Bad Conditions

July 8, 2010, Georgetown, CO; elev. 8600’
12:06:03, hours MDT
...continued hiker’s journal…
Bad conditions…

Ellie-Mae injured herself really badly. She limps and cries when trying to sit up from lying down.
Although the braids of Clear are lowering dramatically as the brief summer respite envelops the high country here, the hidden rocks and obstacles both in the stream bed and along the banks present muscle and joint straining dilemmas for a retriever dog that runs headlong w/ a narrow focus on retrieving the stick.

Ellie managed to at best a strain her left foreleg at worst a torn or separated tendon or ligament. Gave her an aspirin, a 220 mg. naproxen sodium tablet and a chondroitin sulfate pill mixed in w/ a milk bone and some cereal. She is resting like an elk in the big living room. I felt her leg and she does not exhibit tenderness to my touch or probing. The bones do not seem to have been broken and there are no external injuries noticeable. However, the animal has black short hair so any black and blue markings are not visible.

I was worried as she bit hard onto the last stick retrieval and walked the stick in her mouth uncharacteristically for between a 1/10th and 2/10ths of a mile before finally letting it go. She limped the nearly ½-6/10th of a mile back to the house after letting go of the stick. The stick consumed some mental energy for her as it weighed about 5 pounds and was quite round [larger than the average bicep flexed].

It is in the higher power’s power to help her rehab now.

The daily walk was the usual and until Ellie heals from her injury it will be slow for her on the walks. The walks will be truncated until then.