Pup in Boots

The Newton dogs have been visiting the vet lately - a lot, and in some cases for some seemingly random things that end up costing a pretty penny.

Mr. Charles here is exhibit A. About a month ago, he took off to chase after some unsuspecting prey on the Los Robles trail and when he returned 20 minutes or so later it was near dark and he was limping a bit. David gave him the business for taking off, then the once over to see if he could figure out why he was limping and then they came home.

The next couple of days Charles was just a little off and he was spending a lot of time tending to his foot. David again tried to figure out what was wrong and then Charlie snapped at him...clearly something was wrong and he was in pain, so off to the vet they went.

Turns out that Charlie ripped his nail and it is going to take something like 2 months to heal. We have been back every week to change the bandage after the initial same-day surgery was done and it is a slow process to recovery. The vet suggested that we kennel Charlie all day and limit his time on his foot to just a few minutes a day.

I think that Charlie would as soon have his leg amputated rather than be sequestered all day. David bought the little booties to protect the bandage and keep it dry, and we seem to be doing OK now.

Not sure that Charlie is super excited about his one-boot fashion statement, but this is the price that a dog has to pay for running amuck in the Santa Monica Mountains. That and about $600 in vet bills!