While I was working at Tres Dias a couple of weekends ago....Mr. Nipper broke one of his nails on his front foot. I tried really hard not to say anything about Sandy "breaking my dog" while I was gone.... No, not really I'm just kidding.
Sandy always takes good care of him...and it is a lot of work. Nipper takes several medications and so I have to leave pages of directions any time I am gone. Anyway, Nipper has always had bad nails and every now and then he breaks one.
This time he broke the nail all the way off the nail bed and couldn't put his foot down at all. Not to mention he was shaking the pain was so bad. So on Monday morning he and I made a trip to the vet. Our vet, Dr Moore, who I owe Nipper's life to on more than one occasion, said the nail broke off the nail bed...which for us would be like having our fingernail torn completely off....OUCH, OUCH, OUCH!!!
Dr. Moore and Nipper come to an understanding... the understanding is this...if Dr. Moore muzzles Nipper he can take the nail off and not lose his hand in the process.... (never said my boy was a saint did I?). So Dr. Moore takes Nipper in the next room (they have to take Nipper into another room to work on him...otherwise he thinks they are going to bother his momma and he turns into an army of one) and starts taking the nail off....piece by piece. I can hear the conversation between Nipper and Dr. Moore and I don't think either of them were having a good time...
When he finished taking the nail off...I poked my head in the door where they were and I asked if at all possible could they NOT put a bandage on Nipper's foot? My reasoning is that I knew that Nipper would not leave the bandage alone nor would he let me take it off of his hurt foot when it was time....but the main thing is that I figured Nipper would take the bandage off when I wasn't around and eat it. My thought in all that is this....my dog will eat ANYTHING!!! He has in his life eaten.... 3 socks, a washcloth, a dead mouse...swallowed him whole, a pair of cotton boxer shorts, flowers, green plants, dirt, sticks, paper towels, rope, and several bandages from his feet. (You do know what goes in....has to come out don't you....? )
Anyway, despite all my pleading Nipper had to get a bandage. Dr. Moore said...the bandage I put on his foot has stuff in it to make it taste bad so I think he will leave it alone. To which I said...have you met Nipper? No, I didn't really say that but I was thinking it. No sooner did they walk into the room with me than Nipper started chewing on the bandage...and the taste didn't bother him at all. I know my boy!! So they go back into the other room and Nipper gets muzzled again and they rub this supposedly nasty tasting stuff all over the bandage...and then they come back in the room with me again. Yes, you guessed it....right back to the bandage he goes and starts chewing away. I did say he will eat anything didn't I?
So that brings us to the reason for this post. The next option was that Nipper had to wear an e-collar....which looks like a lampshade turned upside down around his head for 4 days. This is a clear piece of plastic that is long and when they put their head down they cannot reach their feet...or their bandages. He looked so funny with this collar on. We called it his party hat. It also reminded us of a satellite dish and we kept asking him what stations he was getting. He was not amused. He kept running into the walls, the steps, he couldn't get on the bed, or eat from his bowl...and let me just say I got hit so many times with that party hat I couldn't wait for him to get it off either!!!
The whole point was this...I got some really cute pictures and you can see my dog looks good in anything. Check out Nipper in his pretty yellow bandage and his party hat.
Tammy
Isn't that the saddest face ever?
What channels does this thing get?
Space Doggy
Happily drugged and ready to party
P.S. I know all of you are waiting for a post about Dewey & Jo's last day and the Italy trip. That is coming soon. Right now my heart and head are just so full of thoughts about the significance of that day that I haven't been able to write it down. It really was a great day though wasn't it?
