Friday, July 4, 2008

My Good Dog

Baylee and I walk every morning. Well, most mornings. Rising at 5am, give or take, I snap the leash on her, grab a couple of clean-up bags and off we go into the pre-dawn. She looks forward to it as much as I do.

We've shared some incredible adventures while the neighborhood slumbers. Most winter mornings we hear the Great Horned Owls hoot incessantly in a nearby forest. Walking on the marina's barrier barge we interrupt all manner of water fowl activities. Green Herons perching, gaggles of geese or codgeries of coots or a bunch of ducks swimming hastily away as we approach. Baylee's nose is always in overdrive during these walks. Great Blue Herons fly overhead, and barn swallows dart and swoop when spring approaches. During summer months she loves to sit with her head up and watch the Purple Martins play on the wind. They come in great swarms and stay throughout the hot months eating tons of insects. The autumn months are our favorite, as temperatures cool and humidity goes away and leaves scurry before us granting Baylee play time chasing them. There are places we'll sit together and watch the sun rise, watch boats leave the marina heading to points unknown, watch birds lift in flight before heading home for breakfast and coffee on the deck.

Most often we'll meet other early risers, both two-legged and four-legged varieties. Her friend's names are as cute as hers. Bonnie & Clyde, Fossie, Bama, Daisy, Iris, Dempsey, and Bogie all love to say their hello's with wagging tails and many sniffs. In fact, I've given Baylee a new nickname - "Manyanysniffs." (With nod to Jennyanydots of Cat's fame.)

Sadly, our morning walks together have come to a halt for at least two months. Somehow Baylee has sliced off part of her right hind foot's pad. The large one. Well, SHE didn't do it herself obviously, but apparently stepped on something incredibly sharp that did the slicing. About a quarter of it is simply missing. What's left is a clean slice of raw meat. Our veterinarian literally winced when he looked at it and complimented Baylee on being such a good girl. I'd only noticed her licking it one day and it appeared to be red so I took her in. She has never yelped or cried or favored it. She's even taken walks with me before I noticed it. Amazing. So, she's on antibiotics and has to wear a Thera-Paw for her necessary walks, which must remain short. The pad will grow back, we've been assured, but it will take diligent doctoring on our parts. Amazingly, she will even lift her paw up to have her bootie strapped on. What a good dog.

Therefore, the past two mornings I've taken my walk without my companion. While I've noticed an increase in beneficial aerobics, I confess it's just not as much fun without Baylee. It's going to be a long two months.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Baylee is a great dog! I winced too reading about our paw. Do you have idea on what she could have cut it on? Kind of scary thinking that something that sharp is possibly laying on the ground somewhere.

When the kids and I walk down to the creek, I require them to wear shoes, even in the creek because of inconsiderates that throw beer bottles onto the shore or into the water. I had a piece of glass go through my show and barely puncture my foot yesterday. If I hadn't been wearing shoes it would have pierced my foot about 1". Ouch.

I hope Baylee gets to feeling better! Have a happy 4th!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Poor Baylee, what a good doggie she is though. You are blessed.

Isn't it amazing how little our dogs ask of us. All they want is a good walk daily and some pets. Of course food is always nice too, anything, served anyplace will do.

Good luck with healing Baylee.

Anonymous said...

Awwww....poor Baylee. She's a trooper! So glad you noticed and got her to the vet.

(I promise I AM going to get around to those six random things soon...)

Happy Fourth!

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Hi Daniel. I think it must have happened around the marina. There are several dumpsters down there and tons of trash cans. Boaters and all manner of folks sometimes miss the cans and who knows what lurks within the gravel. I'm SO excited the marina will be under new ownership soon - maybe they'll finish all those half-completed projects...like PAVING! Hi to the family!

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Hi Lisa. Baylee is being such a good girl, letting me put ointment on her paw and bandaging it before walks. We are so lucky she showed up on our doorstep - she's a great pet.

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Hi Carla! Ah, just do those 6 if you feel like it. No Blogger Police will beat down your door if you're too busy! Glad you stopped by to say Hello, dear.

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

To Mama's Friends,

Thank you for coming her to talk to my mama and make her feel better. I let her put gooey stuff on my paw even tho it hurts and even wear that sticky stuff on my paw when she takes me for walkies. I miss our long time together but she promised we would do it again.

Baylee

wcgillian said...

Dang,

That made me cring! I hope she is doing better soon.

RJ

Anonymous said...

poor dear darling Baylee. Not sure if you or Baylee will be mourning more on those morning walks. They're incredibly resilient and I too have witnessed a dog's silence in pain. Baylee will be needing a little more from you these days (months) to come ... perhaps there's a reason for that too.

Anonymous said...

poor dear darling Baylee. Not sure if you or Baylee will be mourning more on those morning walks. They're incredibly resilient and I too have witnessed a dog's silence in pain. Baylee will be needing a little more from you these days (months) to come ... perhaps there's a reason for that too.

Anonymous said...

Debi, I know this is a repeat reply for me but I'm wondering how Baylee is doing.

Diane

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