Actually, it was his ribs. Rocky’s a 4 year-old Chihuahua who thinks he’s tougher than any other dog, regardless of its size. After doing who knows what to our German Shepherd, Sheba, yesterday he took a severe butt whoopin’ that would surely have caused his death if he hadn’t been found by our friend Heath and his girlfriend. They saw Sheba digging wildly in the leaves outside and guess who was in those leaves? Yep, it was Rocky.
He was bloody and snarling. Heath called Christine to see what they should do. It just so happens that Christine was in the hospital preparing to undergo a colonoscopy and I was about to run some errands while waiting for her. I answered her phone and told Heath to get Rocky to the vet, pronto! With some coaxing I talked them through getting a towel to wrap him in so he wouldn’t bite them and they were on their way.
I arrived at the vet about 3 minutes before they did. When they arrived Rocky wasn’t in shock, but he sure didn’t look good. He looked pitiful, all bloody and shaking. Poor thing. The vet looked at him within minutes and thought it was only broken ribs. He would confirm when I came back with Christine after her procedure. When we returned, Rocky was on an IV and the vet thought he should spend the night. He had several broken ribs and injured his front leg.
Christine picked up Rocky this morning and we’ve moved him from the shop to the house. He’s on strong antibiotics and pain killers. His wounds are draining, so he’s going to remain a bit of a bloody mess for awhile. In any case, he’s going to enjoy the elite status of “house dog” while he recuperates. I think it’s going to be a good month or two before he’s ready to go back with the others. We’ll have to see how quickly he heals.
We’ve moved Sheba to my man cave, where she’ll enjoy a quiet retirement away from the smaller dogs. She’ll only have to be careful to conduct herself properly around the Filas, who share our large yard wit
h her. Otherwise she may be the next to get a butt whoopin’! Sheba’s getting a bit more ornery in her advancing years. She’s 10 now and is also a bit lame. She’ll spend the rest of her days as my “cave dog.”
16 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Hey Scott! Glad Rocky is okay. Happy New Year to you! I hope the Knoxville Geek Breakfast goes well for you.
I see you now as an author of pet stories. You are very descriptive, of course, but you knew that… I would buy the book.
Happy New Year to you and the Crazy Goat Lady.
Knowing Rocky, he’s going to milk this for all it’s worth!
Poor little guy! It’s a good thing he’s got such great caretakers! I wonder what he told Sheba to deserve that! Well… he will definitely enjoy the perks of being a house dog during his rehab.
Karyne and Sharon,
You can get a “Gravatar” (Globally Recognized Avatar) so your pictures shows up on your comments here and most any other blog around the web these days. Just register and upload your photo here: http://en.gravatar.com/
Next time you comment your photo will appear also!
Sorry to hear about this incident. Hopefully it was a one time event.
You are quite calm about it. I’m impressed. Most folks would be freaking out.
When you have 12 dogs, 2 cats and a BUNCH of farm animals you take these things in stride. But we do feel bad for him. I’m just thankful he’s going to survive it…at least I think he will. Not sure he’s out of the woods yet, but he lifted his leg to pee this morning, so that’s a good sign. He’s getting lots of love and special treatment. Giving him his meds isn’t going to be fun though. Today’s the first day for that.
Ah, the days of multiple pets which, in our case, went with multiple kids: hampsters, rats, snakes, lizards, rabbits, dogs. But 12 dogs? Wowza. We had a wild ride with two Dalmations, so a big high five to ya.
Dear Sheba – I know the younger ones are irritating to us older folks. They just don’t know it all, do they? But down girl, and enjoy the Man Cave. Sounds like you’ll have lovin’ company.
Dear Rocky – cuddles, good healing juju and a word to the wise: seniors can be real cranks sometimes. So when you’re reminding them to keep on kicking up their arthritic heels cause the sun’s still shining, keep a safe distance just in case today just ain’t the day for it.
P.S. Love your blog’s tag line…
I’m so glad Rockie is alright, poor little guy. Hope you guys had a great Christmas and New year.
Poor Rocky! Hope he is doing alright….I’m sure he is getting good treatment now.
Rocky’s doing fine. He’s milking this now. In the house, on our laps. Feeling much better.
Rocky’s back at the vet today. His body temp is low and he was vomiting. They’re giving him an IV and monitoring him.
Rocky’s not doing well. Please pray with us for him. http://twitpic.com/107y5
hey Scott! you need too put the one of me and Rocky up there!!
your page is cool. Hahahaha poor Sheba. “Man Cave”
i cant believe what Heath told me.. i dont feel like much of a life saver anymore. I was really hopin he was gonna live. =(
Continuing the Discussion