Dog-Dog got a Boo-Boo

This one is getting to be a pain in the neck-neck. Tuesday night around dinnertime, I realized she was hobbling around on three legs. She refused to put her back left leg down, which means she can't scratch on the door to go in or out, she can't jump, and that is really a problem for this hyperactive, totally nutso canine. We weren't sure whether she had hurt herself inside or out since she comes and goes a thousand times an hour. We can never even remember who let her in or out last since we all do it so much.

We were hoping that after a night of being still, with 12 hours of not greeting guests, not chasing rabid racoons or smelly skunks and not eating field mice, her leg might rest enough to feel better in the morning. Not so. She was still limping around and the one time I coaxed her to jump on the bed, she yelped out. So off to the vet we went (the same one where we lost our cat in the dropped ceiling). Going to the vet happens to be Max's absolute favorite thing to do. At home she wears a shock collar that keeps her in our yard. Going to the vet requires a regular collar with a leash. As soon as it comes out of the closet, she comes running and she will tear the door off the vehicle if you don't get it opened quickly enough. It is her favorite place to go because it is the only place we let her go. She loves going places so much that she jumps on everybody she sees, pees on every foot that gets close, choking herself and coughing on the leash until every single human engages in physical contact with her. Inside the vehicle she is up, down and all around, barking at anything that passes until I'm almost driving off the side of the road.

Once we did get to the vet, just as any kid will do, the dog got so excited that she forgot her foot was hurting for a few minutes. She was trying to tear around the counter to greet the receptionist and was actually jumping a little. At some point the pain kicked back in and she did a nice demonstration of the limping she was doing at home. The vet determined that it is actually Max's knee that is hurting her. She did this by feeling around on Max's leg exactly the way that I did, and figuring that when she squeezed Max's foot and Max nipped, that it must mean her knee hurts ;) I'm not convinced. In any event, we decided to forego the $400-$500 x-rays and opted for your average anti-inflammatory. I'm thinking that the $36 (10-minute) vet visit along with the $38 bottle of liquid medicine (which I'm betting is ibuprofen) was not quite the bargain they said it was.

OH--and the good news. After three weeks of the $20 dog food John bought at the vet when he was there last....the verdict is in. Max gained 1 pound. Way to go, girl!