August 11, 2020 - Poor Rickie got bit

Rickie was bitten by a german shepherd yesterday, my mom texted and called me in a panic on the way to the vet. She left him there overnight. They operated on him at 3 in the morning. 

The shepherd in question was about to be euthanised at the shelter for aggression before it was adopted. It opened the latch on its backyard gate and came charging at Rickie and my mom. She told me she was screaming for minutes before anyone helped. The owners, a mom and a daughter, eventually came and held the dog back. They apologised endlessly, and broke down crying. They sent them to the vet and offered to pay for everything. 

He came back from the vet this morning seemingly in shock. He wouldn't move, he just sat there shivering and whimpering. He had several stitches, patched up places on his upper back, his chest, his front leg. The vet put in drains to let the fluid come out instead of bandaging it up. One wound on his shoulder is still bleeding. 

I managed to get some food in him, he would only eat when hand fed. I couldn't get any water in him, but that's normal for dogs who've undergone anesthesia. Someone had to be next to him at all times or he would get restless and try to find us. I got both rounds of meds for today into him just fine, he takes meds easily luckily as long as I give them to him with a treat. My mom went out right after we got home to go to petsmart to buy him a softer bed (he usually sleeps on a big seat cushion), some diapers, and some treats. He hobbles badly when he walks. He's been drifting in and out of sleep all day in his new bed, he shifts around a lot with small whimpers. Sometimes when he falls asleep he suddenly begins jerking and then sits up. I think he's having nightmares. I've basically spent all day next to the proxy dog station we've set up. We moved the table around in the living room and cleared space for a dog care station. 

My mom was very emotional about all this. I was surprised, considering she's had an uncaring attitude towards him in the past. She was really selfless when she tried to save him, she didn't think of herself at all. She was scared to death for him. She cried several times last night and today thinking about what might have happened to him. And she's been endlessly praising him and caring for him. He's getting pampered, eating wet food out of my hand, getting chicken and treats. Poor little guy deserves it. 

The owners of the other dog have been admirable in how they handled the situation. The daughter came with us to the vet this morning, she seemed on the verge of crying several times and has texted asking about how Rickie is doing. She offered to drive us to the vet if we needed it, since he's getting his drains out in a couple days, and then his stitches out in two weeks. The poor guy is sleeping now. He was active earlier, pacing around the house, scratching at the door to go outside and poop. Then he climbed the stairs all by himself and came into my bedroom to see me. Sweet little guy. I never realized how much he relies on us being around for emotional support.