Bad day!!!

[Bambito]

So today my wife and I were both off from work so we decided to hit up some pheasant grounds close to where we board her horse which is about 45 minutes away. We had to stop at the farm and drop off horse feed anyway. So on the way there we hit a few small state land spots and then headed to the farm. Our GSP has never been out there nor has he ever seen a horse. So we knew we had to be careful and keep an eye on him as there are a total of 4 horses. My wife was in her horses stall working on getting some ccbirds out of her horses mane and i was standing watching. Capone (our dog) sqeezed in to the stall and startled her horse causing him to leap forward and capone being nervous ended up trying to get away from the horse and went behind him to get out of the stall. Wrong move, as soon as the horse relized where he was he reared and kicked him making a hard connection with Capones shoulder. He fell over immedeitally and let out the worst hollar a dog owner ever wants to hear. I raced through the next horses stall to grab Capone by the collar and pull him back to safety. I pulled him out to the main hallway as he screamed in pain. We sat there for a bit and assesed the damage to his shoulder and leg. A few minutes went by and he started to limp around on it and 10 minutes went by and he was running again! We decided to give up on the rest of the day and headed home. You can tell that he can feel it tightning up and proabably bruising as hes slow to get up or off the couch. From my experiance I would say hes gonna be ok just might be tender for a few days. Is that a good assumption or should I bring him in to get checked out just to be safe? $&%@!*$! horse

[TruthWalleyes]

I've seen lab's head ran over with a skid steer and another dog walk away from a 50 mph car impact... monitor the dog closely. May be fine, may be very serious. You know your dog best.

[LABS4ME]

Unless dogs are with live stock from pups, I never let them by any. No need to introduce them if thye do not need to be by them.

With that said, I'd give it a day or two. You'll know if there is damage or if he is on the mend. A St Joseph children's aspirin tonight and tomorrow will help with the pain and inflammation.

Hopefully just a deep bruise...

Good luck!

Ken

[FishinFools]

$&%@!*$! horse

So are ya blamin' the horse? Hope the dog is feeling well and you are both back in the field chasing birds soon!

[Bambito]

No I cant blame the horse as he is a good horse. I blame myself more then anything. Im not a huge fan of horses in the first place though and this past spring the horse spooked from something and threw my wife off, breaking her wrist. We just havent had a good year with the horse and I know I should have kept a closer eye on our dog and not let him get into the stall. This year has proven why I am not a big fan of horses though!!

[MuleShack]

Wouldn't hurt to put some ice on the shoulder to keep the swelling down for a few days...

[GSPMark]

Probably just cost you a couple of years on the back end. Had a male GSP take a similar type hit when he was two. At about eight he started limping on his left front leg. Took him to the vet had x-rays done. Vet said that shoulder was damaged some time in the past and arthrits had set in, nothing he could do. Dog still hunted hard but could hardly walk next day..kept reducing his time in the field but finally had to take him out of the rotation. While he had no quit in him I could not take seeing him in pain the next day. Good Luck.

[BLACKJACK]

Probably just cost you a couple of years on the back end. Had a male GSP take a similar type hit when he was two. At about eight he started limping on his left front leg. Took him to the vet had x-rays done. Vet said that shoulder was damaged some time in the past and arthrits had set in, nothing he could do. Dog still hunted hard but could hardly walk next day..kept reducing his time in the field but finally had to take him out of the rotation. While he had no quit in him I could not take seeing him in pain the next day. Good Luck.

I agree, it could cause problems on the backend. One of my labs ran into a steel post in some grass chasing dummies as a pup, later on in life she gimped badly on that shoulder.

When in doubt, leave them in the truck or use a leash!!

[nofishfisherman]

Is there something a vet could do now with the injury to help prevent arthritis in the future? I suppose it depends on the injury but I wonder if it wouldn't be worth a trip to the vet for xrays to see what sort of treatment you could do now that would keep the dog in the field longer and the end of its life.

[harvey lee]

If it were my dog, I would go to the Vet. I know they are not cheap but my dogs are like kids, I would do anything if needed.