Ok...those are excuses I heard from old neighbors who let their dogs roam. They refused to put the dog on a lead or chain, and would let them out the door to run. That was, until I took a couple of their dogs to animal control. One had been hit by a car and limped around the neighborhood for a couple weeks before I could catch it. They never took it to the vet to mend it's broken leg. The shape that it was in, I assume the animal control put him to sleep.
Yes, some dogs like to run. But you need to put the safety of your dog ahead of their happiness sometimes. The danger of them getting into garbage or chemicals that may kill them, being hit by a car, or someone just plain taking them, well outweighs the sad face at the window.
Boo loves to sneak out and go for runs. Luckily this has only happened a couple of times, and it's usually because
he knows he can sneak past the kids, as they're going through the door, and take off. We moved in with my mother and he knows
she isnt as quick as me to grab him. He is such an opportunist! The story below explains why we now ONLY use the back door,
which is surrounded by the 40ft by 40ft fenced area. He doesn't slip out that door because he knows it's all fenced and he
isn't going anywhere!
Well, last September, in 2001, my 6 year old was headed out the front door and Boo saw his opportunity to make a run for it. I chased him
on foot for a while, then got in my car because he headed for the busy road down the street from us. As I came around the corner
I saw a pick-up truck off to the side of the road and Boo laying in the street...he had been hit by the truck. He was shaking, I think in shock,
and his front leg was split open to the bone. A couple of cars stopped and a man helped me put Boo in my car, I was shaken up, crying and couldnt
lift the 65 lb boxer mix.
I frantically rushed him to our local vet, they got him in the back and on morphine while they checked out his leg.
Finally they let me come to the back to see him and discuss what needs to be done. I walked into the room, he's laying
on the table still half in shock, covered in blood, and on morphine, but when he saw me his tail started to wag. One nurse pointed that
out to the other...the sight of mommy made his tail wag...he just might be ok. We had to wait for 24 hours to decide anything because they
heard rattling in his lungs and needed an Xray. That was the longest 24 hours of my life. I didn't eat for a couple days, I had to decide that if he couldn't
be healed that I would have to let him go, let him be put to sleep. My best friend in the world could be gone the next afternoon. My eyes
are tearing up typing this.
The Xray showed his lungs to be clear, but the leg was broken at the ankle, the elbow, and in the middle.
They said that it may not heal properly, and that the best thing for him would be to remove it. The day after the amputation he came home. Could you
imagine coming home the day after having your leg cut off?? AND having to go outside to the bathroom a few times a day? That night my mom came in
and he picked up a toy and "ran" to his grandma the best he could, he is always so happy to see his family.
Well, one year and $700 later, he hops around on 3 legs like he's never had a fourth! He is still King of the toys with our other two dogs, and still loves
to rough-house and play chase, still jumps up on the couch to look out the window when he hears a school bus, and makes a mad dash for the back door to greet
Katie when she gets home from school. He still gets up in my bed, but not as often as it's hard for him to balance on a waterbed, and jumping down from it is
a challenge when that one front leg sinks in the bed. But he still loves sleeping with mom.
We now have a 40ft by 40ft fence in the backyard, by the back door, and we only go in and out of that door. This way if he sneaks past grandma or Katie...he cant get out of the yard. On the few occasions that the front door has been used...he STILL tries to get out! And once a neighbor boy opened the back gate and all 3 dogs took off running (two of them following Boo). It took me 20 minutes to catch that darn 3 legged dog, he's still quick! He just loves to run free. But if he was to get hit again, I'm afraid it would be the end of him. He can't lose another limb and still get around.
This is Boo Oct 2001. He's not too happy with the crown as his Halloween costume. You can
see the shaved area where his right leg used to be. The hair has grown in and it doesn't look bad now. Some people don't notice
the missing leg til they really look.
Boo and Rosie playing. He lays on the floor to play with her cus she is so little...tho
he sometimes likes the advantage of dangling the toy over her head as she jumps trying to get it LOL.
Boo and Smokey enjoying a nice day in the yard
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to read Boo's story.
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