Wednesday, November 3, 2010

WEEKEND FRIGHT FEST (and I don't mean Halloween)

This weekend at playdate we had a major collision between Jovi

and Drusilla.

It was ugly. None of us humans really saw it happen. The greys were all running in a pack, then a concussive "WHOMP" was heard followed by a chorus of Greyhound Screams of Death.

Just a little aside - For those of you not familiar with a GSD - when a grey gets hurt or even thinks it might get hurt it will let out the most horrific wail. It is enough to get someones attention at a distance of ohhh, about 10 miles. Dru will do it when I am clipping her toenails if I go too high on the nail and she feels pressure from the clippers. Instead, I have to take off tiny bits with each cut. Let me tell you how quickly one of the GSD will throw you off your game. Not all greyhounds employ the GSD, I don't think I've heard Breeze do it yet. I will say, however, in the case of this weekend's collision, the GSD was justified.

After the collision I followed Jovi's Mom towards Jovi. I didn't even see Dru at first, then I caught a glimpse of a limping (and wailing - I don't know how I didn't hear her sooner.) dog. Realizing it was Dru made the adrenalin surge more so than it was already and the panic set in. After the quick scan, I realized she was scooting/limping/running on 3 legs and her front right foot was just dangling. My first thought was that she broke her leg (well actually there were a few cuss words first then the broken foot thought followed) then I'm mentally reviewing which vet is open on Saturday at 7:00 AM.

It was hard to get her to stop moving, she just wanted to leave the pain behind is my guess so she kept walking. Once I got her to stand still for a few seconds, I was able to check out the leg - mostly sure it's not broken. Whew, breathe, breathe, and calm.

Let's see what happens over the next few minutes. Is it a serious injury or, what I call a stinger, something that hurts for a few minutes then the pain fades away, like stubbing your toe or smashing your knuckle with a sledge hammer? (that's a story for another day, just trust me when I say it's really, really painful for about 10 minutes. It also seems to hurt more when you take the glove off and actually look at the carnage. Anyway, I digress.)

After 5 - 10 interminable minutes both Dru and Jovi were moving around with only the slightest indication a major collision had occurred recently. Though, Dru didn't leave my side for the remaining time at playdate (which wasn't much, just long enough to clean up really). We left early and took the next day off. She seems to be fine now and was running well at the dog park this morning. Whew.

ETA - it is reported that Jovi is also doing well.

7 comments:

Sue said...

So pleased both dogs were ok.

Corbin said...

Glad everyone seems to be doing okay now! I get the stingers all the time and make mom and dads hearts stop beating. Really, I'm fine, I just like to scream and run on 3 legs to see what they'll do -hehehehe ;-)
-Corbin

Brains, Bones and Behavior said...

Storm must have some Grey in her then, her screams of death sound like 10 cats fighting. And like you said, if she even thinks she's going to get hurt...

Yes, Dru was running great this morning at the dog park. And it was a nice calm morning :)

Helene said...

That was a scary story....I've never heard a GSD or even heard a greyhound bark...I think a Youtube video is in order but only if you could get your Dru to do the scream on demand vs. having another head-on-collision or a pedicure...so glad both dogs are ok

jet said...

Aw.... there aren't a lot of greyhounds around here so when I run Barbie people watch her with a combination of awe and fear because they envision something like that happening. Luckily she is pretty fleet of foot, she has had a couple of collisions but now manages to avoid them. Barbie doesn't scream when she's actually hurt, only when she is being a drama queen. It is silence from her that worries me the most!

houndstooth said...

Those collisions make my heart stop. I am so glad they're both okay! I've heard of some pretty serious injuries from collisions. Give Dru a hug from me!

How Sam Sees It said...

I'd be chorusing along with them!

Sam