Thread: Just sharing a story about my poor little boy...7 month old, 82 pound German Shepherd

I just wanted to share this story with you fellow pet owners. The purpose is to get you guys to find a vet that you are comfortable with in case an emergency arises...and to HAVE A BACK-UP.

About 6 months ago you might recall that I had actually offered some German Shepherd (GSD) puppies in the classifieds. I had my female, Kyra, GSD bred to a great looking boy who's bloodlines were excellent as well. The owner/breeder who I had provided the stud bought the entire litter...less the pick, that I kept. I named him Uri.

Last week I had went to pick up some material to build a smaller 6x8 utility trailer by using my 16' utility trailer. While pulling into the back yard to unload, the dogs got excited as they always do...but I go slow, creeping, to be sure that I don't run over one. Well, Kyra has been "teaching" Uri regularly who is boss and I "think" she scolded him...right in front of me, but where I couldn't see them. I heard a yelp, immediately stomp the brake & run around to the passenger front side of the Tahoe. Oh, my God! My tire is 2/3 over the rear end of my Uri. What can I do? I went ahead and put the truck into drive for a few inches to get off of him. He had never made a sound other than the yelp. After getting off of him he crawled under the truck, whining and yelping, obviously in pain. I coax him out from under the truck and unhook the trailer where it sits. He tried to walk and could only go backwards, yelping and crying out. I load him up into the truck and haul butt towards town...calling in advance to my REGULAR vet who is about 45 minutes away. My heart sank, it was 2pm and they had closed at 1pm for the day due to a death/funeral services of a close family friend. We have this old "cow/horse" vet in town that I is good for obtaining meds for your small animals...but that's it. I really had no choice, so I took him there. Long story short is that his x-ray machine couldn't take pics of deep areas, only stuff like paws and such. He gave me some pain pills and told me that it was more than likely just deep tissue bruising and he would more than likely be up and walking in the morning, especially after the pain pills kicked in. Releaved with this information I load him back into the truck and go home. My wife and I make him a pallette in the floor in the living room out of my sleeping bag & we both stay with him over night, he hardly slept and was in such pain, wanting to move to make it better. I get up and have him at my normal vet's office at 7am, they open at 8am. As soon as they start showing up I plead for help and they immediately start making calls to get the vets in (this is a three Dr. family practice). The "retired" dad of the family practice comes in just for my Uri with coffee cup still in hand and immediately gives him a shot to ease his pain. As soon as an assistant walks in the door he gets Uri to the x-ray table and get the films they need. It's confirmed that the ball is broken from the femur at the hip. They refer me to a orthopedic small animal specialist, make an appointment, & send me on my way. These guys are really great personally and professionally. I drive three hours to Sulpher Springs, TX to the orthopedic surgeons office and find a great animal doctor (who will be my backup vet!) who loves his job, patients, and most of all...knows his stuff with the experience to back it up. Dr. Lay gives Uri another shot to ease the pain and explains how stinking painful his break is and that he will take some more "digital" x-rays (this guy has all the goodies) and will take care of my little boy. He said he would call me in about an hour or so after he got "in" to see what kind of repairs he could make to the hip, so the wife and I go and eat to kill some time before we trek back home...hoping to hear the "great news" before we left town. Well, the wife is shopping in a little outlet mall and I am in the truck when I hear from Dr. Lay personally. While he was taking x-rays, he saw something off at the edges of the pictures and he x-rays Uri's spine at the hip. Uri had a fractured vertebrate as well as a broken hip. The vertebrate was obviously the most important injury, so I told him to go ahead with the surgery. He later called me at 9pm to let me know that they had successfully repositioned the vertebrate 3/8-1/2" back in line and held everything together with plates & pins. It took longer than he had expected and he would start on the hip Wednesday. He did well through the night with IV food & meds. They started on his hip hoping that they could literally just put a screw into the ball and pull it to the bone & it would hold, he told me of several procedures he could do in order according to what he found once he was actually seeing the fracture and what he had to work with. Well, Mr. Murphy was there again and there wasn't enough to screw or pin together...so they had to completely remove the ball. He explained that he would actually be able to use it and that it would act like a front shoulder, just that he wouldn't be able to take off as quickly or make other quick movements like he could.

Uri is doing good and I get to pick him up today and hopefully he will be able to make a speedy recovery. He is able to stand for a bit and has walked from kennel to kennel.

I will keep you guys updated on his recovery, thanks for listening. If you have a pet, please have a back-up veterinarian...just in case.

Scott

What a story! It does sound like your Uri has the best care available tho.
Being a dog owner myself I can imagine the horror. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your Uri. A good vet is very important, as i've found out in the past..like anything else they're not created equal. Glad you were able to find a good one.

I have him home and he can walk a bit, but the poor boy is hurting even with the meds. In the picture, the incision area on his spine is about 9" & along his hip is about 6".

Wow, that looks like a very unhappy puppy!
Thanks for sharing this story. As a long time dog owner myself, I know the value of a good vet, and a backup too!
I really hope he pulls through this and can enjoy life to the fullest again.
And, may I add, what a beautiful German Shepherd he is

Hey, at least they gave him a decent hair cut and didn't just shave a patch and call it good. This way, he sort of looks like some mythical were-lion-dog-beast.

Glad all is well, and hope it continues to improve.

Wow, that´s tough luck, Scott! Nice looking guy though I hope he gets well asap. We live close to one of our regions two vet hospitals (15 minutes by car) + we´ve got a vet even closer (where we usually go), but it´s bad when your pet gets sick and I hope you all´ll feel better soon!

I hope he fully recovers. Dogs are pretty resilient. He is a very nice looking GSD. I don't think the look in his face is from pain. Seems to me that he must have realized that due to his surgical shave, he looks like a poodle.

Thanks guys. The coolest thing happened to me when I got home from work...Uri met me at the door! I think he really needed to pee...but no matter, it was nice. He loved on me a bit and then went on out to the yard to go. I've been having to coax him up to go outside to go to the bathroom as he is still sore and stiff when he gets up. Little fella is definately progressing as he heals, just don't want to push him due to the fear of the pins & plates holding his back together...letting him set the pace on that.

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

I hope he fully recovers. Dogs are pretty resilient. He is a very nice looking GSD. I don't think the look in his face is from pain. Seems to me that he must have realized that due to his surgical shave, he looks like a poodle.

I think Uri looks like a lion with the current 'do. Thanks for the update and hope he recovers his playfullness. German Sheperds are extremely resilient. I had one growing up, Snoopy, that unfortunately got hit by a car on two seperate occassions and still lived and played to a ripe old age, even with a hitch in his giddy-up.