I heard that lumber prices have risen dramatically, but yesterday it hit close to home when I had to pay $600 for a splinter of wood! :O (okay, funny, not funny). 😛

Let me explain…

Most of you know we have this big ‘ol one hundred plus pound, black ball of fur that protects our farm and little dogs. His name is Ben and he patrols around our property and keeps predators away. (I imagine the injury I’m about to describe happened as he was racing thought the woods after a perceived threat the night before). He works the night shift and sleeps most of the day. Although he is up and at ’em if he senses a threat during the daytime also.

Yesterday I noticed he was limping. I wasn’t too concerned as he is getting up in age (for a giant breed) and seems to have some arthritis that bothers him at times.

(By the way, NuVet has not only the NuVet plus that we recommend for our puppy families but also NuJoint and NuJoint DS if someone has a dog that needs support for their joints. I recently started Ben on the NuJoint DS. If anyone is interested you can use our code to order. (800-474-7044 and using Order Code: 82203, or ordering online at http://www.nuvet.com/82203. You can also save an additional 15% and assure you never run out of NuVet by choosing the “Autoship” option at check out.)

Later in the day as I was getting organized for dog class I noticed that his foot was all wet from him licking it. So I went to have a closer look thinking he might has possibly torn a toenail off which would’ve been the cause for the limping and not his arthritis.

As I took a closer look, I found the toenails all intact. Then it was a matter of closely inspecting the foot for injuries. As I looked between two of his toes I noticed a thick splinter, well more like a stick! I picked up a pair of pliers nearby and attempted to remove it. He let me know with crying and biting that it was too painful and too firmly lodged for me to help him.

I quickly called the vet before they closed for the day and they said to bring him on in. (Remember I’m an hour+ drive away). Hubby was off getting more firewood, so I quickly pottied the mama dogs and got them resettled with puppies, then put all the other dogs away before loading Ben in the truck and heading out.

So dog class for Rumor was replaced with a trip to the vet.

Since it was actually after hours when we arrived there was no waiting and they took Ben right in. Knowing that they would likely need to sedate him to take care of things, they asked if I wanted bloodwork done (lab tests to check that all his organs were in good working order) beforehand. Since he’s an older dog and it had been a while since his last check-up I thought that would be a good idea anyways. (thankfully his labs came back all normal which was great news for an “older” dog).

I waited in the parking lot (we still cannot go in with our dogs…) until Dr Jessie came out to show me the huge chunk of wood she had pulled out of his foot. Even with sedation he had “complained” about the procedure. Poor guy 🙁

People look at this thing! It’s huge. You can see also all the hair that was pushed into the wound when the splinter stabbed into his foot too. Needless to say he is on antibiotics and pain medicine while it heals.

Hubby got his bed set up in the garage before I got home with him later that night.

And since his bandage needed to stay on for 24 hours, I put a plastic baggie on it the next morning so the dew wouldn’t get it wet when he went out to potty.

He’s staying in the garage in his own little space so he can rest and we can keep it (hopefully) clean and dry so as long as possible.