Saturday, July 20, 2013:
Today was Parker’s second favorite day of the week, Saturday. It is only his second favorite because the preceding day has so much anticipation attached that it becomes his favorite day of the week: Friday!
Today was also a day for water training, for Jade. One of Parker’s elbows still needs to heal a lot before he can get into the water. The open area is about 2″ in diameter, but it is beginning to fill in. Getting the skin to regrow over that much area will take some time. So, as much as I would like for him to be able to swim, he must settle for being a “coach” from a crate away from the beach. (And he is a very vocal coach. <g>) Still, with the enthusiasm that he has for swimming, this seems to be a good thing for him.
Sunday, July 21, 2013:
His foot has fully recovered – well, actually more than once. I had begun walking him in the yard on the soft grass in June before it was fully healed, then I began walking him about a tenth of a mile on the road, leaving the bandage on after it healed so he had some protection for the new layer of tissue. About two weeks ago, I took the bandage off for the first time. Within the first couple of days, during a time when I was in the house with him and he wasn’t wearing the Party Hat, he licked the newly healed area. Argghhh! The little pinkish area was now abraded by his tongue. I put a bandage one for a couple of days, then tried it again. One of the times that I took him on a walk down the road without the bandage, the newly healed area became abraded again. It was on the surface only, so I skipped walking him for a day or two. On Monday, we went for a half mile walk. The strength in his rear is improving slowly. We will keep walking and will hope to build up his rear enough that he can enjoy swimming again in the near future, if his elbows will cooperate and he will leave them alone. One elbow was nearly healed, but during the walk on Monday, we had a meet & greet with some other dogs belonging to neighbors, and I think someone had fleas. I felt a bite on my leg, and Parker began scratching the back of his elbows again. I did a whole house floor cleaning with bleach and sprayed the dogs with a flea repellent.
This morning (Tues.), the itching seems to have passed, but not without some setback on both elbows. This may be the more trying part of this ordeal (which began with his foot on 2/28) – contending with the setbacks. I feel somewhat like the kid in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet?”
The healing of his foot is encouraging; it gives promise that the elbows will be healed soon too. I love seeing those big black toe pads: This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef and this little piggy had none. And this little piggy cried “wee- wee-wee” all the way home! They’re all there and all black again, except with a minor trace of pink on the outside of his foot – count them for yourself (well, you can’t see the dew claw in this photo):
Parker asleep in the back seat of the truck
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