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Sunday, June 3, 2018

Black Dog Sunday - A Little Worried

We recently did some camping in New Mexico in a huge meadow with soft grass perfect for a dog to sprint. R had a blast because he adores running.

I had fun near sunset having the Labraduo do recalls. Often, they'd start lying down. R appeared to be almost sleeping until I called!

Then, they drove toward me with a scary intensity.

The expressions on their faces were priceless.

Shyla didn't give up very often and often beat R to me.

But, on occasion, R would somehow intimidate her (it doesn't take much) and win in a runaway.
We had a truly fabulous time, all except for one thing.

On the last day, R had some periods of extremely pronounced limping on his "bad" elbow. (For new readers, he has elbow dysplasia and has had many surgeries on that elbow.). When he tried to walk on that last day, he'd stop weighting it for a minute or so, and then he'd spontaneously go back to his normal gait. Given the sudden onset and disappearance of limping, we thought that he had a bone chip floating in his elbow that occasionally moved to a excruciating location. That guess was based on having seen this limping pattern in the past.

We also know that the only way to "cure" the pain of a bone chip getting into the wrong spot is to do surgery - arthroscopic surgery to remove the bone chip. There's no other treatment so we didn't rush to a vet.

So, we rested him, hoping that he'd improve on his own. Indeed, he did. He's just getting back to normal now. Our fingers are crossed that he stays that way. In case the limp returns, he has a vet appointment fairly soon.

Both of us humans reacted the same way - "No surgery during summer!!!". Summer is the highlight of living in the mountains, especially for a dog. At R's 10.5 years old, each summer is precious. So, we'll do our best to keep him healthy to enjoy this whole summer!

16 comments:

  1. so sorry to hear this, prayers that he will be fine with no surgery.

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  2. Hari OM
    Sending POTP to R... may it just be an 'age' thing and easily solved by appropriate rest. YAM xx

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  3. Sending you lots of AireZen that you just over-did it, R.

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  4. I hope it was just a temporary glitch. He is such a happy guy.

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  5. Wonderful photos and we sure hope R is all better after some rest time.

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  6. Paws crossed for R that he will feel better! Such great happy photos
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  7. Sending oodles of poodles healing thoughts with paws crossed some rest does the trick. Summer is too nice to have to be rehabbing!

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  8. No surgery in Summer! An excellent policy!

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  9. Your summer pics are the perfect remedy for our cold weather days. Hopes in a bucketful that R has a very temporary lapse with his leg, and all is 100% again.

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  10. You Labraduos are gorgeous!! R we hope by now your elbow is feeling much better.
    Hugs madi and mom

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  11. I am crossing fingers and toes (I have long toes!) that R gets through this summer without further problems. He is such a handsome creature!

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  12. We sure hope R's elbow is OK!!! Summer is a great time for adventures! But then ... so is Winter. And Spring. And Fall...
    Yours sincerely,
    Margaret Thatcher

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  13. Rest does work wonders. We sure hope that is all R needs. All paws crossed here.

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  14. I love to see them run together. Prayers for R so he doesn't need surgery

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  15. We sure hope you can enjoy the summer without seeing that limp again!! All paws are crossed here. ♥
    Jan & the crew at Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  16. Crikey R ..... my Mum has one of those bone chip thingoes in her knee. She can be walking along one minute and then ... whammo ... down on the ground, in agony. Not at all nice, aye?? She's putting off surgery as long as she can too. Hope you get through summer alright and winter too for that matter.

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