Gail P
November 7th, 2008, 10:32 PM
Whenever I go out to do chores in the morning the dogs get kind of crazy. As soon as I open the door they go flying out to the field, running, barking, wrestling etc. Today was no different, I went out through the gate, over to the hay shed and brought out a couple of bales of hay that were already waiting in the wheelbarrow. As I came out of the shed I saw that Thunder had a few drops of blood on the bridge of his nose. I thought he must have gotten too close to the cat in the hay shed and had gotten a swipe from his claws (the dogs love to climb the hay bales to find where the kitty is sleeping). So I took the bales, opened them up and then went to take a closer look at Thunder's face and wipe the blood away. I was shocked when I raised my eyes from looking at the bridge of his nose and looked higher up. The tip of his right ear was missing! :eek: Somehow, I guess since it was his nose that first caught my eye I hadn't noticed the ear immediately. But how did it happen in the time I walked from my front door over to the hay shed? How did it happen period? :shrug: I didn't hear any yelping or other noises above the usual din of excited dogs running around, and Thunder was still running around acting normally, even with his torn ear. I can only guess that either (a) he caught it on the gate or fence when he ran into the field, (b) he caught it somewhere on the hay shed if he ducked in through the tarps on the side (some of the dogs quickly do that and are waiting inside the shed by the time I open the door, but he isn't usually one to do that and I don't recall him doing it today), or (c) one of the other dogs grabbed him as he ran by in their initial craziness when they first rushed out.
I tried to clean up his ear but it was still bleeding and I couldn't really bandage it. He didn't even seem bothered by it and I thought that even if I could have gotten a bandage on it having that weighing down his ear might make him paw or scratch at it, possibly doing it more harm. It's all dried up now of course and he still isn't acting bothered by it thankfully but the poor boy is permanently scarred. :sad: He's got 2 notches out of the ear, making it look like it has the letter W carved into his ear.
I tried to clean up his ear but it was still bleeding and I couldn't really bandage it. He didn't even seem bothered by it and I thought that even if I could have gotten a bandage on it having that weighing down his ear might make him paw or scratch at it, possibly doing it more harm. It's all dried up now of course and he still isn't acting bothered by it thankfully but the poor boy is permanently scarred. :sad: He's got 2 notches out of the ear, making it look like it has the letter W carved into his ear.