My dog is broken. Really broken.

Well, hopefully she’s fixed now and just needs to heal.

But it’s tough. A year ago she was working searches – in the woods, on rubble piles, through the fields. She was running around being a kinda crazy Border Collie. And now? She is relegated to a crate. I carry her up and down stairs (note to self – the size of the dog when dealing with injuries is one strong motivation to stick with BCs instead of trying, say, a Dutch Shepherd)

She had arthrodesis surgery three weeks ago after months of dealing with a carpal injury. I know it was the right choice. But I’m worried. Worried that it won’t heal right. Worried that she’ll somehow injure the other front wrist. Worried that for some reason she won’t be able to be mostly “normal” after this. Worried that this will get fixed only to deal with more back issues.

I’m trying not to but I just can’t help it sometimes. I want her to enjoy life.

But for now, it’s one step at a time. Keep her calm, enforce rest. Crate and rotate her and the puppy since Tess just wants to wrestle. Get her bandaging changed every couple weeks. Check off the days and weeks until a X-ray will either relieve or confirm those “what if it doesn’t heal right?” fears in the back of my head.

She’s getting twice daily massages. She loves that sort of attention. At the very least it helps her attitude. At most it may help her stiff back. We’re also working on “hold” because it’s so easy to do just laying there. I think that she’ll be able to hold just about anything in her mouth by the time her exercise restrictions get lifted. She’s on drugs that help keep her happy and chill.

But this broken dog thing is tough.