My Tricks died, as you all know. This has left me with one dog(well, we have like, 8 more in the house, but this one is mine), who is older and he actually acts his age. Dodger was our hunting dog, but we stopped working him when we found out he had a hip problem. I don't remember the term, but it could have been really bad for him if we overworked him. So, we would still take him out to the beach with Banner(my other dog that died last October) and he would generally have a good time. He was an outside dog until the summer rolled around and we brought him inside because of the flies. But last year, we just brought both of them inside as full time house dogs.
So, Banner had a growth in her throat that prevented her from eating or drinking(with other side effects such as a really bad hacking cough and such). The vet said nothing could be done easily and she was wasting away since she couldn't eat. We decided to put her down so she wouldn't have to suffer anymore. Up until this point, Dodger still acted like the dog he always was. He might be 15 years old, but he would still run around the yard when we let him out and I would spray him with the hose and he'd jump up to catch the water and all that good stuff. But as soon as Banner left us, he started acting old.
He doesn't play much anymore. He has trouble getting up. He's lost a lot of his vision. He walks instead of runs and he basically sleeps all day. It was strange to see such a change in him so fast, you know? So, I took him out last night before putting him to bed. He was fine(as in nothing had seemed to change from earlier), but at some point in the night, he started crying like he was in pain. I went to check on him and he wouldn't come out of his crate. He stopped the crying and just looked at me. So I let him go back to sleep.
Morning comes around and it's time to let him out. Only, he won't stand. I tried putting a leash on him to get him to move, but he wouldn't. I let the other dogs out instead and tell my brother that I think he's feeling extra sore today, so if he sees him standing to let him out. I head upstairs and try to sleep. Brother gets up and Dodger is at least sitting up, so he lets him out. Dodger takes a few steps out of his crate and falls down, then he starts crying like he's in pain again. Brother said it was kinda like Dodger's legs moved like maybe they were numb. I get up and try to help Dodger up, but he won't have any of that.
So now we have an 80 retriever in the middle of our kitchen floor that can't move. I've given him some doggy pain killers and he stopped the crying all day. He still won't get up, but he'll eat and drink water. I'm hoping it's just one of those days or if something is hurt, it heals up fast. I just don't really know what to do. I'd like to be able to take him to the vet, but I'm not sure I can afford it and I won't have transportation to take him anywhere until Sunday evening when all of the vets are closed anyway. So the soonest he can see a vet even if I could afford it is on Monday. This really sucks. I don't want to lose both of my dogs less than two weeks apart, but I don't want Dodger to be in pain, either. I hate my life.
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"I love this **** team right here." -Jonathan Quick
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