The Case of the Guilty Dog

Poor Charlie! he did not mean to hurt me. But now I'm in pain and he has to spend the weekend in boarding.

It happened Tuesday morning before 7 AM. He had awakened me while it was still dark, and we went out for a morning walk as soon as the sky lightened. Uh oh! There was his nemesis. The little dog that raises his hackles was out for a walk with his mom. I thought we could get far ahead of them so I started walking briskly with Charlie behind me on the leash. 

He started to follow me, but suddenly turned to run back toward the other dog, twisting me around and pulling me down on the damp sidewalk. My landing was painful. I struggled to get up, but pain shot through my body. Fearing that I had broken something, I called out to the other woman that I needed help. She put her dog in her house and came to help me.

I gave her Charlie’s leash and tried to get up, but I couldn’t. She said her sister would be there in just a minute. (They meet for a walk every morning.) Her sister hurried to me and helped me get to my feet, and we walked back to my door. By then I knew that I hadn’t broken any bones, but I wasn’t sure what damage might’ve been done.

As soon as my doctor’s office opened,  I called them and left a message. They called back and did not have any openings that day. I already had an appointment with them for the next morning, which was a follow-up to discuss lab results. 

As the day wore on, I didn’t feel better and decided to go to the hospital. I called Deborah and she was not able to take me, but she said that Frank could. The hospital is not very far, and I didn’t have to wait very long either. The doctor there felt that the CT scan was in order so I was taken to radiology. The scan showed no broken or fractured bones, just a compressed disc, which may have happened previously. I had soft tissue injuries. He instructed me to rest, not lift anything over ten pounds, and not walk the dog for two weeks.

Fortunately, my sister was due to arrive the next day, so I left Charlie in boarding overnight. Peggy arrived and helped with Charlie for the few days that she was here. Before she left on Friday, we took him back to the kennel.

I’ve been treating my lower back pain with an ice pack and painkillers, mostly mild ones. The pain is at its worst when I try to get out of bed, but after I loosen up, it’s bearable and I’m able to get around in the afternoon. Then I get really tired and achy and have to rest.

I’m not sure how I’m going to handle the rest of the required 10 days off from walking the dog. Deborah offered to walk him some of the time, and Kayla from the kennel can sometimes do it. But he likes to go out five times a day and I have never been able to get him on a convenient schedule. In the long-term, I can find a house with a fenced yard, And I’ll try to find effective training for him. Our previous visits to trainers were not very successful because Charlie was frightened, Plus, he is not motivated by treats or toys so did not respond to the usual methods. 

Then there’s my age to consider. I am too old to just bounce back from an injury. I hate to think about that, but I don’t want to wind up in a nursing home anytime soon.

I feel guilty that I don’t have a great yard for him, and I have not been very successful at training him. The idea of giving him up his heartbreaking. 

Here’s a picture from the day that Lynn and I picked him up from his foster home in Charlottesville. He’s a sweet little dog.