My ‘ruff’ reality- August 2023 ?

Injured leg week… take two

If you weren’t following for my most recent diary entry (shame on you!) then you can find it here. If you can’t be bothered to read that then, in summary, Clover has been an injured dog. She pulled a muscle in her leg (which she does often) and we were working on it getting better by having lots of rest and short walks.

Clover’s leg was getting better. Much better. To the point where she was barely limping at all, and was her usual chaotic and demanding self. We’d been doing shorter walks just once a day and that seemed to be working, or so I thought. Clover being Clover doesn’t seem to understand the consequences of her own actions and I perhaps was a bit too optimistic about how long it would take her leg to fully heal. Last time this happened she was better within days, but not this time.

Long story short, Clover has overdone it again and this week she was limping really badly again, as badly as when it had first happened. So I phoned the vet to ask for their advice. The vet was lovely and so helpful and said that it sounds like Clover has a soft muscle strain and that these can take up to 6 weeks to heal, depending on how badly she has strained it… 6 weeks! The vet likened it to an injury of an athlete, who would take time out to rest if they were injured, and that a couple of days or a week of rest would not be enough. So now I feel guilty for thinking it had healed so quickly- bad dog parenting by me! But, I make no claims to be a perfect dog owner and part of the reason for this blog is to share my own real experiences and to share knowledge that I gather along the way. So now I know, and now you know too.

The vet did tell me that what I had been doing was the right thing (good dog parenting-yay!) and that short walks on the lead and plenty of rest were the way forward- it’s just that this would be the way forward for up to 6 weeks, as opposed to a few days or a week! So the vets advice was as follows:

Short 15 minute lead walks a day for the rest of the week (which we have done.) 20 minute lead walks a day next week. 25 minute lead walks a day the week after that. Only when she can do two consecutive weeks of 30 minute walks on the lead with no limping whatsoever will she be back to full health. The vet also said that if Clover starts limping at any point, to dial it back to the timing of the week before. So if she starts limping during 25 minute walks, then to do a week of 20 minute walks again and build up. She also said that, at the end of the 6(ish) weeks, if Clover is immediately injured again after playing with another dog, then I need to take her in to the vets because there could be more of a serious underlying issue- which has put the fear of god into me. The thought of Clover having an kind of underlying health issue makes me feel physically sick… so does the thought of the cost of remedying it.

For now, at least, Clover’s injury causes two problems. Problem one is that I am now even more of a concerned, guilty, anxious dog parent than I usually am (didn’t know it was possible but here we are!). Problem two is care for her when I am in the office. Clover has a variety of care options. One day she spends a whole day at day care with 6 other dogs- which she now cannot do for the foreseeable. Another day she goes out on a group walk for an hour with other dogs- which she now cannot do for the foreseeable. Our third option is a lovely lady who is able to have Clover in her home for a few hours, so that’s our saving grace, but obviously I cannot rely solely on her to care for Clover. So I’ll need to work from home extra days for the next few weeks, which isn’t ideal, but I’m grateful to have the option to be able to do so, and grateful that my bosses understand that Clover is my child and that I need to be at home more for her.

I guess the take away from this, if you are thinking of getting a dog, is to have a back up plan. My variety of different day care/dog walkers and ability to work from home more often are my back up plan. If I didn’t have either, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t have family nearby who can care for her during the day so if she couldn’t be looked after by anyone else and I couldn’t work from home- I’d be screwed. So just bare that in mind. You never know when your dog might become sick or injured, or need something which isn’t part of the perfect routine that you have carefully crafted in order to ensure their needs are met. I see parents at work having to leave the office to pick up poorly children from school and this isn’t too dissimilar. As much as Clover fits into my life in the way I want her to, there are times when she doesn’t, and there are occasions where I have to make sacrifices. This is one of them, and so I will spend the next few weeks adjusting our routine to more adequately fit her needs. It isn’t always plain sailing, and there will be far more hurdles to overcome throughout our journey together. And that, my friends, is the ruff reality of dog ownership.

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Oh, and as if the above wasn’t enough, Clover also got stung by a wasp on her paw this week. I literally cannot with this dog. Clover plays this fun game where she sort of bats at insects with her paws, and sniffs them to within an inch of their life. She doesn’t try to hurt them… I think she just wants to play. I often catch her chasing a confused moth around the garden, sniffing it and gently pawing at it. So I think she must have done the same thing with the wasp, who was, quite rightly, annoyed at being bothered and not keen on being part of the game of chase. So it stung her. That’ll teach her I guess… probably not though.

The sting kind of just sorted itself out. I noticed her licking it continuously which is what made me look at her paw. A definite sting or a bite between her toes. Then I saw the dead wasp on the floor and did the maths. I occupied her with a chew and she stopped licking the paw for a while and then didn’t seem to go back to it after that. She just fell asleep on my lap as usual. The next morning the swelling had gone down and it didn’t seem to bother her at all. That was at the start of the week and it’s now basically gone. So, I think we dodged a bullet with that one. It could have been much worse and could have been another call to the vets- but I think we’re ok. A testing week for both myself and Clover, but another week together conquered nonetheless.

On a serious note, if your dog has similar issues, please contact your own vet! Clover’s situation may not be the same as other dogs and it is always best to seek your own veterinary advice which is specific to your dog and it’s needs.

Evidence of poorly stung paw below.

Missed the first part of injured leg week? Read it HERE.

Alternatively, you can head back to the homepage, visit top ‘tips before getting a dog‘, or check out more blog posts at either ‘the dog ownership topics that nobody warned me about’, or ‘a diary of my ruff reality.’

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*Disclaimer- I have no animal related qualifications whatsoever. Which begs the question as to exactly how much of my advice you should take. This isn’t really an advice blog- not properly. It’s more of a ‘these are my experiences- maybe we can all learn from them’ type of blog. You should probably seek actual qualified veterinary/animal behaviourist/dog dietician advice if you genuinely have any dog related concerns. I’m just here to share the things I’ve learnt in my three years of dog ownership. Some of which may be useful- some not.*