of a troublemaker, but he's really a very sweet boy. It's been a lot of work and six years to get Ozzy from untouchable to snuggling on the couch...course he only cuddles with me; if he doesn't know you he will bark incessantly until you go away!

The only good thing out of today....Ozzy survived and maybe learned that I come back! Plus the last time Jessica saw him it was for his weight. Ozzy is a hard keeper and gets dangerously skinny. This time last year, he looked like a starving stray and I was sure he had some form of cancer that was causing him to waste away. He actually has a metabolism I would kill for. Today his weight is just under 54 pounds, which is absolutely perfect...it takes three times the food the other dogs get to keep him there, but at least I'm not embarassed to take him for a walk anymore!