BUDDY IS EXPERIENCING THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS OWN ACTIONS

BUDDY WEARING A "LAMP SHADE"..

...TO KEEP HIM FROM PULLING OUT THE STITCHES

Sunday, 8:30 AM.  61 degrees F at the ferry dock 56 on the back porch.  Wind NW, light to moderate. The sky is clear and blue, the humidity 72%.  The barometer has started to trend downward, now at 29.88", indicating the possibility  of rain tomorrow.  But this morning is beautiful.
   Buddy got himself bunged up pretty badly, but he is moving around pretty well this morning and I think he is on the mend.
   After lunch yesterday I noticed that Buddy wasn't pestering for his mid-day snack (he's spoiled and gets a treat anytime we eat), and as I looked  for him I came to the realization he was not anywhere around.  Buddy is a good dog and doesn't do much straying but every once in a while he kind of sneaks off instead of coming inside with me when we are going from the truck to the house; he is so quick it is hard to keep an eye on him.  So I grabbed the whistle and went to the garage to round him up, and there he was, looking very sheepish.  Then I noticed he wasn't walking correctly.
   Upon closer examination I saw that his right back leg had a huge, deep gash in it, between the knee and the groin.  It was several inches across and wasn't bleeding, which told me it had happened some time before, perhaps an hour or more, and probably some distance away.  Anyway it looked like an emergency trip to the vet in Ashland, and after a phone call and some arrangements we got him in the truck an to the animal hospital.
   It was a nasty wound that took fifteen or twenty stitches to close, but it evidently missed nerves and tendons.  The damage wasn't caused by an automobile as there were no broken bones or contusions.  He must have been running through the woods and gotten caught on an old farm fence or some such object.  It will take about two weeks to heal, and in the meantime he will have to wear a "lampshade" collar to keep him from pulling on the drain or the stitches.  Of course he doesn't understand why he has to wear it and I am sure he thinks he is being punished.  But like the rest of us,  Buddy is simply experiencing the consequences of his own actions.