Hunter hurt himself

[Loraseal]

I thought of @Natalie and Monty yesterday afternoon after Hunter hurt himself. I am so mad with myself as I know that it should not have happened.
As he has overall very weak joints and ED, I am a helicopter mama.
Yesterday afternoon I let him off lead to sniff near the canal. A big black playful labbyhorse came onto the scene to play. I thought crikey this is not good for Hunter. Next second Hunter goes flying on his neck and hideous screeching and howling. He is holding his paw and panting very badly. He couldn't walk.
First I thought he had broken his neck or dislocated something. The poor owner of the Labbyhorse was also in tears with me.
We both had no phone and it is a good 10 min walk back to our homes. The owner of the other Lab kindly rushed home to get her car to take Hunter home.
I massaged Hunter's shoulder and elbows during a painstaking 10 min wait.
The lady arrived and I managed to get his 28kg butt into the backseat of her old Mercedes. Luckily my OH was in the street searching for his car when we pulled up. He gets Hunter out and then the idiot dog wiggles like crazy to say hi to my OH!
He had a slight limp though. Very nice lady (still have no idea of her name) waves and drives off.
I give Hunter his full dose of Novacam and hose cold water on all his joints.
From that point he seems fine and this morning he is walking fine(no limp) and there are no signs of pain in his general movement?
Sorry for the long post but I feel bloody awful that I should have got him on the lead straight away.

 

[Beanwood]

Oh Loraseal! Try not to worry. Dogs will be dogs after all. You did everything you could and it looks like Hunter will be a little sore for a bit. What a lovely lady to help you, she obviously felt bad yet stepped in to help you in a much needed practical manner.

 

[SwampDonkey]

I'm glad he's ok. You look after Hunter so well. Both you and Natalie are brilliant doggy mums.

 

[Atemas]

Oh @Loraseal - how scary. Pleased to hear he seems ok this morning. We all seem to carry around a lot of guilt over our dogs - it’s horrible when they hurt themselves or are sick

 

[Shaz82]

Poor Hunter, what a panic when you have a heavy dog and are not near your home. What lovely people to help though, and maybe that lady will be a bit more aware of her dog's bounciness.

 

[edzbird]

So frightening for you. What a wonderful lady helping you & Hunter out. So glad he doesn't seem seriously injured. You mustn't kick yourself, as @Beanwood says, dogs will be dogs. They were having fun.

 

[Selina27]

@Loraseal seal, how horrid to see Hunter hurt, of course you are a helicopter Mum after what he has been through, but it honestly sounds like "one of those things". Not your fault at all.

What a lovely lady to help you. Not so long ago I could so easily have been in that situation with my own "labbyhorse" (love that!) so can imagine how she felt.

Hope Hunter continues to feel better xx

 

[Natalie]

Oh @Loraseal I'm so sorry this has happened to you both and so scary that you had to wait (though what a nice lady). That ten minutes must have felt like forever. From what you describe it sounds like you had no time to even act to put a lead on him.
It sounds very similar to what happened to Monty, in the sense of an extreme reaction followed by quick recovery, I'm glad he's not limping now, so sounds like it was a one-off pull, or knock.

As I think @Oberon mentioned in my thread, we've got to let our be dogs play and sniff around others - it's just not possible, or ethical, to wrap them up in cotton wool 100% of the time and keep them away from others. You will definitely feel better about this tomorrow, I promise. XXX





I have noticed with Monty, that although he is very stoic with his day to day aches and grumbles, when he does have something else that's sudden or acute, he's quite full on with his reactions - his split nail, or when his quick was clipped by mistake - he howled like a baby. Even the knock he got on the weekend, for example - I think the things that take him by surprise are the things he shouts about the most - and this isn't a criticism of him, of course , just an observation now built up over many years.

 

[Anne123]

Oh, no, that must have been very frightening! I guess the whole film of vets and clinics went through your mind in the 10 minutes wait.....I am glad that he is recovering quickly. Keep an eye on him for a few days and then let him off lead again. He is a dog and have to react and play like a dog. Even though you know that it might hurt him. The most important thing is that you learn his boundaries and take action when you see it becomes or will be too much for him.

 

[Lab_adore]

@Loraseal I desperately hope Hunter is ok

 

[Joy]

That must have been very scary -but absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent it. Glad he seems to have got over it quickly.

 

[Cath]

Poor lad and poor you. It was just one of those things that happen @Loraseal don't blame yourself . He sounds like he is on the mend

 

[Loraseal]

Thank you everyone. I just felt so hopeless and that poor lady was also so upset. It is nice to know there are still caring people in our world. I know we have to be careful with his joints but such a young dog needs freedom and to let off steam too. I have had more heartache and tears with my chocco idiot than my son! X

 

[HAH]

I know we have to be careful with his joints but such a young dog needs freedom and to let off steam too.

You put it perfectly, and this is why you're an excellent doggy mum to Hunter. It's an impossible balance but his quality of life is the best possible, and that's down to you xxx

 

[VanillaBean]

Hope Hunter is feeling better today. Don't be to hard on yourself

 

[Loraseal]

He has a slight limp today so I think he is a little sore. It is also very humid with rain/drizzle and that always seems to have impact on his joints.
He should also be losing weight as he has been on a diet for ages. I have just found out why he has not lost weight on his diet. My son has been "training" him and feeding him loads of freeze dried salmon cubes as his reward system.
Not sure if I should laugh or cry at the pair of them......

 

[Natalie]

Aw, but that's so sweet your son has been training him, what are they doing together?

I've just re-discovered tinned hot dogs as a high value treat. I think they are gross, but are actually made out of chicken so low calorie. You can easily get 50 to 60 treats out of one hot dog, up to 100 if you cut them up very small. The ones I have are only 56 calories each and Monty and Bear think they are amaaaazing.

 

[Loraseal]

He did break the cubes up but dried salmon is quite hard on the calories. He was playing find me (all round the house) , eat peanut butter off my belly button on cue.....play dead (Hunter not my son)...shoulders and the new Trixie dog activity Move2win I bought.
Sweet really!
He says Hunter is having problems with focus on the Trixie dog activity. Says the son who himself has ZERO focus!

 

[SwampDonkey]

The boys after being pretending they don't understand recall or their names since my limited activity are rediscovering squeezy cheese.

 

[Selina27]

I've just re-discovered tinned hot dogs as a high value treat.

Yes, I always find those really good too, except I get the ones in the jars. I'd forgotten about them, thanks for the reminder