12/30

You think taking care of kids is a challenge until you have an injured dog. OK..I've been VERY lucky, my kids have never had anything seriously wrong (knocking on wood). What's up with the dog isn't particularly serious either, but it's driving us both (the dog and me) crazy.

Over the weekend, Berkeley developed a hot spot on his neck near his ear. He scratched and scratched and scratched until he had a seeping raw wound. Today we went to the vet and she clipped the fur around it to get it cleaned up. She had to give him a tranquilizer shot to be able to do the clipping, and she also gave him a steroid shot to try and relieve some of the irritation. She put him on two medications, plus I have a topical medication to fight infection. AND, he got a collar which is making him nuts. It's not one of those lampshade collars, it's more like a huge flat flexible donut.

This poor animal is miserable. The vet told me that he would probably come home and be lethargic after the shot, but the exact opposite is happening. He doesn't want to lie down with the collar. When he does, he rests a little while then springs up in complete agitation, runs around the room, then drops to the floor and starts scratching madly. I have to keep him from scratching but of course, I can't sit down and explain to him why he has to stop. I'll hold his leg down and talk to him and he whimpers. He's wrestled the collar off twice but I think I finally have it secured to his normal collar so he can't get out of it. I'm a little afraid to go to sleep because I don't want him tearing at that wound all night.

I feel terrible for him, he's so uncomfortable. Poor baby, he just got up and ran across the room and is standing facing the corner. I think he is tired, but he can't settle down. I hope eventually he'll be so exhausted he'll just crash for the night. If he doesn't, I don't know that either of us will sleep.